Low cycle fatigue properties of ODS ferritic–martensitic steels at high temperature

Strain-controlled low cycle fatigue tests were conduced for 9Cr–ODS and 12Cr–ODS steels at 873, 923, 973 and 1023 K. The total strain ranges were controlled from 0.5% to 1.5% with strain rate of 0.1%/s. Corresponding plastic strain ranged from 0.01% to 1%. The ODS steels exhibit relatively low level of plastic strain and thus have longer fatigue life in the low total strain region compared to conventional ferritic steels such as Mod. 9Cr–1Mo steel. Neither noticeable cyclic hardening nor softening was observed in ODS steels, whilst Mod. 9Cr–1Mo steel shows an apparent cyclic softening at 873 and 923 K. This is attributable to the excellent microstructure stability due to the presence of nano-sized oxide particles dispersed in ODS steels.