Aging Precipitation Behavior of 18Cr-16Mn-2Mo-1.1N High Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steel and Its Influences on Mechanical Properties

The solution-treated (ST) condition and aging precipitation behavior of 18Cr-16Mn-2Mo-1.1N high nitrogen austenitic stainless steel (HNS) were investigated by optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). The results show that the ST condition of 18Cr-16Mn-2Mo-1.1N HNS with wN above 1% is identified as 1100 ℃ for 90 min, followed by water quenching to make sure the secondary phases completely dissolve into austenitic matrix and prevent the grains coarsening too much. Initial time-temperature-precipitation (TTP) curve of aged 18Cr-16Mn-2Mo-1.1N HNS which starts with precipitation of 0.05% in volume fraction is defined and the 'nose' temperature of precipitation is found to be 850 ℃ with an incubation period of 1 min. Hexagonal intergranular and cellular Cr2N with a=0.478 nm and c=0.444 nm precipitates gradually increase in the isothermal aging treatment. The matrix nitrogen depletion due to the intergranular and a few cellular Cr2N precipitates induces the decay of Vickers hardness, and the increment of cellular Cr2N causes the increase in the values. Impact toughness presents a monotonic decrease and SEM morphologies show the leading brittle intergranular fracture. The ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation (El) deteriorate obviously. Stress concentration occurs when the matrix dislocations pile up at the interfaces of precipitation and matrix, and the interfacial dislocations may become precursors to the misfit dislocations, which can form small cleavage facets and accelerate the formation of cracks.

Effect of interrupted aging on mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of 7A75 aluminum alloy

The effects of interrupted aging on mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of 7A75 aluminum alloy extruded bar were investigated through various analyses,including electrical conductivity,mechanical properties,local corrosion properties,and slow strain rate tensile stress corrosion tests.Microstructure characterization techniques such as metallographic microscopy,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and transmission electron microscopy(TEM)were also employed.The results indicate that the tensile strength of the alloy produced by T6I6 aging is similar to that produced by T6I4 aging,and it even exceeds 700 MPa.Furthermore,the yield strength increases by 52.7 MPa,reaching 654.8 MPa after T6I6 aging treatment.The maximum depths of intergranular corrosion(IGC)and exfoliation corrosion(EXCO)decrease from 116.3 and 468.5μm to 89.5 and 324.3μm,respectively.The stress corrosion factor also decreases from 2.1%to 1.6%.These findings suggest that the alloy treated with T6I6 aging exhibits both high strength and excellent stress corrosion cracking resistance.Similarly,when the alloy is treated with T6I4,T6I6 and T6I7 aging,the sizes of grain boundary precipitates(GBPs)are found to be 5.2,18.4,and 32.8 nm,respectively.The sizes of matrix precipitates are 4.8,5.7 and 15.7 nm,respectively.The atomic fractions of Zn in GBPs are 9.92 at.%,8.23 at.%and 6.87 at.%,respectively,while the atomic fractions of Mg are 12.66 at.%,8.43 at.%and 7.00 at.%,respectively.Additionally,the atomic fractions of Cu are 1.83 at.%,2.47 at.%and 3.41 at.%,respectively.