Research on the dissolution behavior of cementite in the GCr15 steel surface layer induced by surface nanocrystallization

Dissolution of cementite was found in the surface layer of 1.0C-1.5Cr steel plates during the process of surface mechanical attrition treatment(SMAT),and its evolution was characterized by transmission electron microscope(TEM),three-dimensional atom probe(3DAP)and Mssbauer spectroscopy.The average grain size contained in the top surface of SMAT specimen was 10nm,and no diffraction ring corresponding to cementite grain was identified in the selected area election diffraction(SAED)pattern,which indicated the disappearance of cementite.3DAP analysis showed the average carbon concentration in ferrite(0.75 at%)after SMAT,which was almost 100 times higher than that in matrix(0.008 at%),which suggested cementite dissolve in the process of SMAT.The results of Mssbauer spectroscopy indicated that partial cementite dissolved in the process of SMAT,the saturation of cementite dissolution is about 47%.Evolution of cementite involved three sub-stages:①inoculation stage,in the first 5 min of treated duration,cementite fraction is reduced only by 0.4%;②dissolution stage,within the following 25 min cementite fraction significantly is reduced from 14.6% to 8.4%;③saturation stage,when treatment exceeds 30 min,the fraction of cementite nearly remains the same.

Effect of spheroidization of cementite in ductile cast iron

The research aims to provide an alternative to austempering treatment of ductile cast iron with a simple and cost-effective heat-treatment process.This goal was accomplished by applying a simple one-step spheroidization heat treatment to the as-cast ductile iron,which would normally possess a coarse pearlitic microstructure to a significant extent.Spheroidization experiments involving isothermal holding below the lower critical temperature(A1)were conducted followed by standard mechanical testing and microstructural characterization for an experimental ductile iron.After improving the spheroidization holding time at a given temperature,the work shows that the ductility and toughness of an as-cast ductile iron can be improved by 90%and 40%,respectively,at the cost of reducing the tensile strength by 8%.Controlled discretization of the continuous cementite network in pearlitic matrix of the ductile iron is deemed responsible for the improved properties.The work also shows that prolonged holding time during spheroidization heat treatment leads to degradation of mechanical properties due to the inhomogenous microstructure formation caused by heterogeneous decomposition and cementite clustering in the material.The main outcome of this work is the demonstration of ductile cast iron’s necking behavior due to spheroidization heat treatment.

Nanocrystallization of Cementite in 0.4C-1Cr Steel During High-Power Surface Processing

The microstructures of the nanocrystalline surface layer of a quenched and high temperature tempered 0. 4C- 1Cr steel induced by high-power surface processing （HPSP） technique were characterized by scan- ning eleetron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate that a nanocrystalline layer was fabricated on the surface of the steel 19 using HPSP treatment. The mean grain size in the surface layer is about 11 nm. The nanocrystallization of cementite is prior to that of the matrix phase, ferrite.

Effects of Plastic Warm Deformation on Cementite Spheroidization of a Eutectoid Steel

The warm compression tests were performed on the eutectoid steel to investigate the evolution of cementite morphology. Several processing parameters, such as temperature, strain rate and reduction, were changed to analyze the effect of each parameter on spheroidization of cementite. The results showed that the warm compression promoted the fragmentize and the spheroidization of lamellar cementites. When the specimen was compressed with reduction of 50% at 700 ℃ and in the strain rate of 0.01 s-1, the excellent spheroidized cementite was obtained. The mechanism of fragmentation and spheroidization of lamellar cementites during compression was discussed by using transmission electron microscope. The formation of spheroidized cementite was related to the time of compression process. The fragmentize of lamellar cementites was due to the extension of sub-grain boundary in the cementite. The spheroidization of cementite depended on the diffusion of carbon atoms at the tip of bended and breakup cementite.

Calculation of the valence electron structures of alloying cementite and its biphase interface

The valence electron structures of alloying cementite θ-(Fe, M)3C and ε-(Fe, M)3C andthose of the biphase interfaces between them and α-Fe are calculated with Yu's empirical electrontheory of solid and molecules. The calculation results accord with the actual behavior of alloys.

Valence electron structure of cementite phase and its interface and the tempering phenomenon

Tempering is an important phenomenon in ferrous alloys. Most steels, especially alloy-ing steels, are used after quenching and tempering. To design the composition of quenching andtempering steels, control the tempering process more effectively, improve the properties aftertempering and realize the potentials of steels, the essence of tempering process and the proper-ties of tempering products have to be understood. In this paper, the phase structure factors andinterface conjunction factors of common alloying elements in cementite and its interface are calcu-lated out. The relationships between these valence electron structure parameters and (i) thephenomena of martensite decomposition, (ii) transformation, gathering and growth of the carbidesand (iii) the mechanical properties of tempering products are built up. The nature of the effect ofalloying elements on tempering process and properties of tempering products is uncovered on thelevel of valence electron structure. One new theoretical foundation for alloy design is provided.

Dependence of tensile properties on microstructural features of bimodal-sized ferrite/cementite steels

A medium-carbon steel was processed through different warm rolling techniques,and the microstructural features with bimodal grain size distribution were found to be different.The combination of strength and ductility was ameliorated in the steel processed through warm rolling characterized by biaxial reduction.The enhanced strength is attributed to the densely distributed fine intragranular cementite particles and the small grain size in the coarse grain regions.The enhanced uniform elongation is due to the improved work hardening behavior at the large-strain stage.This work hardening behavior is predominantly ascribed to the finely dispersed intragranular particles.The relatively small grain size with nearly equiaxed shape in the coarse grain regions helps stabilize the uniform deformation to a large strain.

Atom Probe and Mssbauer Spectroscopy Investigations of Cementite Dissolution in a Cold Drawn Eutectoid Steel

Mssbauer spectrum and three dimensional atom probes（3DAP） were combined to investigate the mechanism of cementite dissolution in a cold-drawn eutectoid steel at a true strain of 2.89.The experimental results suggest that the dislocations play an important role in the dissolution of the cementite by sweeping across the nano-scaled cementite,and transferring carbon from cementite to ferrite inducing cementite decomposition.The mechanism of cementite dissolution in the steel is discussed in association with the investigation of nonstoichiometric cementite structure after heavy deformation.

Kinetic transitions and Mn partitioning during austenite growth from a mixture of partitioned cementite and ferrite:Role of heating rate

Austenite formation from a ferrite-cementite mixture is a crucial step during the processing of advanced high strength steels(AHSS).The ferrite-cementite mixture is usually inhomogeneous in both structure and composition,which makes the mechanism of austenite formation very complex.In this contribution,austenite formation upon continuous heating from a designed spheroidized cementite structure in a model Fe-C-Mn alloy was investigated with an emphasis on the role of heating rate in kinetic transitions and element partitioning during austenite formation.Based on partition/non-partition local equilibrium(PLE/NPLE)assumption,austenite growth was found alternately contribute by PLE,NPLE and PLE controlled interfaces migration during slow-heating,while NPLE mode predominately controlled the austenitization by a synchronous dissolution of ferrite and cementite upon fast-heating.It was both experimentally and theoretically found that there is a long-distance diffusion of Mn within austenite of the slow-heated sample,while a sharp Mn gradient was retained within austenite of the fast-heated sample.Such a strong heterogeneous distribution of Mn within austenite cause a large difference in driving force for ferrite or martensite formation during subsequent cooling process,which could lead to various final microstructures.The current study indicates that fast-heating could lead to unique microstructures which could hardly be obtained via the conventional annealing process.

A Criterion for the Change from Fast to Slow Regime of Cementite Dissolution in Fe-C-Mn Steels

The present study clarifies the role of Mn in cementite on the driving force of cementite dissolution and the growth of austenite. From an experimental study, the effects of manganese composition and temperature on the cementite dissolution were shown. From a theoretical analysis based on thermodynamic and kinetics considerations, a criterion for the change from fast to slow regime of cementite dissolution was proposed. This criterion is in good agreement with the experimental results. It can be easily calculated and can define the composition and temperature ranges where the cernentite dissolution is slow or fast.

Structure evolution of the Fe_(3)C/Fe interface mediated by cementite decomposition in cold-deformed pearlitic steel wires

Cold-drawn pearlitic steel wire is irreplaceably used in industry owing to its outstanding mechanical property which is dominated by the cementite/ferrite(Fe_(3)C/Fe) interfaces in the material. However, the fine structures of the Fe3C/Fe interfaces in the deformed wires are less known to date. In this work, transmission electron microscopic investigation was performed on the atomic structures of the interfaces with the Isaichev orientation relationship(OR) in the wires with progressive deformation strains. In addition to the effect of the dislocation/interface interactions, this work revealed that the deformation-induced partial decomposition of cementite plays an important role in the interface reconstruction during deformation. The interfacial carbon vacancies generated by cementite decomposition and particularly, the amorphization of cementite layers in the sample with ε > 1 could effectively annihilated the interfacial dislocations and consequently relaxed the interfacial stress. The correlations between the interface structure changes and the mechanical properties of the wires were discussed.

Comparison on wear resistance of nanostructured bainitic bearing steel with and without residual cementite

The sliding wear property of high-carbon nanostructured bainitic bearing steel with the equal initial hardness and different microstructures was investigated,and the reasons for the difference of wear resistance between the cementite-bearing(CB)and cementite-free(CF)specimens were analyzed.The results show that CF specimens have lower mass loss and surface roughness and shallower wear depth than CB specimens during wear process.Compared with CB specimen,CF specimen presents superior wear resistance.This is due to two reasons:(1)a lot of retained austenite in CF specimen is easy to produce TRIP effect and be transformed into martensite during wear process,which notably increased the surface hardness of worn specimen;(2)there is a nondestructive oxide layer in the surface of cementite-free worn specimen,which can protect the surface of worn specimen from destruction.Under the combined effect of retained austenite and oxide layer,the loss of matrix is reduced.Thus,CF specimen exhibits high wear resistance.It reveals that the wear mechanism of high-carbon nanostructured bainitic bearing steel with different microstructures can provide a reference for improving the wear resistance in high-carbon nanostructured bainitic bearing steel in future.

Influence of cementite spheroidization on relieving the micro-galvanic effect of ferrite-pearlite steel in acidic chloride environment

The corrosion behavior of the as-received steel and the spheroidized steel in acidic chloride environment was investigated. The results indicate the corrosion mode and corrosion rate of two steels are diverse due to their difference in microstructure. For as-received steel with ferrite-pearlite microstructure, severe localized corrosion happens on the pearlite regions, and plenty of cathodic cementite remains in the pits, further strengthening the micro-galvanic effect and accelerating the corrosion rate. While for spheroidized steel with tempered martensite microstructure, the nanosized cementite particles evenly distributed on the ferrite substrate are easy to fall off, which can significantly reduce the cementite accumulation on the steel surface, relieving the acceleration effect of micro-galvanic corrosion.

The synergy between cementite spheroidization and Cu alloying on the corrosion resistance of ferrite-pearlite steel in acidic chloride solution

In this work,the corrosion behavior of medium-carbon steels(45,45 Cu and 45 Cuq steels)in acidic chloride environment was investigated.The results indicated that the micro-galvanic effect between the anodic ferrite matrix phase and the cathodic cementite secondary phase notably affected the corrosion resistance of the three steels.For 45 steel,serious pitting corrosion happened in and around the pearlite regions,and a large number of lamellar cementite was fixed in the corrosion pits.Meanwhile,the continuously increasing superficial area of cathodic cementite enhanced the micro-galvanic corrosion,resulting in a rapidly increase in corrosion rate with time.While for 45 Cu and 45 Cuq steels,macroscopic uniform corrosion occurred,and the cementite accumulation was markedly reduced as compared with 45 steel,thus the micro-galvanic effect was weakened and the corrosion rate was decreased accordingly.Among these,45 Cuq steel showed the most stable and excellent corrosion resistance during long-term corrosion,indicating the occurrence of a synergistic effect between cementite spheroidization and Cu alloying,thereby significantly improving the corrosion resistance of 45 steel.

Cementites decomposition of a pearlitic ductile cast iron during graphitization annealing heat treatment

Cementites decomposition of a pearlitic ductile cast iron during graphitization annealing heat treatment was investigated.Fractographies and microstructures of heat treated samples were observed using a scanning electron microscope and mechanical properties were measured by a universal tensile test machine.The results indicated that during isothermal annealing at 750°C,the tensile strength of pearlitic ductile cast iron was increased to a peak value at 0.5h,and decreased gradually thereafter but the elongation was enhanced with the increase of annealing time.Moreover,the diffusion coefficient of carbon atoms could be approximately calculated as 0.56μm2/s that could be regarded as the shortrange diffusion.As the holding time was short（0.5h）,diffusion of carbon atoms was incomplete and mainly occurred around the graphites where the morphology of cementites changed from fragmentized shape to granular shape.In addition,the ductile cast iron with tensile strength of 740MPa and elongation of 7% could be achieved after graphitization annealing heat treatment for 0.5h.Two principal factors should be taken into account.First,the decomposition of a small amount of cementites was beneficial for increasing the ductility up to elongation of 7%.Second,the diffusion of carbon atoms from cementites to graphites could improve the binding force between graphites and matrix,enhancing the tensile strength to 740 MPa.

Valence Electron Structure of Carburizing Cementite Fe_3C and Analysis of Its Relevant Properties

1 Introduction Since the cementite Fe3C is one of important phases of Fe-C alloys, the studiesfor it are the foundation of studying the iron steel materials. So far, many authorshave analyzed its crystal structure with various methods and all the obtained resultsrare basically the same. Although its valence electron structure is very important, the published research re-sults are scarcely seen because of the complexity of its crystal. Recently, J.

Cementite Characterization with Chromium and Vanadium Contents Using Indentation Technique

Cast irons with some kinds of cementite with different chromium and vanadium contents were character- ized. Fracture toughness was determined by using an indentation technique, along with microhardness and elastic modulus. The results show that at the load of 1 N, microhardness of the cementite with 5.1% Cr is 10.53 GPa, the microhardness for cementite with 9.2% Cr increased to 11.25 GPa and for cementite with 4.5% V the microhard- ness is 9.18 GPa. The cementite with 9.2% Cr presented the highest elastic modulus of 230.4 GPa and the cement- ire with 4% V presented the lowest value of 201.32 GPa. Cementite with 5.1% Cr presented higher fracture tough- ness than cementite with 9.2% Cr; however, cementite with 4.5% V presented the highest fracture toughness of 2.74 MPa ·m1/2 and the lowest brittleness index of 3.35 μm-1/2.

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.

Effects of Rare-earth and Microalloying Elements on the Microstructure Characteristics of Hypereutectoid Rails

We performed thermal simulation experiments of double-pass deformation of hypereutectoid rails with different microalloying elements at a cooling rate of 1℃/s and deformation of 80%to explore the influence of rare-earth and microalloying elements on the structure of hypereutectoid rails and optimize the composition design of hypereutectoid rails.Scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy,X-ray diffraction,and other characterization techniques were employed to quantitatively analyzed the effects of different microalloying elements,including rare-earth elements,on pearlite lamellar spacing,cementite characteristics,and dislocation density.It was found that the lamellar spacing was reduced by adding various microalloying elements.Cementite lamellar thickness decreased with the refinement of pearlite lamellar spacing while the cementite content per unit volume increased.Local cementite spheroidization,dispersed in the ferrite matrix in granular form and thus playing the role of dispersion strengthening,was observed upon adding cerium(Ce).The contributions of dislocation density to the alloy strength of four steel sheet samples with and without the addition of nickel,Ce,and Ce–copper(Cu)composite were 26,27,32,and 37 MPa,respectively,indicating that the Ce–Cu composite had the highest dislocation strengthening effect.The Ce–Cu composite has played a meaningful role in the cementite characteristics and dislocation strengthening,which provides a theoretical basis for optimizing the composition design of hypereutectoid rails in actual production conditions.