Thermal stability characteristics of in situ nano-particles formed in metal melt

• In situ nanoparticles in this paper are formed in metal melt directly.
• Copper nanoparticles present poor thermal stability over certain ageing time.
• The nanoparticles referred here present high thermal stability.

The nature of in-situ nano-oxide particles which were fabricated by a novel route was investigated here. Compared with the Cu precipitation in High Strength Low Alloy (HSLA) steel, which are easy coarsen and losing coherency over certain ageing time, the in-situ nano-oxide particles referred here present certain thermal stability and always share a coherent or semi-coherent relation with the matrix under the relative high heat treatment temperature.