9Cr-ODS Ferritic Steels Research Articles

Oxide particle–dislocation interaction in 9Cr-ODS steel

Oxide Dispersion Strengthened (ODS) ferritic/martensitic steels have an excellent high temperature strength primarily due to a dislocation pinning effect of nanometric oxide particles. In the present work, the interaction between oxide particles and dislocations in 9CrODS ferritic steel was investigated by both static TEM observation and in-situ TEM observation under dynamic straining conditions. The primary concerns of those observations were the obstacle strength of oxide particles and the type of interactions: attractive or repulsive. In the static observation, the majority (∼90%) of all interaction geometries was characterized as repulsive type. In the in-situ straining experiments, the obstacle strength α of oxide particles was estimated to be no greater than 0.80. The experimentally-determined obstacle strength is smaller than that of Orowan type impenetrable obstacle, whereas those oxide particles are, in theory, ideally strong obstacles. The gap between predicted and measured obstacle strength is attributable to cross-slip motion of screw dislocations on the oxide particles.

Charpy impact properties of 9CrODS ferritic steels

The toughness of 9CrODS steels was evaluated by using an instrumented Charpy impact test machine, focusing on various processes such as hot-forging and hot-rolling. The upper-shelf energy (USE) of the hot-forged specimens is superior; their full-size USE converted from the miniaturized specimen lies within the published data for ODS steels, whereas hot-rolling leads to poor toughness. The total absorbed energy was separated into the energies for crack initiation and propagation. The hot-forged 9CrODS steels provide similar crack initiation energy to ferritic/martensitic steels (FMSs); their low absorbed energy is attributed to a limited amount of crack propagation energy induced by plastic deformation.

Strength correlation with residual ferrite fraction in 9CrODS ferritic steel

The microstructure and tensile properties at 973K in 9CrODS steels were investigated with respect to various fractions of the residual ferrite from zero to 47vol.%. The formation of the residual ferrite was discussed from a balance between a chemical driving force for α to γ reverse transformation and the oxide particle pinning force, while 0.04mass% carbon sample could contain an equilibrium δ-ferrite. With increasing volume fraction of the residual ferrite, strength at 973K increases but ductility decreases, which is attributed to the fact that the residual ferrite is harder than the tempered martensite.

Effect of tungsten addition on microstructure and high temperature strength of 9CrODS ferritic steel

Tungsten is an effective element for solid-solution strengthening and is a ferrite former in 9CrODS ferritic steel, however excessive tungsten leads to Laves phase formation. Appropriate tungsten concentration in 9CrODS ferritic steel was found to be around 2mass%, which produces high temperature strength without Laves phase precipitation. The stress increment due to solid-solution strengthening by tungsten was characterized as relatively small, compared to enhanced ferrite formation, the so called residual α-ferrite.

Reverse phase transformation from α to γ in 9Cr-ODS ferritic steels

The process of residual ferrite formation and resultant high-temperature strengthening in 9Cr-ODS ferritic steel was investigated by TEM observation, dilatometric measurement and thermodynamic analysis. Formation of the residual ferrite is dominated by a balance between pinning of α–γ interfaces and the α–γ reverse transformation, and α–γ reverse transformation is affected by dissolution of carbides into the γ-matrix at the AC1 and AC3 points. The fine size of oxide particles is responsible for the higher strength of the residual ferrite containing ODS steels.

Formation of residual ferrite in 9Cr-ODS ferritic steels

It is recognized that the high-temperature strength of 9Cr-ODS ferritic steels is maintained by the presence of a ferrite phase. In order to clarify the formation process of the ferrite phase, 9Cr-ODS ferritic steels containing various contents of Y 2O 3, i.e., 0 mass%, 0.1 mass%, 0.35 mass%, and 0.7 mass%, are prepared by means of mechanical alloying and hot-pressing. The ferrite phase is formed by the addition of 0.35 mass% and 0.7 mass% Y 2O 3; however, it is not formed for steels without and with 0.1 mass% Y 2O 3 normalized for 1 h at 1050 °C. It is considered from the thermodynamic analyses that the pinning of the α–γ interface motion by the dispersed Y–Ti complex oxide particles can be attributed to the retention of the ferrite phase normalized at 1050 °C, and this ferrite phase cannot be δ-ferrite that is in equilibrium with the γ-phase.

High-temperature strength characterization of advanced 9Cr-ODS ferritic steels

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steels, which are the most promising candidate materials for advanced fast reactor fuel elements, have exceptional creep strength at 973 K. The superior creep property of 9Cr-ODS ferritic steels is ascribed to the formation of a nonequilibrium phase, designated as the residual ferrite. The yield strength of the residual ferrite itself has been determined to be as high as 1360 MPa at room temperature from nanoindentation measurements. The creep strength is also enhanced by minimizing the number of packet boundaries induced by the martensitic phase transformation. The creep strain occurs at a lower stress than that necessary for the deformation of the intragrain regions, which are strengthened by an interaction between nanosize oxide particles and dislocations; this occurs by sliding at weaker regions such as at the grain boundaries and packet boundaries. It is found that 9Cr-ODS ferritic steels behave as fiber composite materials comprising the harder residual ferrite and the softer tempered martensite.

9Cr-ODSフェライト鋼における超微細粒形成

9Cr-ODSフェライト鋼における超微細粒形成