In this study, oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) ferritic steels with nominal composition of Fe–14Cr–2W–0.35Y ₂ O ₃ (14Cr non Zr-ODS) and Fe–14Cr–2W–0.3Zr–0.35Y ₂ O ₃ (14Cr–Zr-ODS) were fabricated by mechanical alloying (MA) and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) technique to explore the impact of Zr addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 14Cr-ODS steels. Microstructure characterization revealed that Zr addition led to the formation of finer oxides, which was identified as Y ₄ Zr ₃ O ₁₂ , with denser dispersion in the matrix. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of the non Zr-ODS steel is about 1201 MPa, but UTS of the Zr-ODS steel increases to1372 MPa, indicating the enhancement of mechanical properties by Zr addition.

In the present study, the welding thermal cycle of magnesium-treated EH36 steel was simulated by a thermal simulation experiment machine. The effects of welding heat input on the microstructure and low temperature toughness of the welded joint were studied, and the mechanism of acicular ferrite nucleation induced by \(\mathrm { MgAl_2O_4}\) inclusion was revealed. The results showed that, when the welding heat input of 150 kJ/cm, 250 kJ/cm and 350 kJ/cm was utilized, the microstructure of heat affected zone in the experimental EH36 steel consisted of grain boundary ferrite, acicular ferrite, granular bainite, and a small amount of pearlite, but the volume fraction and grain size of each independent microstructure were different. With the increase of welding heat input, the content of acicular ferrite and granular bainite decreased, the content of grain boundary ferrite increased, and the average grain size increased, whereas the low temperature toughness of the experimental EH36 steel welded joint reduced from 174 to 67 J. Furthermore, \(\mathrm {MgAl_2O_4}\) inclusions can induce acicular ferrite nucleation, whereas the nucleation mechanism is a combination of low lattice mismatch and low interfacial energy.

In the present work, specimens prepared from coarse grained low carbon steel with different prestrains were baked and then, their bake hardening (BH) property and internal friction were determined. TEM was used to characterize the dislocation structure in BH treated samples. The measurements of internal friction in prestrained samples and baked samples were carried out using a multifunctional internal friction apparatus. The results indicate that, in coarse grained low carbon steel, the bake hardening properties (BH values) were negative, which were increased by increasing the prestrain from 2 to 5%, and then were decreased by increasing the prestrain from 5 to 10%. In the specimen with prestrain 5%, the BH value reached the maximum value and the height of Snoek-Köster peak was observed to be the maximum alike. With increasing the prestrain, both of the BH value and Snoek-Köster peak heights are similarly varied. It is concluded that Snoek-Köster and dislocation-enhanced Snoek peaks, caused by the interactions between interstitial solute carbon atoms and dislocations, can be used in further development of the bake hardening steels.