The effect of hot isostatic pressing parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of Eurofer powder HIPed material

The production of reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steel by powder metallurgy and high isostatic pressing (HIP) offers numerous advantages for different nuclear applications. The objective of this work is to optimise the Eurofer powder HIP process in order to obtain RAFM solid HIPed steel with similar mechanical properties to those of a forged material. Starting from the forged solid Eurofer steel batch, the material is atomized and the Eurofer powder is characterized in terms of granulometry, chemical composition, surface oxides, etc. Different compaction HIP cycle parameters in the temperature range (950–1100 °C) are tested. The chemical composition of the HIPed material is comparable to the initial forged Eurofer. All the obtained materials are fully dense and the microstructure of the compacted material is well martensitic. The prior austenite grain size seems to be constant in this temperature range. The mechanical tests performed at room temperature reveal acceptable hardness, tensile and Charpy impact properties regarding the ITER specification.