Abstract
High chromium HiperFer (High performance ferritic) materials present a promising concept for the development of high temperature creep and corrosion resistant steels. The institute for Microstructure and Properties of Materials (IEK-2) at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Germany develops high strength, Laves phase forming, fully ferritic steels which feature excellent resistance to steam oxidation and better creep life than state of the art 9-12 Cr steels. Mechanical strength properties of these steels depend not only on chemical composition, but can be adapted to various applications by specialized thermo(mechanical) treatment. The paper will outline the sensitivity of tensile, creep, stress relaxation and impact properties on processing and heat treatment. Furthermore an outlook on future development potentials will be derived.