Influence of impurities on hot-rolled molybdenum for high temperature applications

Abstract Refractory metals are crucial for high-temperature applications such as fusion reactors. However, no systematic research has been reported for the influence of the impurities in refectory metals, especially at high temperatures. Our goal is an investigation of the influence of dissolved impurities on the recrystallization behavior of hot-rolled molybdenum (Mo). Two sets of 80%-rolled Mo plates with different purity levels pure Mo and non-pure Mo with the content of impurities, O, C, N, etc. are analyzed. Both isothermal and isochronous annealing experiments demonstrated that the impurities resulted in a reduction of recrystallization temperature and acceleration of texture transformation in a Mo plate. The recrystallization temperature of as-rolled non-pure Mo is about 100 °C lower than that of pure Mo. EBSD results show deformed γ-fiber texture gets weakened while {001}〈110〉 component gets strengthened at 1250 °C for pure Mo and 1150 °C for non-pure Mo, leading to the destabilization of fibrous grains. The XRD and TEM results reveal that the dislocation density of as-rolled non-pure Mo is ~2.4 times that of pure Mo. This discovery deviates from the conventional understanding of impurities or second phase particles in metals, providing better practical knowledge and opportunities to establish the technical parameters of refractory metals for high temperatures applications.