Correlation between chemical composition and size of very small oxide particles in the MA957 ODS ferritic alloy

ODS (oxide dispersion strengthened) alloys have superior creep properties. As it is well known, these excellent creep properties result from very fine oxide particles dispersed with the matrix. However, there is no common understanding about the nature of the very small oxide particles. Two hypotheses arise from the literature, 1: non-stoichiometric Y-, Ti-, O-enriched clusters and 2: stoichiometric Y2Ti2O7. In this work, both chemically extracted residue method and extraction replica method were applied to the commercial ODS ferritic alloy, MA957. These samples were then observed using XRD (X-ray diffractometry) and FEG–STEM (field emission gun–scanning transmission electron microscopy) with EDS (energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer). From the results, it was concluded that the composition of small particles is related to the particle size. They exhibit at least two types of phase, 1: non-stoichiometric Y-, Ti-, O-enriched clusters from ∼2 to ∼15 nm (Y/Ti < 1) and 2: stoichiometric Y2Ti2O7 from ∼15 to ∼35 nm. Based on the result, it is suggested that the appropriate increase of titanium content compared to yttrium content in oxide particles by modifying the chemical compositions of ODS alloys could be an effective way to obtain a finer dispersion of oxide particles.