FeCrAl oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) alloys are promising materials for high-temperature nuclear applications, e.g., fuel cladding in the next generation of super-critical water-cooled reactors (SCWR) and boiling water reactors (BWR). The introduction of Y2O3, Ti, and V to the ferritic matrix leads to the formation of complex oxides and nanoclusters such as Y–Al–O, Y–Ti–O, Ti–V–O, etc. The oxide nanoparticles could improve the properties of the original matrix, such as strength or irradiation resistance. These oxides hinder dislocation glide and grain boundary migration. Moreover, they act as trapping sites for point defects produced during neutron irradiation. However, pure FeCrAl alloys are more frequently studied than FeCrAl ODS alloys. Hence, there is an urgent need from the scientific community and industrial companies to deliver new experimental data about FeCrAl ODS.

We investigated FeCrAl-Y2O3 ODS alloys with different Ti and V additions in this study. The alloyed powder was prepared from pure elemental powders by mechanical alloying (MA) in a planetary ball mill. The results of MA showed a powder revealing a body-centered cubic (bcc) and high chemical homogeneity. The mechanically alloyed powder was consolidated using spark plasma sintering (SPS). The structural and microstructural investigations of bulk samples revealed a predominant bcc phase and homogenously distributed various types of strengthening oxide particles. The grain size varies significantly from submicron size to a few nanometers. The increase of hardness by more than 10% due to the addition of V was noticed. It is mainly due to the formation of oxides and carbides containing V. Additionally, the sintered samples were annealed to precipitate oxides particles and study phase transformations. The promising results of this study bring new knowledge to the scientific community about FeCrAl ODS alloys for applications in the nuclear industry.