• Archives of Metallurgy and Materials
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• v.64 no.3
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• pp.921-924
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• 2019

In this study, ODS ferritic stainless steels were fabricated using a commercial alloy powder, and their microstructures and mechanical properties were studied to develop the advanced structural materials for high temperature service applications. Mechanical alloying and uniaxial hot pressing processes were employed to produce the ODS ferritic stainless steels. It was revealed that oxide particles in the ODS stainless steels were composed of Y-Si-O, Y-Ti-Si-O, and Y-Hf-Si-O complex oxides were observed depending on minor alloying elements, Ti and Hf. The ODS ferritic stainless steel with a Hf addition presented ultra-fine grains with uniform distributions of fine complex oxide particles which located in grains and on the grain boundaries. These favorable microstructures led to superior tensile properties than commercial stainless steel and ODS ferritic steel with Ti addition at elevated temperature.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.911-912
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• 2004

1. Cathodic hydrogen charging considerably reduced the tensile ductility of ODS steels and a 9Cr-2W RMS. The hydrogen embrittlement of ODS steels was strongly affected by specimen sampling orientation, showing significant embrittlement in the T-direction. This comes from the microstructural anisotropy caused by elongated grains of ODS steels in L-direction. 2. The ODS steels contained a higher concentration of hydrogen than 9Cr-2W RMS at the same cathodic charging condition, and the critical hydrogen concentration required to transition from ductile to brittle fracture was in the range of $10{\sim}12$ wppm, which approximately 10 times larger than that of a 9Cr-2W martensitic steel. 3. The ODS steels showed a typical ductile to brittle transition behavior and it strongly depended on the specimen sampling direction, namely L- and T-direction. In T-direction, the SP-DBTT was about 170 L, irrespective of the ODS materials, and L-direction showed a lower SP-DBTT than that of T-direction.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.311-317
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• 2020

In this study, the effects of Co content on the microstructure and Charpy impact properties of Fe-Cr-W ferritic/martensitic oxide dispersion strengthened (F/M ODS) steels are investigated. F/M ODS steels with 0-5 wt% Co are fabricated by mechanical alloying, followed by hot isostatic pressing, hot-rolling, and normalizing/tempering heat treatment. All the steels commonly exhibit two-phase microstructures consisting of ferrite and tempered martensite. The volume fraction of ferrite increases with the increase in the Co content, since the Co element considerably lowers the hardenability of the F/M ODS steel. Despite the lowest volume fraction of tempered martensite, the F/M ODS steel with 5 wt% Co shows the highest micro-Vickers hardness, owing to the solid solution-hardening effect of the alloyed Co. The high hardness of the steel improves the resistance to fracture initiation, thereby resulting in the enhanced fracture initiation energy in a Charpy impact test at - 40℃. Furthermore, the addition of Co suppresses the formation of coarse oxide inclusions in the F/M ODS steel, while simultaneously providing a high resistance to fracture propagation. Owing to these combined effects of Co, the Charpy impact energy of the F/M ODS steel increases gradually with the increase in the Co content.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.2584-2594
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• 2024

A novel approach to incorporating oxide formers into ferritic ODS production has been developed using the co-precipitation technique. This method enables the tailored design of complex nano-oxides, integrated during Mechanical Alloying (MA) and precipitated during Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) consolidation. Findings illustrate that co-precipitation effectively produces nano-powders with customised compositions, enriching Y, Ti, and Zr in the ferritic grade to condition subsequent oxide precipitation. While the addition of Y-Ti-Zr-O nano-oxides did not prevent the formation of Y-Al-O and Al-containing nano-oxides, these were refined thanks to the presence of well-dispersed Zr. Additionally, the Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) parameters were optimised to tailor the bimodal grain size distribution of the ODS steels, aiming for favourable strength-to-ductility ratios. Comprehensive microstructural analyses were performed using SEM, EDS, EBSD, and TEM techniques, alongside mechanical assessments involving microtensile tests conducted at room temperature and small punch tests carried out at room temperature, 300 ℃, and 500 ℃. The outcomes yielded promising findings, showcasing similar or better performance with conventionally manufactured ODS steels. This reinforces the effectiveness and success of this innovative approach.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.178-188
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• 2017

To study the effects of zirconium (Zr) addition on the microstructure, hardness and the tensile properties of oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic-martensitic steels, two kinds of 9Cr-ODS ferritic-martensitic steels with nominal compositions (wt.%) of $Fe-9Cr-2W-0.3Y_2O_3$ and $Fe-9Cr-2W-0.3Zr-0.3Y_2O_3$ were fabricated by the mechanical alloying (MA) of premixed powders and then consolidated by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) techniques. The experimental results showed that the average grain size decreases with Zr addition. The trigonal ${\delta}$-phase $Y_4Zr_3O_{12}$ oxides and body-centered cubic $Y_2O_3$ oxides are formed in the 9Cr-Zr-ODS steel and 9Cr non-Zr ODS steel, respectively, and the average size of $Y_4Zr_3O_{12}$ particles is much smaller than that of $Y_2O_3$. The dispersion morphology of the oxide particles in 9Cr-Zr-ODS steel is significantly improved and the number density is $1.1{\times}10^{23}/m^3$ with Zr addition. The 9Cr-Zr-ODS steel shows much higher tensile ductility, ultimate tensile strength and Vickers hardness at the same time.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.857-862
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• 2014

Mechanical alloying under various gas atmospheres such as Ar, an Ar-$H_2$ mixture, and He gases were carried out, and its effects on the powder properties, microstructure and mechanical properties of ODS ferritic steels were investigated. Hot isostatic pressing and hot rolling processes were employed to consolidate the ODS steel plates. While the mechanical alloyed powder in He had a high oxygen concentration, a milling in Ar showed fine particle diameters with comparably low oxygen concentration. The microstructural observation revealed that low oxygen concentration contributed to the formation of fine grains and homogeneous oxide particle distribution by the Y-Ti-O complex oxides. A milling in Ar was sufficient to lower the oxygen concentration, and this led a high tensile strength and fracture elongation at a high temperature. It is concluded that the mechanical alloying atmosphere affects oxygen concentration as well as powder particle properties. This leads to a homogeneous grain and oxide particle distribution with excellent creep strength at high temperature.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2582-2590
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• 2021

The high-energy milling is one of the most extended techniques to produce Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) powder steels for nuclear applications. The consequences of the high energy mill process on the final powders can be measured by means of deformation level, size, morphology and alloying degree. In this work, an ODS ferritic steel, Fe-14Cr-5Al-3W-0.4Ti-0.25Y₂O₃-0.6Zr, was fabricated using two different mechanical alloying (MA) conditions (M_std and M_act) and subsequently consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). Milling conditions were set to evidence the effectivity of milling by changing the revolutions per minute (rpm) and dwell milling time. Differences on the particle size distribution as well as on the stored plastic deformation were observed, determining the consolidation ability of the material and the achieved microstructure. Since recrystallization depends on the plastic deformation degree, the composition of each particle and the promoted oxide dispersion, a dual grain size distribution was attained after SPS consolidation. M_act showed the highest areas of ultrafine regions when the material is consolidated at 1100 ℃. Microhardness and small punch tests were used to evaluate the material under room temperature and up to 500 ℃. The produced materials have attained remarkable mechanical properties under high temperature conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2376-2385
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• 2022

Two groups of oxide dispersion-strengthened reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic steels (A and B) were prepared by adding Y, Ti, and Zr into steels through vacuum induction melting to investigate the inclusions, microstructures, mechanical properties of the alloys. Results showed that particles with Y, Ti, and Zr easily formed. Massive, Zr-rich inclusions were found in B steel. Density of micron inclusions in A steel was 1.42 × 10¹⁴ m^-3, and density of nanoparticles was 3.61 × 10¹⁶ m^-3. More and finer MX carbides were found in steel tempered at 650 ℃, and yield strengths (YS) of A and B steel were 714±2 and 664±3.5 MPa. Thermomechanical processing (TMP) retained many dislocations, which improved the mechanical properties. YSs of A and B treated by TMP were 725±3 and 683±4 MPa. The existence of massive Zr-rich inclusions in B steels interrupted the continuity of the matrix and produced microcracks (fracture), which caused a reduction in mechanical properties. The presence of fine prior austenite grain size and inclusions was attributed to the low DBTTs of the A steels; DBTTs of A650 and A700 alloy were -79 and -65 ℃. Tempering temperature reduction and TMP are simple, readily useable methods that can lead to a superior balance of strength and impact toughness in industry applications.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2017

This study investigates the oxidation properties of Fe-14Cr ferritic oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel at various high temperatures (900, 1000, and $1100^{\circ}C$ for 24 h). The initial microstructure shows that no clear structural change occurs even under high-temperature heat treatment, and the average measured grain size is 0.4 and $1.1{\mu}m$ for the as-fabricated and heat-treated specimens, respectively. Y-Ti-O nanoclusters 10-50 nm in size are observed. High-temperature oxidation results show that the weight increases by 0.27 and $0.29mg/cm^2$ for the as-fabricated and heat-treated ($900^{\circ}C$) specimens, and by 0.47 and $0.50mg/cm^2$ for the as-fabricated and heat-treated ($1000^{\circ}C$) specimens, respectively. Further, after 24 h oxidation tests, the weight increases by 56.50 and $100.60mg/cm^2$ for the as-fabricated and heat-treated ($1100^{\circ}C$) specimens, respectively; the latter increase is approximately 100 times higher than that at $1000^{\circ}C$. Observation of the surface after the oxidation test shows that $Cr_2O_3$ is the main oxide on a specimen tested at $1000^{\circ}C$, whereas $Fe_2O_3$ and $Fe_3O_4$ phases also form on a specimen tested at $1100^{\circ}C$, where the weight increases rapidly. The high-temperature oxidation behavior of Fe-14Cr ODS steel is confirmed to be dominated by changes in the $Cr_2O_3$ layer and generation of Fe-based oxides through evaporation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2009

The safe and reliable performance of fusion and fission plants depends on the choice of suitable materials and an assessment of long-term materials degradation. These materials are degraded by their exposure to extreme conditions; it is necessary, therefore, to address the issue of long-term damage evolution of materials under service exposure in advanced plants. The empirical approach to the study of structural materials and fuels is reaching its limit when used to define and extrapolate new materials, new environments, or new operating conditions due to a lack of knowledge of the basic principles and mechanisms present. Materials designed for future Gen IV systems require significant innovation for the new environments that the materials will be exposed to. Thus, it is a challenge to understand the materials more precisely and to go far beyond the current empirical design methodology. Breakthrough technology is being achieved with the incorporation in design codes of a fundamental understanding of the properties of materials. This paper discusses the multi-scale, multi-code computations and multi-dimensional modelling undertaken to understand the mechanical properties of these materials. Such an approach is envisaged to probe beyond currently possible approaches to become a predictive tool in estimating the mechanical properties and lifetimes of materials.