Effect of temperature and time on the precipitation ofκ-carbides in Fe-28Mn-10Al-0.8C low-density steels:Aging mechanism and its impact on material properties

In low-density steel,κ-carbides primarily precipitate in the form of nanoscale particles within austenite grains.However,their precipitation within ferrite matrix grains has not been comprehensively explored,and the second-phase evolution mechanism during aging remains unclear.In this study,the crystallographic characteristics and morphological evolution ofκ-carbides in Fe-28Mn-10Al-0.8C(wt%)low-density steel at different aging temperatures and times and the impacts of these changes on the steels’microhardness and properties were comprehensively analyzed.Under different heat treatment conditions,intragranularκ-carbides exhibited various morpho-logical and crystallographic characteristics,such as acicular,spherical,and short rod-like shapes.At the initial stage of aging,acicularκ-carbides primarily precipitated,accompanied by a few spherical carbides.κ-Carbides grew and coarsened with aging time,the spherical carbides were considerably reduced,and rod-like carbides coarsened.Vickers hardness testing demonstrated that the material’s hardness was affected by the volume fraction,morphology,and size ofκ-carbides.Extended aging at higher temperatures led to an increase in carbide size and volume fraction,resulting in a gradual rise in hardness.During deformation,the primary mechanisms for strengthening were dislocation strengthening and second-phase strengthening.Based on these findings,potential strategies for improving material strength are proposed.

An accelerated aging assisted by electric current in a Fe-Mn-Al-C low-density steel

An aging method assisted by electric current was applied to a Fe-18Mn-9Al-1C(wt.%)low-density steel.It improves the microstructure and therefore significantly increases both the yield strength and ductility of the steel.This current-assisted aging method can increase the yield strength by 178 MPa and elongation by 1.16 times in only 0.5 min at 450℃.However,the yield strength is increased only 90 MPa by the traditional aging method(heat conduction)at 450℃ for 180 min,and the elongation is even decreased from 42.0%to 31.6%.The obvious improvement in yield strength by the current-assisted aging for a short time is resulted from the fact that the current-assisted aging promotes a rapid precipitation of nano-scaleκ-carbides inγ-austenite by reducing the thermodynamic barrier and accelerating the atomic diffusion.This work demonstrates that this current-assisted aging method is significantly time saving and cost-effective for low-density steels,with potential for various industrial applications.

Uncovering Microstructure-Property Relationship in Ni-Alloyed Fe-Mn-Al-C Low-Density Steel Treated by Hot-Rolling and Air-Cooling Process

This paper focuses on the relationship between the microstructure and tensile properties of Fe-Mn-Al-C low-density high-strength steel processes by hot-rolling and air-cooling process. The microstructure analysis reveals that the combination of hot-rolling and air-cooling results in the formation of heterogeneous structures comprising different-sized γ and B_(2) phases in the low-density steel with the addition of nickel (Ni). The addition of Ni promotes the formation of the B_(2) phase and induces the pinning of B_(2) phase particles at the γ grain boundaries. This pinning effect effectively hinders the growth of the γ grains, leading to grain refinement. The tensile test results demonstrate that LDS-5Ni (low-density steel, LDS) exhibits excellent high strength and ductility combination, e.g., a tensile strength of 1535 MPa, yield strength of 1482 MPa, and elongation of 23.3%. These remarkable mechanical properties are primarily attributed to the combined strengthening contributions of grain refinement and duplex nano-sized second-phase precipitation hardening.

A new strengthening mechanism driven by disruptive shear and solute segregation during warm rolling in 1.4 GPa class 12.5 wt% Al added-FeMnC ultra-lightweight steel

Novel strengthening of Fe-29.1Mn-12.5Al-1.35C-4.95Cr steel achieved by warm rolling was investi-gated.The solution-treated steel consisted of aγ-matrix containing nano-sizedκ-carbide((Fe,Mn)_(3) AlC)and elongated prior ferrite,which was transformed into FeAl-type B2 and Fe_(3) Al-type D0_(3) phases.The solution-treated steel exhibited poor strain hardening owing to glide softening associated withκ-carbide shearing by dislocations.However,after warm rolling with a reduction ratio of 30%at 300℃,the yield and tensile strengths significantly increased from 917 to 1300 MPa and 1025 to 1419 MPa,respectively.The tensile test conducted at 300℃to simulate warm rolling exhibited serrated flows,indicating dy-namic strain aging(DSA).Atom probe tomography exhibited that the C atoms inκ-carbide were swept away along the slip direction by disruptive shear during rolling at 300℃.The swept C atoms along the slip direction interacted strongly with dislocations at 300℃,with repeated pinning and breakaway of dislocations from the C atoms.This contributed to significant strengthening owing to the formation of a solute-rich atmosphere after warm rolling.The results of the tensile tests at 300℃indicated that the de-gree of strengthening was proportional to the pre-strain level.Tensile strength of 1.4 GPa can be achieved with good ductility(17%elongation)by warm rolling.This novel warm-rolling strengthening method ex-pedites the potential application of Fe-29.1Mn-12.5Al-1.35C-4.95Cr as a 1.4 GPa class ultra-lightweight steel.

Controlling Carbide Evolution to Improve the Ductility in High Specific Young’s Modulus Steels

A high specific Young’s modulus steel could be achieved by introducing a large fraction of kappa-carbides(κ-carbide),and its ductility was improved by efficiency divorced eutectoid transformation(DET)treatment.For this steel,carbon and aluminum contents affect not only the carbide fraction,but also the type and morphology of carbides,and consequently the mechanical properties.In this work,the alloy was designed by considering both the carbide morphology and Young’s modulus,and the carbides in the high specific Young’s modulus steels were adjusted by controlling carbon content in a suitable range for achieving a good combination of strength and ductility.The detailed microstructure evolution process during DET reaction was studied,and it was found that a higher austenitizing temperature and the cooling rate lower than 300℃ h^(−1) are suitable.The blocky carbides could be avoided by designing the carbon content in a limited content range.The microstructure-property relationship of the experimental steels was also discussed for giving an impetus to the future development of high specific Young’s modulus steels.