Abstract

This article describes the microstructure and Charpy impact properties of an Fe-14Cr-2W-0.3-Ti-0.3Y(2)O(3) oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS)-reduced activation ferritic (RAF) steel, manufactured either from elemental powders or from an Fe-14Cr-2W-0.3Ti pre-alloyed powder. ODS RAF steels have been produced by mechanical alloying of powders with 0.3 wt% Y2O3 nanoparticles in either a planetary ball mill or an attritor ball mill, for 45 and 20 h, respectively, followed by hot isostatic pressing (HIPping) at 1,150 degrees C under a pressure of 200 MPa for 4 h and heat treatment at 850 degrees C for 1 h. It was found that the elemental ODS steel powder contains smaller particles with a higher specific surface area and a two times higher oxygen amount than the pre-alloyed ODS steel powder. After HIPping both materials exhibit a density higher than 99%. However, the pre-alloyed ODS steel exhibits a slightly better density than the elemental ODS steel, due to the reduced oxygen content in the former material. Charpy impact experiment revealed that the pre-alloyed ODS steel has a much larger ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) (about 140 degrees C) than the elemental ODS steel (about 25 degrees C). However, no significant difference in the upper shelf energy (about 3.0 J) was measured. TEM and SEM-EBSD analyses revealed that the microstructure of the elemental ODS steel is composed of smaller grains with a larger fraction of high-angle grains (>15 degrees) and a lower dislocation density than the pre-alloyed ODS steel, which explains the lower DBTT value obtained for the elemental ODS steel.

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