Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Ultrafine-Grained Austenitic Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Steel

316L stainless steel based austenitic oxide dispersion strengthened (AODS) steel was fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The AODS sample exhibited an ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure with a bimodal grain size distribution (large grains of about 1200 nm and fine grains of about 260 nm). Two groups of oxide particles were observed; fine Y₂Ti₂O₇ of about 7.7 nm and coarse Cr₂O₃ particles of about 200 nm in diameter. Tensile tests of the hot-rolled AODS steel samples showed yield strength of up to 890 MPa at room temperature, which is nearly four times higher than that of conventional 316L stainless steel. Micro-indentation and hardness tests indicated even higher yield strength of up to 1200 MPa, which shows a good agreement with the calculated value by combining of the grain refinement strengthening by the Hall–Petch relation and the dispersion strengthening by the Orowan mechanism. The lower strength from tensile tests should be attributed to the formation of micro-cracks at the interfaces between coarse Cr₂O₃ particles and the matrix. Coarse Cr₂O₃ particles were also frequently observed inside the fracture surface dimples of the creep ruptured sample at 923 K (650 °C) and 140 MPa. It is thus suggested that the yield strength and elongation could be further improved by controlling the coarse Cr₂O₃ particles.