Characterization and numerical simulation of nucleation-growth-coarsening kinetics of precipitates in G115 martensitic heat resistance steel during long-term aging

The service performance of heat resistance steels is largely determined by the precipitation kinetics.The nucleation-growth-coarsening behaviors of precipitates in G115 martensitic heat resistance steel during long-term aging at 650℃ have been systemically investigated.The microstructural characteristics,precipitate morphology and alloying element distribution were studied by scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy.The lognormal distribution fitting combined with the multiple regression analysis was adopted to evaluate the precipitate size distributions.Laves phase has longer incubation time,and its coarsening rate is almost one order of magnitude higher in comparison with that of M_(23)C_(6) carbide.Furthermore,the nucleation rate,number density,average radius,and volume fraction of two precipitates are simulated based on the classical nucleation theory and the modified Langer-Schwartz model.The precipitation behavior of Laves phase can be well explained with the Fe-W system as the interfacial energy takes 0.10 J/m^(2).In contrast,the simulation results of M_(23)C_(6) carbide in the Fe-Cr-C system are significantly overestimated,which results from the inhibitory effect of boron on coarsening.

Effect of removing Al and Ti elements on peak flow stress of nickel-based heat-resistant alloy 617

The hot deformation behavior and the microstructure characteristics of alloy 617 and alloy C-HRA-2 were compared and analyzed.The removal of Al and Ti elements has a significant change in the hot deformation of the alloy,and there are two opposite effects on the flow stress before and after recrystallization.The results show that the removal of Al and Ti elements increases the flow stress of the alloy under high temperature or low strain rate deformation conditions.This is mainly due to the increase in the stacking fault energy of the alloy so that the alloy contains a higher twin boundary fraction after dynamic recrystallization(DRX).However,before DRX occurs,that is,at low temperature and high strain rate,the flow stress of this alloy is relatively reduced.This is due to the reduction in Peierls-Nabarro stress,making the alloy more prone to dislocation slip.

Evolution of precipitates in Ni-Co-Cr-W-Mo superalloys with different tungsten contents

The Ni-Co-Cr-W-Mo system is critical for the design of nickel-based superalloys.This system stabilizes different topologically close-packed(TCP)phases in many commercially superalloys with high W and Mo contents.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM)and thermodynamic calculations were applied to investigate the thermodynamics of the precipitates in two different W-contained Ni-Co-Cr-WMo superalloys(Alloy 1 and Alloy 2).Computational thermodynamics verifies the experimental observation of theμphase formation as a function of temperature and alloy chemistry,but the kinetics for the precipitation of the M6 C phase do not agree with the experimental findings.The major precipitates of Alloy 1 at temperatures of700℃and 750℃during long-time exposure are M23 C6,γ′phase and MC;for Alloy 2,they are M23 C6,γ′phase,MC,M6 C andμphase.W addition is found to promote the precipitation of M6 C andμphase during exposure.M6 C has higher W and lower Ni content thanμphase,whereas M6 C is an unstable phase that would transform into M12 C after 5000-h exposure at 750℃.A great quantity of needle-likeμphases precipitated after exposure at 750℃for5000 h,which have no effect on the impact properties of Alloy 2.

Effects of long term aging on microstructure and properties of a tungsten bearing heat resistant alloy

The effects of long-term aging at 700 and 750℃ on microstructure and mechanical properties of a new developed tungsten bearing heat-resistant alloy used for advanced ultra-supercritical power plant was investigated both experimentally and thermodynamically.Experimental results showed that the mechanical properties maintained excellent stability after long-term aging at 700℃ for 10,000h,while the impact absorbing energy decreased sharply after 1000-h aging and then kept constant till 10,000h.The main precipitates after long-term aging at 700 and 750℃ were M23C6,MC and homogeneous γ′-phases.The mass fraction of M23C6 carbides increased with increasing aging time,and M23C6 carbides precipitated in shape of chains and lamellas on grain boundaries.The slight decrease in MC carbides during aging may be due to degradation reaction.The weight fraction of γ′-phase increased with the aging time,and then changed little after 5000h;γ′-phase exhibited excellent microstructure stability and low coarsening rate during long-term aging at 700℃.However,the coarsening rate of γ′-phase was much higher at 750℃.

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a new Ni-based heat-resistant alloy during aging at 750℃

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of a new candidate Ni-based heat-resistant alloy for advanced ultra-supercritical （A-USC） steam turbine rotors were investigated during aging at 750℃ up to 10000 h. The evolutions of γ＇ particles inside austenitic grain and M_23 C_6 carbides along grain boundaries were characterized according to their morphologies, distributions, and growth kinetics. Mean radius of the γ＇ spherical particles grew from 20.3 to 90.0 nm after aging for 10000 h, and;the corresponding coarse- ning behavior was conformed to the law of Lifschitz-Slyosovd-Wagner （LSW）. The weight fraction of γ＇ particles slightly increased from 10.0 to 12.0 wt. % after aging of long duration at 750 ℃.The Cr-rich M_23C_6 carbides discontinuously precipitated along grain boundaries, while other detrimental phases were not formed during the aging treatment, and hence the strength of grain boundary was enhanced by these discontinuously distributed carbides. The critical size of γ＇ had a direct influence on the maximum hardness of this alloy. Moreover, this alloy presented a good impact toughness for the safety after long time aging at high temperature.

Effect of W on formation and properties of precipitates in Ni-based superalloys

The formation and properties of precipitates in wrought Ni-based superalloys with different W contents during long-term exposure to high temperatures were investigated.The scanning electron microscope,transmission electron microscope,and chemical phase analysis were used to investigate the formation and properties of precipitates.It is found that with increasing W content,the quantity and thermal stability of MC carbide in Ni-based superalloys increased,while the quantity of M_(23)C_(6)carbides decreased.As the results show,W has a higher partition coefficient in γ'-and γ-matrix,and the addition of W promotes the precipitation of γ'phase.W content has no significant effect on the morphology,size,crystal structure,and coarsening rate of γ'precipitates.The influence of W content on high-temperature tensile and creep properties of the alloys was investigated.The results showed that W content has no obvious influence on the high-temperature yield strength,but the elongation and area reduction decreased significantly when the addition of W was more than 4 wt.%.Because of the similar volume fractions of γ'phase,the creep fracture strengths in the tested alloys with lower W concentrations were not significantly different after long-term exposure at 700℃.

Impacts of multiple laser shock processing on microstructure and mechanical property of high-carbon steel

Multiple laser shock processing （LSP） impacts on microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated through morphological determinations and hardness testing. Microscopic results show that without equal channel angular pressing （ECAP）, the LSP-treated lamellar pearlite was transferred to irregular ferrite matrix and incompletely broken cementite particles. With ECAP, LSP leads to refinements of the equiaxed ferrite grain in ultrafine-grained microduplex structure from 400 to 150 nm, and the completely spheroidized cementite particles from 150 to 100 nm. Consequentially, enhancements of mechanical properties were found in strength, microhardness and elongations of samples consisting of lamellar pearlite and ultrafine-grained microduplex structure. After LSP, a mixture of quasi-cleavage and ductile fracture was formed, different from the typical quasi-cleavage fracture from the original lamellar pearlite and the ductile fracture of the microduplex structure.