Decoupling Strain-Rate Sensitivity and Deformation Length Scale Effects in Neutron-Irradiated Tungsten: A Coupled Nano-Indentation, HR-EBSD and Crystal Plasticity Study

Abstract

Plastic deformation during strain-rate-controlled spherical nanoindentation is governed by the coupled evolution of constitutive strain-rate sensitivity and deformation length scale, making the intrinsic influence of strain rate difficult to isolate experimentally. This coupling is investigated in unirradiated and neutron-irradiated single-crystal tungsten using spherical nanoindentation, atomic force microscopy, high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD), and crystal plasticity finite element (CPFE) modeling. Nanoindentation experiments were performed at strain rates from 3.2e-5 to 3.2e-3 per second. AFM and HR-EBSD quantified surface pile-up, residual lattice strain, and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) distributions. A strain-gradient CPFE framework incorporating thermally activated slip, GND hardening, irradiation-induced obstacle hardening, and strain-dependent softening was calibrated using a single experimental condition and validated across all remaining strain rates without further parameter adjustment. The validated model was then used to independently vary strain rate and indentation depth. Simulations show that strain rate primarily controls the stress required for thermally activated plastic flow, whereas indentation depth governs plastic-zone evolution, pile-up, and GND accumulation. Irradiation increases obstacle strength and promotes deformation localization while remaining consistent with a common thermally activated mechanism. The framework also predicts the compression response of a polycrystalline cube, demonstrating transferability across loading conditions and length scales, providing a robust basis for constitutive modeling of irradiation-hardened materials under transient loading.