Effect of thermo-mechanical treatments on nano-structure of 9Cr-ODS steel

The effect of thermo-mechanical treatments (TMTs) on the evolution of nano-structure in an oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic/martensitic steel (Fe-9Cr-2W-0.22Ti-0.36Y2O3) was investigated. TMTs involve hot extruding and subsequent forging, which are expected to be part of a future industrial-scale manufacturing process of the ODS steel. It was shown that the ODS steel was composed of two phases - a fine-grained residual ferrite phase and a transformable martensite phase. The number density of the nano-sized particles in the residual ferrite phase was significantly higher than that in the martensite phase. The TMTs did not significantly affect the number density, but slightly affected the size distribution of the nano-sized particles in both ferrite phase and martensite phase. Moreover, the volume fraction of the residual ferrite phase decreased after TMTs. In summary, the TMT conditions could be a parameter which affects the nano-structure of the ODS steel.