Development of Y2O3 dispersion strengthened Cu alloy using Cu6Y and Cu2O addition through the MA-HIP process.

• ODS-Cu alloy with Y 2 O 3 was successfully produced using the Cu 6 Y compound as the Y source for Y 2 O 3 nano-particles through the MA-HIP process. • Cu 2 O addition on the MA-HIP process promoted to form Y 2 O 3 nano-paritcles with size of 30 nm and number density of 1.7 × 103/μm3. • The Vickers hardness was enhanced by the both the increase of Y 2 O 3 nano-paritcles and the finer sized Cu grain formation. A copper-based material is the recent main trend of advanced heat sink materials for the solid divertor systems, providing an optimal combination of excellent mechanical strength and superior thermal conductivity under severe neutron irradiation environment. In particular, oxide dispersion strengthened Cu (ODS-Cu) alloy with yttrium oxide (Y 2 O 3) nano-particles is one of the promising materials because of the lower influence of the particles on thermal conductivity and the higher resistance to coarsening of the particles due to their thermodynamic stability. The metal Y as the Y 2 O 3 source has been used to fabricate ODS-Cu alloys in the previous work. In this study, we used the Cu 6 Y intermetallic compound as the new Y source material to form Y 2 O 3 particles during mechanical alloying (MA) followed by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) process, and successfully fabricated ODS-Cu alloy with Y 2 O 3 nano-particles using the Cu 6 Y compound. The effects of Cu 2 O addition in this process as the oxidant material were also investigated. Y 2 O 3 nano-particles with typical size of 30 nm were successfully formed into the Cu intra-grains and around grain boundaries, and the density of the Y 2 O 3 nano-particles increased by the Cu 2 O addition. Cu 2 O addition promoted the oxidation of Y from the Cu 6 Y compound, forming Y 2 O 3 nano-particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]