Experimental Radiation Damage Studies Using 16 MeV Protons

An experiment is described for studying effects of penetrating light ions on microstructure and mechanical properties of metals. Damage rates and gradients, specimen cooling and contamination and beam monitoring are discussed in detail, and an experiment which addresses these problems is described. Microstructure and tensile test results are given of nickel and niobium test specimens irradiated with 16 MeV protons in the described apparatus. Comparisons are made with 14 MeV neutron irradiation results from other experiments.