Fe–Cr–V ferritic steels for possible nuclear applications

Basic mechanical and metallurgical properties of specific ferritic Fe–Cr–V alloys and steels with 5, 10, and 15 wt.% vanadium were investigated. Vanadium is an effective carbide former and can also form a brittle sigma phase with chromium. Therefore, the microstructural investigations focused on the determination and analysis of possible precipitations. The present study showed that sigma phase precipitates increase significantly in alloys with 10 wt.% Cr and 10 wt.% V. The addition of carbon led to grain refinement due to the stabilizing effect of VC. In this way, precipitation hardening as well as fine grain strengthening could be quantified for this class of material. However, compared to typical martensitic steels, the strength of the considered ternary Fe–Cr–V alloys and steels is still lower.