ALLOYING DESIGN OF OXIDE DISPERSION-STRENGTHENED FERRITIC STEEL FOR LONG-LIFE FBRS CORE MATERIALS

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steels with excellent swelling resistance and superior high temperature strength are prospective cladding materials for advanced fast breeder reactors. The addition of Ti in 13Cr-3W ODS ferritic steels improved the high temperature strength remarkably by the formation of uniformly distributed ultra-fine oxide particles. ODS ferritic steels have a bamboo-like grain structure and a strong deformation texture. The decrease of creep rupture strength in the bi-axial direction compared to the uni-axial direction is attributed mainly to this unique bamboo grain structure. Nearly equivalent creep rupture strength for both bi-axial and uni-axial direction was successfully attained by introducing the alpha to gamma transformation in ODS martensitic steel.