In this work, a high-temperature low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of a newly developed austenitic oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steel is investigated. The LCF tests were performed in air at 650 °C under three different strain amplitudes (±0.4, ±0.5, and ±0.7%) with a nominal strain rate of 10−3 s−1. The measured cyclic stress response showed four distinct stages which include short initial stable cyclic response followed by a prolonged hardening with subsequent short saturation and finally crack initiation and growth stage. The rate of hardening and the duration of stages are a function of applied strain amplitude. Microstructural investigations were carried out to shed light on the deformation mechanisms. After cycling, the overall microstructure appears stable without any modifications in grain shape and size. In addition, twinning and stacking fault fractions remain unchanged. However, cyclic hardening is an aftermath of dislocation multiplication whose rate is also a function of applied strain amplitude. Furthermore, oxide particles, as well as fine grains, inhibit strain localization by restricting three-dimensional dislocation structure formation that are associated with the development of extrusions and intrusions and are readily observed in conventional austenitic non-ODS steels.

To study the thermal deformation behavior and microstructural evolution of the type 347H austenitic steel, compression experiments were conducted at the temperatures of 800–1100 °C with strain rates of 0.01–10 s−1. The activation energy and constitutive equation of the type 347H steel during thermal deformation process were determined according to the flow stress curves. Both the hot processing maps and microstructure characteristics under different deformation conditions were investigated. Based on the thermal processing maps, two unstable regions under 800 °C/0.01–10 s−1 and 1100 °C/0.01 s−1 were identified. The processing maps were in favor of optimizing thermal processing parameters and improving thermal processing properties of the type 347H austenitic steel. After thermal deformation, the dislocation in the austenite matrix increases significantly. Besides, in the stable regions, the precipitation of carbides is facilitated by thermal deformation.