Preparation of nanostructural oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) Mo alloy by mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering, and its characterization

The nanostructural oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) Mo alloy was successfully fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) and spark plasma sintering (SPS). In this study, the MA and SPS conditions were systematically studied, and the characteristics of oxide particles were investigated. The results show that the MA process can refine the powder and promote the dissolution of interstitial atoms, but introduce the ZrO₂ and excess O impurities. To recycle ZrO₂ impurity as a source of active element Zr for alloy preparation, the content of Zr and O with milling time was quantitatively evaluated. In the SPS process, the precipitation of oxide particles retard the densification of as-MA Mo powders. Based on the calculated linear shrinkage, the densification behavior is controlled by sintering temperature, which is driven by grain boundary or dislocation climbing. A high relative density of 99.28% in ODS Mo alloy is achieved using the optimized MA (250 rpm/18 h) and SPS (1400 °C/5 min) parameters. Additionally, the ultrafine Mo grain structure (300 nm) and uniformly dispersed nanoscale Y-Zr-O oxide particles (20.32 nm) inside grains greatly improve the mechanical properties (569.63 ± 28.08 HV_0.3) of ODS Mo alloys. Non-stoichiometric Y-Zr-O particles, with different Y/Zr ratios (Y/Zr <1), possess a special fluorite crystal structure.