The role of minor alloying elements on the stability and dispersion of yttria nanoclusters in nanostructured ferritic alloys: An ab initio study

Nanostructured ferritic alloys derive their strength from the dispersion of oxide nanoclusters in the ferritic matrix. We have explored the relative role of minor alloying elements like Ti and Zr on the stability of nanoclusters of vacancy–Y–Ti–O by density functional theory calculations and shown that the binding energy of these clusters increases when we replace Ti with Zr. This could imply faster nucleation of the nanoclusters which, in turn, may lead to finer dispersion of nanoclusters resulting in improved performance of ferritic alloys. Further, we show a core/shell structure for these nanoclusters in which the core is enriched in Y, O, Ti while the shell is enriched in Cr.