Correlation of microstructure and low cycle fatigue properties for 13.5Cr1.1W0.3Ti ODS steel

Reduced activation oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels are prospective structural materials for the blanket system and first wall components in Tokamak-type fusion reactors. Under the pulsed operation, these components will be predominantly subjected to cyclic thermal–mechanical loading which leads to inevitable fatigue damage.In this work, strain controlled isothermal fatigue tests were conducted for 13.5Cr1.1W0.3Ti ODS steel at 550 °C. The total strain range varied from 0.54% to 0.9%. After thermomechanical processing, 13.5CrWTi–ODS steel exhibits a remarkable lifetime extension with a factor of 10–20 for strain ranges Δε ⩽ 0.7%. 13.5Cr ODS steel shows no cyclic softening at all during the whole testing process irrespective of the strain range.TEM observations reveal ultrastable grain structure and constant dislocation densities around 1014 m−2, independent of the number of cycles or the applied strain amplitude. The presence of the stabilized ultrafine Y–Ti–O dispersoids enhances the microstructural stability and therefore leads to outstanding fatigue resistance for 13.5Cr1.1W0.3Ti–ODS steel.