Effect of mechanical alloying on the mechanical and microstructural properties of ODS EUROFER 97

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels appear to be promising candidates for the future fusion reactor. Understanding of the behaviour of EUROFER 97 with the addition of 0.3 wt% yttria and 0.3 wt% titanium through the powder metallurgy route using the high energy ball mill is studied in detail. Microstructure analysis by TEM and SEM, X-ray diffraction analysis and hardness testing are used to optimize the milling conditions of atomized EUROFER 97 powder with yttria and Ti. It appears that the dispersed yttria and Ti particles are not detectable after a milling time of 2 h, following examination by SEM and X-ray diffraction. The alloys hardness increases with milling time and saturates after 10 h of milling. The particle size of the alloy decreases with milling time and beyond 14 h increases due to agglomeration.