Microstructural characterization and strengthening mechanisms of a 15Cr-ODS steel produced by mechanical alloying and Spark Plasma Sintering

TEM and SAXS results showed that very high density nanoscale oxides are formed in 15Cr-ODS steel. Large concentration of nm-scale trigonal-phase Y4Zr3O12 oxides and some large oxides of monoclinic CrTi2O5 are observed in specimen by high resolution TEM (HRTEM) and Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) mapping. Finally, the yield stress was experimentally measured and quantitatively estimated. The findings indicated that theoretical calculation was in accordance with the experimental results, and strengthening contributions from solute atoms, grains boundaries, dislocations and oxides was presented.