The diffusion and trapping of deuterium in AISI302 stainless steel was studied at 296K. The deuterium was introduced, by electrolytic charging, to give a penetration of about 7 microns beneath the surface. Following the introduction of deuterium, part of the specimen was plastically deformed by 8%. The concentration profiles of deuterium in the strained and unstrained regions of the stainless steel were obtained using secondary ion mass spectroscopy. Interactive computer modeling of the diffusion and trapping process was used to the forms of the depth profiles. The results revealed evidence of one type of uniformly distributed trap in both the strained and unstrained material, plus evidence of another type of trap which existed only near to the surface in both materials. There was also enhanced diffusion of deuterium in the plastically deformed material. The diffusion coefficient calculated by computer modeling of the experimental data was 2.5 x 10-16m2/s; which agreed well with an extrapolation of higher-temperature results.

A SIMS Study of the Diffusion and Trapping of Deuterium in 302 Stainless Steel. R.C.Frank, J.E.Baker, C.J.Altstetter: Metallurgical Transactions A, 1982, 13[4], 581-4