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Low Cost Dispersion Strengthened Ferritic Steels--Powdermet, Inc., 9960 Glenoaks Boulevard, Unit A, Sun Valley, CA 91352-1047; 818-768-6420
Mr. Asit Biswas, Principal Investigator
Mr. Andrew J. Sherman, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG03-99ER82861
Amount: $99,969
Relaxation of current temperature and pressure limits for structural materials used in the ITER fusion reactor will enable increased thermal efficiency and safety for future fusion power reactors. Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steels offer the potential for relaxing these limits over 316 alloy steels, the current baseline material for the ITER reactor structures. This project will demonstrate an innovative, potentially low cost process for producing more uniformly distributed, higher levels of dispersants in modified Cr-Mo-V steels for use in fusion reactor structures. Current attrition milling production techniques will be replaced with newly available nanoengineered powder production techniques. In Phase I, in-situ ODS steel powders will be produced using a modified carbonyl iron powder manufacturing process, samples will be consolidated through sinter/extrusion powder metallurgy techniques, and the resultant material microstructures and properties will be characterized. The process will result in improved control over dispersant size, composition, distribution, and uniformity and will lead to lower cost alloys capable of higher temperature operation and improved performance.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The proposed ODS powder manufacturing techniques should lead to lower cost, higher performance metal alloys for use in steel alloys, aluminum alloys, and refractory alloys, enabling safer, more reliable, energy efficient systems.