In this study, the effects of Co content on the microstructure and Charpy impact properties of Fe-Cr-W ferritic/martensitic oxide dispersion strengthened (F/M ODS) steels are investigated. F/M ODS steels with 0–5 wt% Co are fabricated by mechanical alloying, followed by hot isostatic pressing, hot-rolling, and normalizing/tempering heat treatment. All the steels commonly exhibit two-phase microstructures consisting of ferrite and tempered martensite. The volume fraction of ferrite increases with the increase in the Co content, since the Co element considerably lowers the hardenability of the F/M ODS steel. Despite the lowest volume fraction of tempered martensite, the F/M ODS steel with 5 wt% Co shows the highest micro-Vickers hardness, owing to the solid solution-hardening effect of the alloyed Co. The high hardness of the steel improves the resistance to fracture initiation, thereby resulting in the enhanced fracture initiation energy in a Charpy impact test at – 40oC. Furthermore, the addition of Co suppresses the formation of coarse oxide inclusions in the F/M ODS steel, while simultaneously providing a high resistance to fracture propagation. Owing to these combined effects of Co, the Charpy impact energy of the F/M ODS steel increases gradually with the increase in the Co content.

In order to expand the application of oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steel, a composite material is manufactured by adding mechanically alloyed ODS steel powder to conventional steel and investigated in terms of microstructure and wear properties. For comparison, a commercial automobile part material is also tested. Initial microstructural observations confirm that the composite material with added ODS steel contains i) a pearlitic Fe matrix area and ii) an area with Cr-based carbides and ODS steel particles in the form of a Fe-Fe3C structure. In the commercial material, various hard Co-, Fe-Mo-, and Cr-based particles are present in a pearlitic Fe matrix. Wear testing using the VSR engine simulation wear test confirms that the seatface widths of the composite material with added ODS steel and the commercial material are increased by 24% and 47%, respectively, with wear depths of 0.05 mm and 0.1 mm, respectively. The ODS steel-added composite material shows better wear resistance. Post-wear-testing surface and cross-sectional observations show that particles in the commercial material easily fall off, while the ODS steel-added material has an even, smooth wear surface.

15Cr-1Mo base oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steel which is considered to be as a promising candidate for high- temperature components in nuclear fusion and fission systems because of its excellent high temperature strength, corrosion and radiation resistance was fabricated by using mechanical alloying, hot isostatic pressing and hot rolling. Torsion tests were performed at room temperature, leading to two different shear strain routes in the forward and reverse directions. In this study, microstructure evolution of the ODS steel during simple shearing was investigated. Fine grained microstructure and a cell structure of dislocation with low angle boundaries were characterized with shear strain in the shear deformed region by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD). Grain refinement with shear strain resulted in an increase in hardness. After the forward-reverse torsion, the hardness value was measured to be higher than that of the forward torsion only with an identical shear strain amount, suggesting that new dislocation cell structures inside the grain were generated, thus resulting in a larger strengthening of the steel.