Nanostructured superalloy structural components and methods of making

A superalloy-containing structural component includes a superalloy matrix, and a plurality of hard phase nanoparticles dispersed at grain boundaries within the superalloy matrix, wherein the plurality of hard phase nanoparticles dispersed at the grain boundaries comprise about 1 volume percent to about 30 volume percent of the structural component, and wherein the superalloy matrix and the plurality of hard phase nanoparticles dispersed at the grain boundaries within the base superalloy matrix have been thermo-mechanically processed to form the structural component. A method for making a structural component includes introducing dislocations into a superalloy particle matrix effective to form new grain boundaries within a plurality of superalloy particles, introducing hard phase dispersoid nanoparticles at a plurality of grain boundaries of the superalloy particles effective to pin the grain boundaries, and thermo-mechanically processing the superalloy particles and hard phase dispersoid nanoparticles to form the superalloy-containing structural component.