• Advances in materials Research
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.79-91
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• 2017

In the present work, a design of experiment (DOE) technique using Taguchi method, has been applied to optimize the properties of ODS tungsten heavy alloys(WHAs). In this work Taguchi method involves nine experiments groups for four processing parameters (compaction pressure, sintering temperature, binding material type, and oxide type) with three levels was implemented. The signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to obtain the optimal process parameter levels and to analyze the effect of these parameters on density, electrical conductivity, hardness and compressive strength values. The results showed that all the chosen factors have significant effects on all properties of ODS tungsten heavy alloys samples. The density, electrical conductivity and hardness increases with the increase in sintering temperature. The analysis of the verification experiments for the physical properties (density and Electrical conductivity) has shown that Taguchi parameter design can successfully verify the optimal parameters, where the difference between the predicted and the verified values of relative density and electrical conductivity is about 1.01% and 1.15% respectively.

• 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.

• 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 the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.279-287
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• 2013

Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) Fe with $Al_2O_3$ dispersoid was successfully produced by reactive milling with a mixture of Fe, $Fe_3O_4$ (Magnetite), $Fe_2O_3$ (Hematite) and Al reactants at cryogenic temperature. The milled powders were consolidated by Vacuum Hot Press (HP) at 1323 K, and the consolidated materials were characterized by Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy (STEM), and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS); the yield strength and the hardness of the consolidated materials were determined by compressive test and Vickers hardness test at room temperature. The grain size of the materials was estimated by X-ray Diffraction technique using the scherrer's formula. The TEM observations showed that the microstructure was comprised with a mixture of nanocrystalline Fe matrix and $Al_2O_3$ nano-dispersoids with a bimodal size distribution; the 0.2% off-set yield strength of the materials was as high as $758{\pm}29$ MPa and the Vickers hardness was $358{\pm}2$. The effect of the cryogenic milling and addition of extra Fe powder was discussed on the suppression of MSR (Mechanically induced Self-sustaining Reaction) for the desired microstructural evolution of ODS alloys.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Heat Treatment
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.138-145
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• 2012

An ${\alpha}$-Ferrite (Fe) powder dispersed with 4 vol.% of $Al_2O_3$ was successfully produced by a simple miling at 210 K with a mixture of $Fe_2O_3$, Fe and Al ingredient powders, followed by 2 step high temperature consolidation: Hot Pressing (HP) at 1323 K and then Hot Isostatic Pressing at 1423 K. The microstructure of the consolidated material was characterized by standard metallographic techniques such as XRD (X-ray Diffraction), TEM and STEM-EDS. The results of STEM-EDS analysis showed that the HIPed materials comprised a mixture of pure Fe matrix with a grain size of ~20 nm and $Al_2O_3$ with a bimodal size distribution of extremely fine (~5 nm) and medium size dispersoids (~20 nm). The mechanical properties of the consolidated materials were characterized by compressive test and micro Vickers hardness test at room temperature. The results showed that the yield strength of the ODS (Oxide Dispersion Strengthened) Fe alloy are as much as $674{\pm}39$ MPa and the improvement of the yield strength is attributed to the presence of the fine $Al_2O_3$ dispersoid.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.521-528
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• 2014

The surface modification of engineering materials by laser beam scanning (LBS) allows the improvement of properties in terms of reduced wear, increased corrosion resistance, and better strength. In this study, the laser beam scan method was applied to produce an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) structure on a zirconium metal surface. A recrystallized Zircaloy-4 alloy sheet with a thickness of 2 mm, and $Y_2O_3$ particles of $10{\mu}m$ were selected for ODS treatment using LBS. Through the LBS method, the $Y_2O_3$ particles were dispersed in the Zircaloy-4 sheet surface at a thickness of 0.4 mm, which was about 20% when compared to the initial sheet thickness. The mean size of the dispersive particles was 20 nm, and the yield strength of the ODS treated plate at $500^{\circ}C$ was increased more than 65 % when compared to the initial state. This strength increase was caused by dispersive $Y_2O_3$ particles in the matrix and the martensite transformation of Zircaloy-4 matrix by the LBS.

• Metals and materials international
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1309-1314
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• 2018

In this study, we investigated the state of $Y_2O_3$, as a major additive element in Fe-based ODS alloys, during mechanical alloying (MA) processes by thermodynamic approaches and experimental verification. For this purpose, we introduced $Ti_2O_3$ that formed different reaction products depending on the state of $Y_2O_3$ into the Fe-based ODS alloys. In addition, the reaction products of $Ti_2O_3$, Y, and $Y_2O_3$ powders were predicted approximately based on their formation enthalpy. The experimental results relating to the formation of Y-based complex oxides revealed that $YTiO_3$ and $Y_2Ti_2O_7$ were formed when $Ti_2O_3$ reacted with Y; in contrast, only $Y_2Ti_2O_7$ was detected during the reaction between $Ti_2O_3$ and $Y_2O_3$. In the alloy of $Fe-Cr-Y_2O_3$ with $Ti_2O_3$, $YTiO_3$ (formed by the reaction of $Ti_2O_3$ with Y) was detected after the MA and heat treatment processes were complete, even though $Y_2O_3$ was present in the system. Using these results, it was proved that $Y_2O_3$ decomposed into monoatomic Y and O during the MA process.

• 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.2139-2146
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• 2023

During reactor operation, the divertor must withstand unprecedented simultaneous high heat fluxes and high-energy neutron irradiation. The extremely severe service environment of the divertor imposes a huge challenge to the bonding quality of divertor joints, i.e., the joints must withstand thermal, mechanical and neutron loads, as well as cyclic mode of operation. In this paper, potassium-doped tungsten (KW) is selected as the plasma facing material (PFM), oxygen-free copper (OFC) as the interlayer, oxide dispersion strengthened copper (ODS-Cu) alloy as the heat sink material, and reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel as the structural material. In this study, a vacuum brazing technology is proposed and optimized to bond Cu and ODS-Cu alloy with the silver-free brazing material CuSnTi. The most appropriate brazing parameters are a brazing temperature of 940 ℃ and a holding time of 15 min. High-quality bonding interfaces have been successfully obtained by vacuum brazing technology, and the average shear strength of the as-obtained KW/Cu and ODS-Cu alloy joints is ~268 MPa. And a fabrication route for manufacturing the flat-type divertor target based on brazing technology is set. For evaluating the reliability of the fabrication technologies under the reactor relevant condition, the high heat flux test at 20 MW/m² for the as-manufactured flat-type KW/Cu/ODS-Cu/RAFM mockup is carried out by using the Electron-beam Material testing Scenario (EMS-60) with water cooling. This paper reports the improved vacuum brazing technology to connect Cu to ODS-Cu alloy and summarizes the production route, high heat flux (HHF) test, the pre and post non-destructive examination, and the surface results of the flat-type KW/Cu/ODS-Cu/RAFM mockup after the HHF test. The test results demonstrate that the mockup manufactured according to the fabrication route still have structural and interfacial integrity under cyclic high heat loads.