Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Medium Entropy Alloy

Building on the dispersion and acoustic mixing methods developed during the creation of NASA's Glenn Research Center GRX-810 technology, this Additively Manufactured ODS Steel uses an innovative coating process to overcome the limitations of traditional ODS steel manufacturing. The technology deposits yttrium oxide nanoparticles onto spherical iron-chromium steel powder particles. During the additive manufacturing process, the coated powder particles are melted and consolidated layer by layer using laser powder bed fusion. As the material solidifies, the oxide nanoparticles distribute uniformly throughout the microstructure, creating a dispersion-strengthened material. The dispersed yttria nanoparticles pin grain boundaries and dislocations, significantly improving creep resistance and mechanical strength at elevated temperatures. Preliminary testing has demonstrated a 10-fold improvement in creep properties compared to non-ODS baseline steels. The technology demonstrates compatibility with industrial-scale laser powder bed fusion systems and can be adapted to incorporate alternative ceramic nanoparticles beyond yttria. Applications span the nuclear energy sector, including commercial fission reactor components, fusion reactor first-wall and blanket structures, nuclear thermal propulsion systems for space exploration, and in-space nuclear power systems where extreme temperature performance and radiation resistance are essential. This strengthened steel is available for patent licensing.

The manufacturing process, building on techniques showcased in LEW-TOPS-151, employs a novel acoustic mixing technique to coat spherical C103 powder particles with a uniform distribution of sub-200 nanometer yttria particles. During laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing, layer-by-layer remelting disperses these yttria particles uniformly throughout the component microstructure. This eliminates the expensive, time-consuming mechanical alloying steps traditionally required for ODS alloys while enabling near-net-shape fabrication of complex geometries. Performance testing demonstrates substantial improvements: GRC103y exhibits double the yield strength at 800°C and 1.5x the yield strength at 1,400°C compared to baseline C103. The alloy also shows superior thermal stability: after one hour at 1,500°C, GRC103y retains 90% of its room temperature strength compared to only 67% for C103. Preliminary creep testing at 1,300°C and a stress of 50 MPa indicates significant improvements in creep resistance by 2539 times over baseline C103. Furthermore, GRC103y maintains excellent formability, allowing manufacturers to use traditional fabrication methods when desired. While NASA originally developed GRC103y for rocket propulsion and hypersonic vehicle applications, the alloy offers value across multiple industries. Aerospace companies can achieve weight savings or push systems to higher temperatures, while the alloy's compatibility with commercial oxidation coatings makes it suitable for environments requiring oxidation protection. GRC103y is currently available for patent licensing.

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) are metals that can return to their original shape following thermal input. They are commonly used as functional materials in sensors, actuators, clamping fixtures and release mechanisms across industries. SMAs can suffer from dimensional/thermal instability, creep, and/or low hardness, resulting in alloys with little to no work output in the long term. To combat these deficiencies, NASA has developed a process of incorporating nanoparticles of refractory materials (i.e., carbide, oxide, and nitride materials with high temperature resistance) into the alloys. Using various processing methods, the nanoparticles can be effectively mixed and dispersed into the metal alloys as shown in the figure below. In these processes the SMA and refractory material powder is mixed and the refractory nanoparticles incorporated through extrusions, melting, or directly used in additive manufacturing to create parts for applications across the aerospace, automotive, marine, or biomedical sectors. The nanoparticle dispersion is a controllable method to strengthen the SMAs, increasing the hardness of the alloys, reducing the impact of creep, and improving the overall dimensional and thermal stability of the alloys. The related patent is now available to license. Please note that NASA does not manufacture products itself for commercial sale.

TSNA-C is a nickel-based disk alloy designed around the familiar gamma/gamma-prime superalloy microstructure, but augmented by local phase transformation (LPT) strengthening that activates under creep. During high-temperature service, specific superlattice stacking faults become sites for controlled atomic-scale transformations, which harden those faults, suppress shear pathways (including microtwinning), and slow the mechanisms that typically degrade lifespan due to creep. This fault-level reinforcement is paired with a commercial-ready composition window tuned to balance transformation strengthening with forgeability and heat-treat response, enabling integration into powder-metallurgy routes such as Hot Isostatic Pressing, forging, and standard thermal processing. In NASA development, TSNA alloys formed the expected gamma/gamma-prime microstructure and preliminary tensile and fatigue-crack-growth evaluations at elevated temperature were within acceptable ranges for disk materials. Additionally, phase-stability checks after long-duration exposures showed no deleterious topologically close-packed (TCP) phase formation. Together, properties provide a disk alloy that can sustain higher hot-section demands with a balanced property profile, while fitting the workflows and cost expectations familiar to engine OEMs and suppliers. Forged variants demonstrated markedly improved high-temperature creep behavior, motivating a commercial composition that balances processability with fault-level strengthening. This technology is assessed at a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 and is available for patent licensing.

Dispersion Enhanced Aluminum Alloys improve the additive manufacturing performance of high-strength aluminum alloys by modifying the alloy powder with uniformly dispersed nano-sized ceramic particles. Building on the dispersion and acoustic mixing methods developed during the creation of NASA Glenn's GRX-810 technology, researchers use an acoustic field to attach nanoscale alumina dispersoids to the surface of each aluminum alloy powder particle. During mixing, acoustic energy creates rapid micro-vibrations that cause the alumina particles to collide with the metal powder, embed against its surface, and distribute into a uniform shell that surrounds each particle. This produces a composite powder in which every aluminum particle carries its own evenly spaced ceramic nucleation sites. When the composite powder is delivered into an additive manufacturing process such as laser powder bed fusion or directed energy deposition, the aluminum alloy melts while the alumina dispersoids remain solid due to their significantly higher melting temperature. As the molten pool flows and mixes, the dispersoids remain suspended throughout the liquid region. During solidification, these solid particles interrupt grain growth and serve as nucleation points that promote the formation of fine equiaxed grains. This refined microstructure distributes thermal stresses more uniformly and disrupts the crack initiation mechanisms that typically occur in high-strength alloys like AA 2050. By stabilizing the alloy during solidification, the technology enables these advanced materials to be printed with greater reliability, improved geometric control, and more consistent mechanical behavior across the final product. The enhanced alloy technology is available for patent licensing.