Comparison of the Thermal Stability in Equal-Channel-Angular-Pressed and High-Pressure-Torsion-Processed Fe–21Cr–5Al Alloy

Maalavan Arivu; Andrew Hoffman; Jiaqi Duan; Jonathan Poplawsky; Xinchang Zhang; Frank Liou; Rinat Islamgaliev; Ruslan Valiev; Haiming Wen

doi:10.1002/adem.202300756

Comparison of the Thermal Stability in Equal-Channel-Angular-Pressed and High-Pressure-Torsion-Processed Fe–21Cr–5Al Alloy

Maalavan Arivu, Andrew Hoffman, Jiaqi Duan, Jonathan Poplawsky, Xinchang Zhang, Frank Liou, Rinat Islamgaliev, Ruslan Valiev, Haiming Wen

Materials MicroAnalysis

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Abstract

Nanostructured steels are expected to have enhanced irradiation tolerance and improved strength. However, they suffer from poor microstructural stability at elevated temperatures. In this study, Fe–21Cr–5Al–0.026C (wt%) Kanthal D (KD) alloy belonging to a class of (FeCrAl) alloys considered for accident-tolerant fuel cladding in light-water reactors is nanostructured using two severe plastic deformation techniques of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) and high-pressure torsion (HPT), and their thermal stability between 500–700 °C is studied and compared. ECAP KD is found to be thermally stable up to 500 °C, whereas HPT KD is unstable at 500 °C. Microstructural characterization reveals that ECAP KD undergoes recovery at 550 °C and recrystallization above 600 °C, while HPT KD shows continuous grain growth after annealing above 500 °C. Enhanced thermal stability of ECAP KD is from significant fraction (>50%) of low-angle grain boundaries (GBs) (misorientation angle 2–15°) stabilizing the microstructure due to their low mobility. Small grain sizes, a high fraction (>80%) of high-angle GBs (misorientation angle >15°) and accordingly a large amount of stored GB energy, serve as the driving force for HPT KD to undergo grain growth instead of recrystallization driven by excess stored strain energy.

Original language	English
Article number	2300756
Journal	Advanced Engineering Materials
Volume	25
Issue number	21
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202300756
State	Published - Nov 2023

Funding

This research was financially supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, through the NEET–NSUF (Nuclear Energy Enabling Technology–Nuclear Science User Facility) program (award number DE‐NE0008524). H. Wen was partially supported by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Faculty Development Program (award number NRC 31310018M0044). R.Z. Valiev and R.K. Islamgaliev acknowledge the Russian Science Foundation in the framework of the project nos. 22‐19‐00445 (RZV) and 22‐23‐00714 (RKI) for research in their part of the publication. APT research was supported by the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS), which is a US Department of Energy, Office of Science User Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The authors would like to thank James Burns for his assistance in performing APT sample preparation and running the APT experiments.

Funders	Funder number
Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission	NRC 31310018M0044
Office of Science
Office of Nuclear Energy
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies	DE‐NE0008524
Russian Science Foundation	22‐23‐00714, 22‐19‐00445

Keywords

grain growth
microstructural characterization
microstructural characterization
nanostructured steels
sever plastic deformation recrystallization

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10.1002/adem.202300756

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title = "Comparison of the Thermal Stability in Equal-Channel-Angular-Pressed and High-Pressure-Torsion-Processed Fe–21Cr–5Al Alloy",

abstract = "Nanostructured steels are expected to have enhanced irradiation tolerance and improved strength. However, they suffer from poor microstructural stability at elevated temperatures. In this study, Fe–21Cr–5Al–0.026C (wt%) Kanthal D (KD) alloy belonging to a class of (FeCrAl) alloys considered for accident-tolerant fuel cladding in light-water reactors is nanostructured using two severe plastic deformation techniques of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) and high-pressure torsion (HPT), and their thermal stability between 500–700 °C is studied and compared. ECAP KD is found to be thermally stable up to 500 °C, whereas HPT KD is unstable at 500 °C. Microstructural characterization reveals that ECAP KD undergoes recovery at 550 °C and recrystallization above 600 °C, while HPT KD shows continuous grain growth after annealing above 500 °C. Enhanced thermal stability of ECAP KD is from significant fraction (>50%) of low-angle grain boundaries (GBs) (misorientation angle 2–15°) stabilizing the microstructure due to their low mobility. Small grain sizes, a high fraction (>80%) of high-angle GBs (misorientation angle >15°) and accordingly a large amount of stored GB energy, serve as the driving force for HPT KD to undergo grain growth instead of recrystallization driven by excess stored strain energy.",

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author = "Maalavan Arivu and Andrew Hoffman and Jiaqi Duan and Jonathan Poplawsky and Xinchang Zhang and Frank Liou and Rinat Islamgaliev and Ruslan Valiev and Haiming Wen",

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AB - Nanostructured steels are expected to have enhanced irradiation tolerance and improved strength. However, they suffer from poor microstructural stability at elevated temperatures. In this study, Fe–21Cr–5Al–0.026C (wt%) Kanthal D (KD) alloy belonging to a class of (FeCrAl) alloys considered for accident-tolerant fuel cladding in light-water reactors is nanostructured using two severe plastic deformation techniques of equal-channel angular pressing (ECAP) and high-pressure torsion (HPT), and their thermal stability between 500–700 °C is studied and compared. ECAP KD is found to be thermally stable up to 500 °C, whereas HPT KD is unstable at 500 °C. Microstructural characterization reveals that ECAP KD undergoes recovery at 550 °C and recrystallization above 600 °C, while HPT KD shows continuous grain growth after annealing above 500 °C. Enhanced thermal stability of ECAP KD is from significant fraction (>50%) of low-angle grain boundaries (GBs) (misorientation angle 2–15°) stabilizing the microstructure due to their low mobility. Small grain sizes, a high fraction (>80%) of high-angle GBs (misorientation angle >15°) and accordingly a large amount of stored GB energy, serve as the driving force for HPT KD to undergo grain growth instead of recrystallization driven by excess stored strain energy.

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Comparison of the Thermal Stability in Equal-Channel-Angular-Pressed and High-Pressure-Torsion-Processed Fe–21Cr–5Al Alloy

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