Research progress in microstructure and service performance of high-strength and corrosion-resistant ODS−FeCrAl alloy

The demand for cleaner and more efficient new generation reactors has become increasingly urgent to solve the world’s energy supply and environmental issues such as carbon emissions. The Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in 2011 prompted researchers to pay more attention to the safety performance of cladding tube materials in nuclear power plants under non-working conditions. Earlier, zirconium alloy, which was widely used in cladding tube materials, would cause serious accidents due to the production of explosive products after failure under the condition of beyond design-basis accident (BDBA). To avoid this problem, researchers proposed the design concept of accident tolerant fuel (ATF). ATF requires the new cladding material to retain a particular strength under the condition of BDBA and does not produce explosive products, thereby avoiding catastrophic accidents. Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS)−FeCrAl alloy has good high-temperature strength due to its dispersion strengthening. After treatment, the presence of Al forms a thin and dense Al₂O₃ protective film on the surface of the alloy. This layer of Al₂O₃ protects the alloy, ensuring that it does not fail due to corrosion even when exposed to 1400 °C steam. This combination of high-temperature strength and corrosion resistance makes ODS−FeCrAl alloy a promising candidate for advanced reactor cladding materials like ATF. Although the introduction of aluminum improves the corrosion resistance of the alloy, it also changes the type of dispersed particles in the ODS alloy. The size of dispersed particles containing Al is usually larger than before, and their number density decrease. The state of dispersed particles in the alloy is closely related to the mechanical properties of the alloy. In this paper, the current research progress is summarized using relevant domestic and foreign documents considering the influence and control method of the microstructure of ODS−FeCrAl alloy due to the introduction of the Al element with the goal of serving as a reference for the forture development of ODS−FeCrAl alloy.