Dislocation Pipe Diffusion of Mn during Annealing of 5Mn Steel

The dislocation pipe diffusion of Mn during annealing of 5Mn steel was experimentally investigated using transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. Many dislocations existed inside the ferrite and terminated at the α/γin- terface of the sample after intercritieal annealing at 650 ℃ for 1 min. Line scans of Mn distribution demonstrated a high Mn concentration in austenite and Mn enrichment at dislocations, indicating that the dislocation pipe diffusion of Mn during intercritical annealing occurred in addition to the γ/α interface diffusion. In-situ TEM observations at 500 ℃revealed that due to Ostwald ripening, large cementite precipitates grew while small cementite precipitates dissolved via Mn diffusion along the dislocations between them.

In-situ microstructural evolutions of 5Mn steel at elevated temperature in a transmission electron microscope

The microstructural evolutions of 5Mn steel during various heat treatments have been investiga- ted by in-situ transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The specimen of 5Mn steel was pre- pared using focused ion beam （FIB） milling, which allowed the selection of specific morphology of interest prior to the in-situ observation, The complete austenization at 800 ℃ was verified at the atomic scale by minimizing thermal expansion and sample drift in a heating holder based on micro-electro-mechanical-systems. During annealing at 650 ℃, the formation of reverted austen- ite was dynamically observed, while the morphologies of austenite laths of 5Mn steel after in-situ heating were quite similar to that after ex-situ intereritical annealing. During annealing at 500 ℃, the morphological evolution of cementite and associated Mn diffusion were investigated. It was demonstrated that a combination of FIB sampling and high temperature in-situ TEM enables us to probe the morphological evolution and elemental diffusion of specific areas of interest in steel at high spatial resolution.

In-situ TEM Observation of Cementite Coarsening Behavior of 5Mn Steel during Tempering

The cementite formation and coarsening behaviors of 0. 2 mass% C-5 mass% Mn steel during tempering at 500℃ were investigated by in-situ transmission electron microscope（ TEM）. In-situ TEM observation showed uniform distribution of cementite particles at the early stage of tempering in the rapidly heated（ 500 ℃ / s） sample. Elemental analysis confirmed that the cementite growth was dominated by Mn diffusion. During the cementite growth,the coarsening behavior of intragranular cementite was significantly controlled by the matrix diffusion,while that of the intergranular cementite was mainly governed by the boundary diffusion. The in-situ TEM observation revealed that the dislocation pipe diffusion of Mn took place during tempering,which accelerated the Mn diffusion between cementite particles. The coarsening rates of individual cementite particles were calculated based on the in-situ TEM observation.

Mn Diffusion at Early Stage of Intercritical Annealing of 5Mn Steel

Mn distribution and austenite morphology at the early stage of intercritical annealing of 5Mn steel were investigated. It was experimentally demonstrated that a newly formed 20 nm-thick austenite was formed without the partitioning of Mn. The elemental analysis confirmed that the growth of austenite should be controlled by the diffusion of C prior to the diffusion of Mn at a low heating rate. The austenite growth started under negligible-partitioning local equilibrium mode and then switched to partitioning local equilibrium mode. Mn segregation at the γ/α interface suggested that the collector plate mechanism was the essential way of Mn partitioning at the early stage of austenite growth.