Effects of irradiation induced Cu clustering on Vickers hardness and electrical resistivity of Fe–Cu model alloys

Three kinds of Fe-based model alloys, Fe–0.018 atomic percent (at.%) Cu, Fe–0.53at.%Cu, and Fe–1.06at.%Cu were irradiated with 2MeV electrons up to the dose of 2×10−5dpa at 250°C. After the irradiation, the increase in Vickers hardness and the decrease in electrical resistivity were observed. The increase in hardness by electron irradiation is proportional to the product of the Cu contents and the square root of the electron dose. The decrease in electrical resistivity is proportional to the product of the square of Cu contents and the electron dose.