Abstract
Nanostructured ferritic alloys (NFA) are a new class of ultrafine-grained oxide dispersion-strengthened steels, promising for service in extreme environments of high temperature and high irradiation in the next-generation of nuclear reactors. This is owing to the remarkable stability of their complex microstructures containing a high density of Y-Ti-O nanoclusters within grains and along the grain boundaries. While nanoclusters have been recognized to be the primary contributor to the exceptional resistance to irradiation and high-temperature creep, very little is known about the mechanical roles of the polycrystalline grains that constitute the bulk ferritic matrix. Here we report the mesoscale characterization of anisotropic responses of the ultrafine NFA grains to tensile stresses at various temperatures using the state-of-the-art in situ neutron diffraction. We show the first experimental determination of temperature-dependent single-crystal elastic constants for the NFA, and reveal a strong temperature-dependent elastic anisotropy due to a sharp decrease in the shear stiffness constant [c'=(c_11-c_12)/2] when a critical temperature ( T_c ) is approached, indicative of elastic softening and instability of the ferritic matrix. We also show, from anisotropy-induced intergranular strain/stress accumulations, that a common dislocation slip mechanism operates at the onset of yielding for low temperatures, while there is a deformation crossover from low-temperature lattice hardening to high temperature lattice softening in response to extensive plastic deformation.