Papers by Author: Niels H. van Dijk

Abstract: Studying austenitisation in steel, so far, was either limited to observations at the surface of the material or to the determination of the average grain growth behavior in the bulk. The development of the three-dimensional X-ray diffraction (3DXRD) microscope at beam line ID11 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, made it possible to study the transformation kinetics in-situ and at the level of individual grains in the bulk of the material. Unique in-situ observations of austenite growth kinetics during continuous heating experiments were made for two commercial low-alloy steels (C22 and C35). The observed growth behavior of individual austenite grains gives a valuable contribution to understanding the phase transformations on heating, i.e. austenite formation from ferrite and pearlite.

Abstract: Ferrite formation during austenite decomposition in carbon-manganese steel is studied during slow continuous cooling by three-dimensional x-ray diffraction microscopy at a synchrotron source. The ferrite fraction and nucleation rate are measured simultaneously and independently in real time in the bulk of the specimen. Thermodynamic calculations involving both ortho- and paraequilibrium have been performed to determine the driving force for nucleation. From the experiments and thermodynamic calculations the activation energies are estimated for nucleation and the transfer of iron atoms across the interface of the cluster during ferrite nucleation in steel.

Abstract: The present work investigates the influence of phosphorus addition on the size distribution of retained austenite in TRIP steels containing 0.01%, 0.09% and 0.14% phosphorus. The size of retained austenite is measured by means of neutron depolarization technique and optical microscopy. It is found that the addition of phosphorous increases the size of the larger intergranular and inter-ferritic austenite grains and therefore also increases the volume fraction of retained austenite due to the strengthening effect of phosphorous on the surrounding ferrite and bainite grains. For all phosphorous additions the most frequently observed austenite size is around 0.2 μm, which is probably corresponds to the interlath film-type retained austenite. The average grain size from the neutron depolarization technique agrees in general with that from the optical microscopy and it is suggested that the accuracy can be improved by further development of the data analysis by taking into account the preferred shape and orientation of the austenite grains.

Abstract: Maraging steels show an excellent combination of high strength and ductility, which makes them very attractive in a large variety of potential applications. The present work is concerned with the main factors influencing the stability of metastable austenite in such a steel. At subzero temperatures a large variation in the isothermal transformation behaviour of austenite to martensite has been observed. Factors such as the austenite grain size and the interstitial content in solid solution are known to influence austenite stability and, therefore, the martensitic transformation. In this steel, the addition of titanium results in carbonitride precipitation. These precipitates play an indirect but important role in the stability of austenite by means of removing interstitials from the solid solution and by inhibiting an austenite grain growth. The combination of techniques such as X-ray diffraction, magnetisation measurements, three-dimensional neutron depolarisation, and internal friction measurements enables a complete characterisation of the transformation. A step towards understanding the factors responsible for the variation in the behaviour observed is the main contribution of this work.