A new thermodynamic database has been combined with an existing kinetic database to perform coarsening simulations in ternary systems including MC and M7C3 carbides in an fee matrix. The kinetic database was revised taking into consideration the new experimental information on the Fe-Cr-V-C system obtained in the present work, and available experiments on the ternary Fe-Cr-C and Fe-V-C systems. After revision the agreement between experimental results and simulations was satisfactory. It was found that the interfacial energy of M7C3 was twice as large as that of the MC carbide. The calculations for commercial steels with 6 alloy elements gave results in satisfactory agreement with new experimental measurements. The present coarsening simulations use the calculated equilibrium state and the observed particle sizes as the state for the start of the simulations. All the simulations were performed with the DICTRA software. © 2008 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
A systematic study has been performed on the effect of alloying elements arsenic (As), antimony (Sb) and phosphorus (P) on the dezincification resistance of α-phase in brass. The result showed that P formed particles with Al and Fe already at relatively high temperatures, leaving no P in solid solution and thus no protection against dezincification. Arsenic only formed particles at lower temperatures and offers a satisfactory protecting. However, with increasing As levels grain boundary attack was observed. Samples alloyed with Sb show a satisfactory resistance to dezincification and no grain boundary attack. Finally, a combination of As and Sb at low alloying levels provided an excellent dezincification resistance for brass containing typical impurity levels. This paper is part of a Themed Issue on Brass Alloys. © 2016 Swerea KIMAB.
Precipitation of secondary carbides in hot work tool steels during tempering heat treatments has been investigated using simulations based on a thermodynamic description coupled with kinetic parameters through multicomponent nucleation and growth models. The simulations reproduce the measured effects of steel composition on the precipitation of secondary carbides. Both Si and V increase the volume fraction of fine secondary carbides precipitated during tempering provided that the austenitising temperature is adjusted to give the same fraction of retained primary carbides. The most important effect of Si in 5%Cr steels is its influence on the primary carbide stability at austenitisation temperatures, but increasing the V contents has a strong effect on the fraction of secondary carbides, without increasing the size, and can thus improve the yield strength. The most critical input to the calculations is the thermodynamic description of the individual phases. © 2012 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
Sufficient evidence has now accumulated to show that dynamic transformation (DT) is a real phenomenon in steels and can take place over a wide range of temperatures in the austenite regime. During plastic deformation, some of the austenite is transformed to ferrite despite austenite being the chemically more stable equilibrium phase. Occurrence of DT has been demonstrated in various laboratory tests but apparently not in commercially hot-rolled steels. In this note, we review some old results on high strength low alloy strip steel that contained microstructural features that appear to have been caused by DT. We deduce that DT occurred early in the rolling schedule, leading to thin-pancaked sheets of ferrite in the final product. The presence of these pre-existing ferrite nuclei frequently gave rise to adjacent regions of coarse polygonal ferrite grains during cooling.
Ultra-high strength steel sheets have been subjected to heat treatments that simulate the thermal cycles in hot-dip galvanising and galvannealing processes and evaluated with respect to their resulting mechanical properties and microstructures. The steels contained suitable contents of carbon (∼0.2%), manganese (1.2%) and chromium (0.4%) to ensure that they could be fully transformed to martensite after austenitisation followed by rapid cooling in a continuous annealing line, prior to galvanising. Different contents of vanadium (0–0.1%) and nitrogen (0.002–0.012%) were used to investigate the possible role of these microalloying elements on the strength of the tempered martensite. Vanadium, especially when in combination with a raised nitrogen content, helps to resist the effect of tempering so that a larger proportion of the initial strengthening is preserved after the galvanising cycle, giving tensile strength levels exceeding 1000 MPa. Different deoxidation practices using aluminium or silicon have also been included. These showed similar strength levels at corresponding carbon contents but the bendability of the Si-killed steel sheet was considerably superior. Microstructural examinations have been made on the annealed steels but the reason for the beneficial effect of vanadium is still not fully explained. It is concluded that microalloying with vanadium is a very promising approach in the development of corrosion-resistant ultra-high strength steel sheet products.
Sources of anisotropy in metals are discusssed as well as ways of interpreting and modelling this behaviour. A number of case studies are presented relating to mechanical and magnetic properties.
One ZM61 alloy (6·2%Zn, 1·2%Mn) and two magnesium alloys containing nominally 3% of neodymium and yttrium respectively have been prepared in the form of hot extruded flat strips. Their textures and microstructures have been quantified and series of mechanical tests were carried out to determine plane stress yield loci in both the solution treated and aged conditions. The ZM61 alloy had a sharp texture and marked anisotropy of strength that could be rationalised in terms of deformation by basal 〈a〉 slip and {101̄2}〈1011〉 twinning. This material was much weaker in compression than in tension. Precipitation hardening on aging caused a greater impedance to twinning than to slip with the result that the anisotropy was somewhat reduced. The Mg-3Nd alloy had a very weak and different texture but nevertheless demonstrated a pronounced anisotropy of strength. Aging increased the yield stress by about 80% and also inhibited twinning to some extent although the degree of anisotropy remained almost unaffected. The Mg-3Y alloy which showed a texture of intermediate strength was different in type from either of the others. Its strength behaviour was close to isotropic; in particular, no difference existed between tensile and compressive loading, and aging produced only a marginal increase in strength. Twins were relatively infrequent in the deformed Mg-3Y alloy but its mechanical behaviour could not be rationalised according to simple models. © 2008 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
Stress-relieving heat treatment has been reported to deplete the corrosion resistance of new low-lead and lead-free brass alloys. How the heat treatment, processing and material composition relates to the microstructure and corrosion performance is not well understood. The present study aims to fill this knowledge gap by mapping stress-relieving annealing conditions and different standardised compositions to their respective microstructures and dezincification performance. It was found that loss of corrosion resistance was only the most severe for alloys with higher aluminium and iron content. These alloys displayed significant precipitation of intermetallic aluminium arsenide particles on grain boundaries, twins and lead particles, as well as the formation of β-phase along grain boundaries.
The present experimental and theoretical study investigates the effect of nickel on the phase balance and resulting properties of a 22Cr duplex stainless steel. The decrease in nickel was balanced by nitrogen and manganese additions. It was found that a minimum nickel content was required to maintain mechanical and corrosion properties at technically relevant levels. The influence of increasing nitrogen content on resulting phase composition and properties is discussed. © 2008 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.