Effects of milling process and alloying additions on oxide particle dispersion in austenitic stainless steel

An oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) austenitic stainless steel was developed by mechanical alloying (MA) of advanced SUS316 stainless steel. A nano-characterization was performed to understand details of the effect of minor alloying elements in the distribution of dispersoids. It is shown that Y2O3 particles dissolve into the austenitic matrix after the MA for 6 h. Annealing at 1073 K or higher temperatures result in a distribution of fine oxide particles in the recrystallized grains in the ODS austenitic stainless steel. Additions of Hafnium or Zirconium led to the distribution of finer oxide particles than in samples without these elements, resulting in an increase in the hardness of the samples. The most effective concentration of Hf and Zr to increase the hardness was 0.6 and 0.2–0.3 wt%, respectively.