Solid State Phenomena Vols. 172-174

Abstract: The temporal evolution of the microstructure resulting from phase separation into Fe-rich (α), Cr-rich (α¢), and Fe(Ti,Al) (β¢) phases of a Fe-20Cr-6Al-0.5Ti alloy has been analyzed by thermoelectric power measurements (TEP). The early stages of decomposition and the evolution of the three-dimensional microstructure have been analyzed by atom probe tomography (APT). The roles of Cr, Al, and Ti during the decomposition process have been investigated in terms of solute partitioning between the phases. Analysis of proximity histograms revealed that significant Al and Ti partitioning occurs, which is consistent with theoretical calculations. The results indicate that as the α-α¢ phase separation proceeds, Al and Ti are rejected into the α phase, which causes the β¢ phase to nucleate on the surface of the α¢ phase.

Abstract: A Self-Consistent Mean Field (SCMF) kinetic theory including an explicit description ofthe vacancy diffusion mechanism is developed. The present theory goes beyond the usual local equi-librium hypothesis. It is applied to the study of the early time spinodal decomposition in alloys. Theresulting analytical expression of the structure function highlights the contribution of the vacancydiffusion mechanism. Instead of the single amplification rate of the Cahn-Hillard linear theory, thelinearized SCMF kinetic equations involve three constant rates, first one describing the vacancy re-laxation kinetics, second one related to the kinetic coupling between local concentrations and paircorrelations and the third one representing the spinodal amplification rate. Starting from the same va-cancy diffusion model, we perform kineticMonte Carlo simulations of a Body Centered Cubic (BCC)demixting alloy. The resulting spherically averaged structure function is compared to the SCMF pre-dictions. Both qualitative and quantitative agreements are satisfying.

Abstract: Duplex stainless steels are desirable for use in power generation systems due to their attractive combination of strength, corrosion resistance, and cost. However, thermal embrittlement at intermediate temperatures (~475°C) via α-α' phase separation limits upper service temperatures for many applications. The development of low Cr and Ni equivalent lean grade alloys potentially increases the upper service temperature of these alloys by delaying the onset of α-α' phase separation. The present work assesses the thermal stability of a relatively new lean grade of duplex stainless steel, alloy 2003. In this paper, alloy 2003 has been compared to the most widely used duplex alloy, 2205, through a series of isothermal agings between 260°C and 538°C for times between 1 and 10,000 hours. The thermal stability of these alloys was primarily characterized by changes in microhardness. The microhardness data were fit to a JMA-type equation to quantify embrittlement rates and predict microstructural changes out to 50 years. Additionally, as-received specimens were characterized with the scanning electron microprobe to quantify the chemistry within the ferrite grains relative to the bulk material. Alloy 2003 was shown to be much more resistant to thermal embrittlement than alloy 2205. For 50 years of service at 288°C, it is predicted that alloy 2003 components will have a change in microhardness of about 25 HK where alloy 2205 components would increase approximately 175 HK, which indicates significant embrittlement. These findings show that lean grade alloys will have a greater service temperature range than standard grades. However, additional data, characterization, and modeling are needed to better predict embrittlement kinetics over component lifetimes.

Abstract: Alloy 15-5 PH is a stainless steel with 15 wt.% Cr and 5 wt.% Ni that is precipitation hardened by addition of Cu. In its semi-finished state, this alloy consists in Cu-supersaturated soft martensite; its high specific properties come from a final tempering consisting in a heating to 550-600°C, holding for 4 hours, and then air cooling. This treatment leads to nanometric Cu precipitation that hardens the material and to transformation of some martensite to reverted austenite which is then stable and provides ductility. While a' embrittlement of such steels is known to occur at temperature in the range 450-520°C, it has been reported that they can be sensitive to the same phenomenon after long term ageing at temperature as low as 300°C, with a significant loss of ductility and an increase of the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature. Atom probe studies showed that this degradation is related to demixtion of martensite into Fe-rich and Cr-rich phases. Depending on the ageing temperature, demixtion can proceed through a nucleation and growth precipitation or by spinodal decomposition of the martensitic matrix. The present study reports differential thermal analyses (DTA) performed upon heating samples of material held at various temperatures (290-525°C) for various times (410 h to 8500 h) that have been characterized by atom probe. A clear DTA signal is obtained upon the reverse spinodal transformation that is further found to depend on ageing conditions.

Abstract: In this paper the concept of pseudospinodal decomposition introduced by Ni and Khachaturyan [1] as a symmetry-lifting continuous phase separation, which can produce coherent nanoscale morphologies ranging from nanowires to nanolaminates, is reviewed. The term spinodal arises from the continuous change in the compositions of emerging cubic and tetragonal phases resulting in quasi-periodic microstructures stemming from the attendant transformation strain and surface energy anisotropies. It is argued here that important features of the pseudospinodal mechanism can be understood in terms of conventional classical and non-classical nucleation and that the behaviour is more general than the cubic → tetragonal transformation context articulated by its authors. Also, the possible relevance of the pseudospinodal mechanism to studies of decomposition of hypostoichiometric Fe-Pd alloys will be presented.

Abstract: Duplex stainless steels (DSS) are alloys made of ferrite and austenite, with a proportion of each phase around 50%. Their main advantage in comparison with other austenitic and ferritic stainless steels is the attractive combination of high strength and corrosion resistance together with good formability and weldability. Unfortunately, DSS often present a poor hot workability. This phenomenon can stem from different factors associated to the balance of the phases, the nature of the interface, the distribution, size and shape of the second phase, and possibly also from difference in rheology between ferrite and austenite. In order to determine the specific influence of phase morphology on the hot-workability of DSS, two austenite morphologies (E: Equiaxed and W: Widmanstätten) with very similar phase ratio have been generated using appropriate heat treatments. It was checked that the latter treatments generate stable microstructures so that subsequent hot mechanical tests are performed on the microstructures of interest. One microstructure consists of a ferritic matrix with austenitic equiaxed islands while the other microstructure is composed of a ferritic matrix with Widmanstätten austenite. The latter morphology corresponds to the morphology observed in as-cast slabs.

Abstract: Hypostoichiometric Fe-Pd binary alloys (35-45 at% Pd) were severely deformed (>90%) and subsequently aged to induce concomitant recrystallization, precipitation, and ordering. This thermomechanical processing strategy was articulated by Hornbogen [1] over thirty years ago. The resulting exchange-coupled ferromagnets contain ferrite precipitates and a complex metastable two-phase lamellar transformation product comprised of ordered L1₀ and a metastable FCC phase. The later duplex microconstituent is suggested to form in conjunction with a so-called pseudospinodal reaction [2] involving emerging cubic and tetragonal phases, whereby phase separation and ordering result from continuous changes in composition and a reduction in symmetry, cubic to tetragonal. The deformation texture of the parent austenite is substantially retained in the transformation product, resulting in anisotropy of the magnetic properties as determined by magnetometry (VSM). This paper presents electron microscopy results elucidating the crystallography and morphology of the phase mixtures including HREM. Magnetic field annealing is also included as a branch of our thermomechanical processing strategy, and we discuss the influence of the external fields on recrystallization, precipitation, and ordering.

Abstract: The characteristics and the mechanism of ferrite transformation in alloy steels which contain a carbide-forming element have attracted considerable attention for past decades. Since it is reported that the nucleation and growth of ferrite in Fe-C base alloys is accelerated by high magnetic field, the influence of a magnetic field of 12 Tesla on ferrite transformation was studied in a Fe-C- Mo alloy. Whereas a significant amount of expedition was observed at lower temperatures, the principal features of ferrite transformation, namely, a marked retardation of transformation at intermediate temperatures and premature cessation of transformation before it reaches the final equilibrium amount below the bay temperature were essentially retained. In contrast, the influence of magnetic field was much less at higher temperatures. These results are discussed in terms of the influence of magnetic field on the phase equilibrium and coupled-solute drag effects on the migration a/g phase boundary.

Abstract: A 0.45% C steel was deformed in torsion over the temperature range 762-872°C in a 5%H₂-Ar gas atmosphere. Strains of 0.25-3.0 were applied at a strain rate of ε^. = 4 s^-1. The experimental parameters were varied in order to study the effects of strain and temperature on the formation of ferrite by dynamic transformation (DT) at temperatures above the Ae₃. The critical strain for ferrite formation by DT was about 0.2 and its volume fraction increased with strain. The average ferrite grain sizes were about 1 to 2 µm and were fairly independent of temperature. It was observed that the deformation-induced ferrite remained fairly stable during 800 s of isothermal holding. In general, the experiments showed that DT takes place at temperatures above the Ae₃ and that the reverse static transformation is much slower than the forward dynamic transformation.

Abstract: The nucleation of bcc ferrite precipitates at austenite grain corners in a Co-15Fe alloy was studied by serial sectioning coupled with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis. Grain corners were identified by recombination of triple points and triangular annihilation, whereas quite a few precipitates were surrounded by more than four matrix grains when twins were counted as individual grains. More than 40% of corners composed all of high angle grain boundaries were vacant at an undercooling of ~60°C from the g/(a+g) phase boundary. All the precipitates had K-S or N-W orientation relationship with at least one grain and a larger proportion of them had the OR with two and three grains. For half of vacant corners a hypothetical precipitate could have the OR with more than one grain. It is likely that not only the misorientations among the matrix grains, but also the orientations of the grain boundary planes have a major influence on nucleation potency even at grain corners.