High Temperature Strength of Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Aluminium

The tensile flow stress of coarse-grained dispersion strengthened Al-Al2O3 materials were measured as a function of temperature (77–873 K) and volume fraction (0.19-0.92 vol.%) of aluminium oxide. For the same material, the creep strength was determined as a function of temperature in the range 573–873 K. The modulus-corrected yield stress (0.01 offset) is found to be temperature independent at low temperature (195–472 K). Between 473 and 573 K, the yield stress starts to decrease with increasing temperature. At high temperatures (573–873 K), the modulus-corrected yield stress is approximately constant (except for the material with the lowest oxide content). The high temperature values of the modulus-corrected yield stresses are approximately two-thirds of the low temperature value. During high temperature creep, there is a definite indication of a threshold stress. This threshold stress is proportional to the Orowan stress and it does not fall below about 0.5-0.7 of the Orowan stress. During creep even at stresses near the threshold stress a dislocation substructure develops consisting of dense tangles surrounding the larger particles and the particle clusters in addition to a coarse dislocation network. These structures may modify both the threshold stress and the matrix creep properties.