NSUF 12-381: Studying the role of alloying elements on the microstructure of nanostructured ferritic steels fabricated via pulsed electric current sintering

Nanostructured ferritic steels (NFS) have shown outstanding high temperature tensile and creep strength, and great potential for enhanced radiation damage tolerance. The excellent properties of NFS primarily derive from the presence of fine Y-Ti-O based nanofeatures. A new NFS alloy form based on lanthana (lanthanum oxide) has been developed under a project funded by INL/CAES-LDRD, using a processing route involving mechanical alloying followed by pulsed electric current sintering (PECS). The goal of the proposed research is to examine the effect of lanthana and PECS parameters on the alloy microstructure. In order to meet the objective, it is essential to characterize the alloy to a fine detail that requires the use of state-of-the-art characterization tools available at CAES microscopy suite. The microstructure of the alloys will be characterized using STEM and APT to understand the formation of La-Ti-O based nanofeatures. SEM/EBSD technique will be used to study the grain structure and microtexture. The proposed project is expected to be completed within a period of 2 months. If successful, this will lead to the development of a new breed of lanthana containing NFS for advanced reactor use. The data generated in this work will be disseminated widely through journal and conference publications.

Additional Info

Field	Value
Abstract	Nanostructured ferritic steels (NFS) have shown outstanding high temperature tensile and creep strength, and great potential for enhanced radiation damage tolerance. The excellent properties of NFS primarily derive from the presence of fine Y-Ti-O based nanofeatures. A new NFS alloy form based on lanthana (lanthanum oxide) has been developed under a project funded by INL/CAES-LDRD, using a processing route involving mechanical alloying followed by pulsed electric current sintering (PECS). The goal of the proposed research is to examine the effect of lanthana and PECS parameters on the alloy microstructure. In order to meet the objective, it is essential to characterize the alloy to a fine detail that requires the use of state-of-the-art characterization tools available at CAES microscopy suite. The microstructure of the alloys will be characterized using STEM and APT to understand the formation of La-Ti-O based nanofeatures. SEM/EBSD technique will be used to study the grain structure and microtexture. The proposed project is expected to be completed within a period of 2 months. If successful, this will lead to the development of a new breed of lanthana containing NFS for advanced reactor use. The data generated in this work will be disseminated widely through journal and conference publications.
Award Announced Date	2012-08-31T00:00:00
Awarded Institution	None
Facility	None
Facility Tech Lead	Yaqiao Wu
Irradiation Facility	None
PI	Indrajit Charit
PI Email	[email protected]
Project Type	RTE
RTE Number	381