Effects of Orthogonal Heat Treatment on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of GN9 Ferritic/Martensitic Steel

Microstructure and mechanical properties of GN9 Ferritic/Martensitic steel for sodium-cooled fast reactors have been investigated through orthogonal design and analysis.Scanning electron microscopy(SEM),transmission electron microscopy(TEM),differential scanning calorimeter(DSC),tensile and impact tests were used to evaluate the heat treatment parameters on yield strength,elongation and ductile-to-brittle transition temperature(DBTT).The results indicate that the microstructures of GN9 steel after orthogonal heat treatments consist of tempered martensite,M23C6,MX carbides and MX carbonitrides.The average prior austenite grains increase and the lath width decreases with the austenitizing temperature increasing from 1000°C to 1080°C.Tempering temperature is the most important factor that influences the dislocation evolution,yield strength and elongation compared with austenitizing tempera-ture and cooling methods.Austenitizing temperature,tempering temperature and cooling methods show interactive effects on DBTT.Carbide morphology and distribution,which is influenced by austenitizing and tempering tempera-tures,is the critical microstructural factor that influences the Charpy impact energy and DBTT.Based on the orthogo-nal design and microstructural analysis,the optimal heat treatment of GN9 steel is austenitizing at 1000°C for 0.5 h followed by air cooling and tempering at 760°C for 1.5 h.

Effects of cerium addition on the microstructure and stress rupture properties of a new nickel-based cast superalloy

The microstructure and stress rupture properties of a new nickel-based cast superalloy were investigated with the cerium(Ce)additions of 0,19,50,96,150,and 300 ppm,respectively.The results indicated that Ce was mainly found in M C and M 23 C 6 carbides,and it was also found to exist in the form of cerium-rich phases or inclusions.According to the microstructure evidence,Ce promoted the formation of M C carbides and aggravated the inhomogeneity of M 23 C 6 carbides along grain boundaries.It was also identi-fied that the average sizes of primary and secondaryγ’phases all decreased with the rising Ce content.The acceleration of Ti,Nb,and C segregations during solidification was attributed to the influence of cerium on the variation of carbides along grain boundaries.The stress rupture life experienced a signifi-cant drop as the Ce content increased from 19 to 300 ppm.Explorations showed that the degradation was mainly attributed to the severe degradation of M C carbides and the easily forming micro-voids around them caused by the Ce addition.In addition to that,the increments in the inhomogeneous distribution of M 23 C 6 carbides at grain boundaries and the accelerated coarsening rate ofγ’phases both induced the fracture under complex stress conditions.

Effects of Heat Treatment and Nitrogen on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of 1Cr12NiMo Martensitic Stainless Steel

A series of heat treatments using the orthogonal experiment method were performed to study the microstruc- ture and mechanical properties of 1Cr12NiMo martensitic stainless steel containing various nitrogen content addition. The results indicate that the optimal heat treatment is annealing at 830 ℃ for 1 h, austenitizing at 985 ℃ for 1 h followed by oil quenching, and tempering at 630 ℃ for 4 h followed by air cooling, Nitrogen addition to 1Cr12NiMo steel can effectively hinder the austenite grain growth, refine the martensite lath, and increase the strength and hardness. The impact toughness of this steel only shows a minor decrease as the nitrogen content increases.

Stress rupture properties and deformation mechanisms of K4750 alloy at the range of 650℃ to 800℃

The stress rupture properties and deform ation mechanism s of K4750 alloy at 650 ℃, 700 ℃, 750 ℃ and 800 ℃ were investigated. As the decrease of tem perature and stress, the stress rupture life gradually increased. A Larson-Miller Parameter (LMP) method was used for analyzing the stress rupture life under different conditions. The linear fitting formula between stress (σ) and LMP was derived as σ= 3166.455-119.969 ×LMP and the fitting coefficient w as 0.98. After testing, the dislocation configurations of all stress rupture samples w ere investigated by transm ission electron microscopy (TEM). The tem perature and stress had a significant impact on the deform ation m echanism, thereby affected the stress rupture life of K4750 alloy. As the increasing stress at a given tem perature, the deform ation m echanism gradually transform ed from Orowan looping to stacking fault shearing. Based on experim ental results, the threshold stress at 650 ℃, 700 ℃, 750 ℃ and 800 ℃ for the transition of deformation mechanism was estimated to be about 650 MPa, 530 MPa, 430 MPa and 350 MPa, respectively. Below the threshold stress,γ phase effectively hindered dislocation motion by Orowan looping mechanism, K4750 alloy had along stress rupture life. Slightly above the threshold stress, Orowan looping combining stacking fault shearing was the dom inant mechanism ,the stress rupture life decreased. As the further increase of stress, stacking fault shearing acted as the dominant deformation mechanism , the resistance to dislocation motion decreased rapidly, so the stress rupture life reduced significantly.

Effects of microstructure evolution on the deformation mechanisms and tensile properties of a new Ni-base superalloy during aging at 800℃

Tensile properties at room temperature of a new casting Ni-base superalloy during aging at 800℃ for0-1000 h were investigated.During aging,granular M23C6 carbides presented at grain boundaries and kept growing from dispersed particles to continuous networks.The γ’ phase significantly coarsened,with the morphology of some γ’ phase changed from spherical to rounded cubic shape after 1000 h.Three deformation mechanisms in relation to the γ’ diameter(dγ’) were identified:(ⅰ) weakly coupled dislocations(WCD) connected by anti-phase boundary(APB) traveled in pair across the γ/γ’ structure when dγ’ was small in the under-aged alloys;(ⅱ) strongly coupled dislocations(SCD) with reduced spacing compared to(ⅰ) sheared γ’ phase when dγ’ increased in the over-aged alloys;(ⅲ) dislocations occasionally by-passed γ’ phase when dγ’ was larger than 97 nm after aging for more than 300 h.The alloy obtained the peak strength when 20 h-aged with dγ’=44 nm which was in the transition between(ⅰ) and(ⅱ).The aginginduced variation in yield strength was correlated to the coarsening of γ’ phase using a theoretical model of precipitation strengthening in terms of the formation of APB.The calculated results suggested that the γ’ phase with a volume fraction of 23% contributed more than 61% of the peak-aged yield strength.Observation after fracture revealed that the alloys usually fractured at grain boundaries.High stress concentration around carbides resulted in cracks by carbides self-cracking and the initiation of cavities.The undesirable agglomeration of M23C6 at grain boundaries was harmful to the properties of the overaged alloys.

Effect of Solution Annealing on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Ni-Cr-W-Fe Alloy

The effect of solution annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a Ni-Cr-W-Fe alloy developed for advanced 700？C ultra-supercritical power plants was investigated. Test samples in this study were subjected to different solution treatments and the same aging treatment（at 760？C for 1 h）.When solution annealing temperature was elevated from 1020？C to 1150？C, the stress-rupture life at750？C/320 MPa was increased from 60 h to 300 h, the stress-rupture elongation was enhanced from12% to 17%, and the elongation of the tensile at 750？C was improved from 11% to 24%. All tensile and stress-rupture samples displayed an intergranular dimple mixed fracture. Intergranular micro-cracks had a great relationship with the morphology of grain boundary carbides. Most carbides retained the morphology of globular shape and continuous thin plate. After tensile and stress-rupture tests, a few carbides were converted into lamellar. The results showed that intergranular micro-cracks were easier to form at continuous thin plate carbides than at globular shape carbides. Lamellar carbides hardly caused the nucleation of micro-cracks. Besides, grain boundaries sliding and elements diffusion during stressrupture tests led to the formation of precipitate free zones, which accelerated the extension of microcracks and influenced the stress-rupture life.