Microstructure transformation of X70 pipeline steel welding heat-affected zone

The continuous cooling transformation curve of heat-affected zone （HAZ） of X70 pipeline steel was mea- sured by Gleeble-3500 thermal mechanical simulator, optical microscope （OM） and hardness analysis. The microstructure transformation rule at different cooling rates and solution behaviors of microalloy carbonitride during heating process of simulated specimens were investigated. When the cooling rate changes from 10 to 20 ℃.s-l, microstructures at HAZ are identified as granular bainite, lathy bainite, and quasi-polygonal ferrite. This micro- structure is featured with fine ferrite grains, martensite/ austenite islands dispersed, high-density dislocations, and fine carbonitride particles, resulting in improving the strength and toughness of HAZ. With the cooling rate increasing to above 40 ℃.s-1, the microstructure is pre- dominantly coarse lathy bainite with clear primary aus- tenite grain boundary. While the cooling rate decreases to below 1 ℃.s-1, a fairly small amount of pearlite can be observed at the boundaries. The strength and toughness of HAZ are deteriorated because of coarse grains among these microstructures. Most of microalloy carbonitrides in HAZ could be dissolved in the matrix during heating process. A few of TiN particles existing as residues in the matrix can prevent austenite grain from growing, and then improve the strength and toughness of HAZ.

Unveiling the dynamic instability mechanism of microstructure transformation in faceted oxide eutectic composite ceramics

Microstructure control is a great challenge in the high-temperature gradient directional solidification of eutectic composite ceramics due to the complex solidification behavior.Herein,the microstructure trans-formation of faceted Al_(2)O_(3)/Er_(3)Al_(5)O_(12) thermal emission eutectic composite ceramics is explored over wide ranges of compositions(13.5 mol%-22.5 mol%Er_(2)O_(3))and solidification rates(2-200μm/s).Entirely cou-pled eutectics with primary phases suppressed are fabricated and the coupled zone is broadened in a wide range of 15.5 mol%-22.5 mol%Er_(2)O_(3) at low solidification rates.The competitive growth between eutectic and dendrite is evaluated on the basis of the maximum interface temperature criterion.In ad-dition,the mechanisms of irregular eutectic spacing selection and adjustment under different solidifi-cation rates are revealed based on Magnin-Kurz model.A successful prediction of lamellar to rod-like eutectics is achieved associated with the dynamic instability of lamellar eutectic and the corresponding enlarged coexistence region is mapped based on the interface undercooling.According to the well mi-crostructure tailoring,the flexural strength of Al_(2)O_(3)/Er_(3)Al_(5)O_(12) eutectic composite ceramics has improved from 508 MPa up to 1800 MPa due to the refined eutectic spacing with low fluctuation.The eutectic composite ceramics show strong selective optical absorption and the intensity increases with the refin-ing microstructure.The as-designed Al_(2)O_(3)/Er_(3)Al_(5)O_(12) composites with microstructural tailoring have great potential as integrations of structural and functional materials.

MARTENSITE TRANSFORMATION MICROSTRUCTURE OF 40Cr STEEL COMPLEXLY INDUCED BY LASER SHOCK

40Cr steel is laser quenched by the NEL-2500A rapidly axial flow CO2 laser. Then the martensite induced by laser quenched is shocked by Nd：YAG laser again. Through comparing and analyzing the appearance and size of martensite, the dislocation density in microstmcture between the treated zones by laser quenched and by laser quenched plus laser shock, the following results are shown： The second martensite obtained by laser compound treatment is more fmer compared with those obtained by laser quenched; In the hardened zones obtained by compound treatment, a lot of slender second twin crystal martensites are induced; A lot of more high density dislocation tangles and cellular dislocations are generated. From the transmission electron microscope （TEM） micrograph after compound treatment, there are not only long lath and short nubbly martensites arranged in cross direction, but also massive nubbly and small short nubbly martensites arranged in longitudinal direction. Some martensites look like the broken blocks of quenched martensites. These new martensites are inserted transversely in the quenched martensites with large tangle. And they make quenched martensites break into pieces. Compared with the quenched martensites, the size of fresh martensites are smaller, about 0.3-0.5 μm.

Effects of Ta Addition on Microstructure and Transformation Behavior of Ni-Ti Alloys

The effect of adding Ta on the changes of microstructure and Ms temperature of a dualphase shape memory alloy with compositions of (Ni51 Ti49)1 -x.Tax. and Ni50-Ti50 -g.Ta.g were systematically studied. An optical microscope, SEM, X-ray diffraction and DSC were utilized in this work. The evolution of the microstructure as a function of Ta content was characterized. The variation of the Ni/Ti ratio in the NiTi phase plays an important role in the change of the Ms temperatures due to the addition of Ta. A pseudobinary NiTi-Ta phase diagram was proposed based on these results.

Cooling rate effects on the structure and transformation behavior of Cu-Zn-Al shape memory alloys

Different fragments of a hot-rolled and homogenized Cu–Zn–Al shape memory alloy（SMA） were subjected to thermal cycling by means of a differential scanning calorimetric（DSC） device. During thermal cycling, heating was performed at the same constant rate of increasing temperature while cooling was carried out at different rates of decreasing temperature. For each cooling rate, the temperature decreased in the same thermal interval. During each cooling stage, an exothermic peak（maximum） was observed on the DSC thermogram. This peak was associated with forward martensitic transformation. The DSC thermograms were analyzed with PROTEUS software： the critical martensitic transformation start（Ms） and finish（Mf） temperatures were determined by means of integral and tangent methods, and the dissipated heat was evaluated by the area between the corresponding maximum plot and a sigmoid baseline. The effects of the increase in cooling rate, assessed from a calorimetric viewpoint, consisted in the augmentation of the exothermic peak and the delay of direct martensitic transformation. The latter had the tendency to move to lower critical transformation temperatures. The martensite plates changed in morphology by becoming more oriented and by an augmenting in surface relief, which corresponded with the increase in cooling rate as observed by scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and atomic force microscopy（AFM）.

Microstructural evolution during ultra-rapid annealing of severely deformed low-carbon steel: strain, temperature, and heating rate effects

An interaction between ferrite recrystallization and austenite transformation in low-carbon steel occurs when recrystallization is delayed until the intercritical temperature range by employing high heating rate. The kinetics of recrystallization and transformation is affected by high heating rate and such an interaction. In this study, different levels of strain are applied to low-carbon steel using a severe plastic deformation method. Then, ultra-rapid annealing is performed at different heating rates of 200–1100°C/s and peak temperatures of near critical temperature. Five regimes are proposed to investigate the effects of heating rate, strain, and temperature on the interaction between recrystallization and transformation. The microstructural evolution of severely deformed low-carbon steel after ultra-rapid annealing is investigated based on the proposed regimes. Regarding the intensity and start temperature of the interaction, different microstructures consisting of ferrite and pearlite/martensite are formed. It is found that when the interaction is strong, the microstructure is refined because of the high kinetics of transformation and recrystallization. Moreover, strain shifts an interaction zone to a relatively higher heating rate. Therefore, severely deformed steel should be heated at relatively higher heating rates for it to undergo a strong interaction.

Microstructures and mechanical properties of ferrite-based lightweight steel with different compositions

The microstructures and mechanical properties of ferrite-based lightweight steel with different compositions were investigated by tensile test,scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,X-ray diffraction（XRD）and thermodynamic calculation（TC）.It was shown that the ferrite-based lightweight steels with 5wt.%or 8wt.%Al were basically composed of ferrite,austenite andκ-carbide.As the annealing temperature increased,the content of the austenite in the steel gradually increased,while theκ-carbide gradually decomposed and finally disappeared.The mechanical properties of the steel with 5wt.%Al and 2wt.%Cr,composed of ferrite and Cr7C3carbide at different annealing temperatures,were significantly inferior to those of others.The steel containing 5wt.%Al,annealed at 820°C for 50sthen rapidly cooled to 400°C and held for 180s,can obtain the best product of strength and elongation（PSE）of 31242MPa·%.The austenite stability of the steel is better,and its PSE is higher.In addition,the steel with higher PSE has a more stable instantaneous strain hardening exponent（n value）,which is mainly caused by the effect of transformation induced plasticity（TRIP）.When theκ-carbide or Cr7C3carbide existed in the microstructure of the steel,there was an obvious yield plateau in the tensile curve,while its PSE decreased significantly.

Effect of Rare Earth and Transition Metal Elements on the Glass Forming Ability of Mechanical Alloyed Al–TM–RE Based Amorphous Alloys

The present work aims to compare the amorphous phase forming ability of ternary and quaternary Al based alloys （Al86Ni8Y6, Al86GNi6Y6Co2, Al86NigLa6 and Al86Ni8Y45La15） synthesized via mechanical alloying by varying the composition, i.e. fully or partially replacing rare earth （RE） and transition metal （TM） elements based on similar atomic radii and coordination number. X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy study revealed that the amorphization process occurred through formation of various intermetallic phases and nanocrystalline FCC Al. Fully amorphous phase was obtained for the alloys not containing lanthanum, whereas the other alloys containing La showed partial amorphization with reappearance of intermetallic phases attributed to mechanical crystallization. Differential scanning calorimetry study confirmed better thermal stability with wider transformation temperature for the alloys without La.