Effect of Rare Earth Elements on Isothermal Transformation and Microstructures in 20Mn Steel

The effect of rare earth elements on the isothermal transformation and microstructures in 20Mn steel is in- vestigated by means of metallography and dilatometry.Rare earth elements decrease both the incubation period of pro-eutectoid ferrite and the rate of pearlitic transformation.In addition,rare earth elements play a role of reducing needle-like ferrite and the amount of pearlite,densifing the lamellar space of pearlite and enhcing segregation of carbide in granular bainite.It is suggested that rare earth elements may decrease the interfacial energy of grain boundary and interphase,hinder the diffusion of carbon atoms and form rare earth carbides with high melting point which reduce the carbon content in austenite.

Isothermal and athermal martensitic transformations of ceria cerla doped zilrconian

Martensitic transformation behavior was studied for zirconia containing 4%～10% CeO2 (in mole fraction) by using a dilatometric method. The Ms (Martensite start temperature) decreased near linearly with increasing CeO2. Different transformation modes were observed depending on the composition and cooling rate. ZrO2 containing 6% CeO2 showed isothermal transformation behavior, whereas ZrO2 containing 9% and 10% CeO2 showed athermal transformation behavior. However, ZrO2 containing 8% CeO2 showed either isothermal or athermal transformations behavior depending on the cooling rate. A TTT (Time-Temperature-Transformation) diagram was proposed for ZrO2 containing 8% CeO2.

ISOTHERMAL PHASE TRANSFORMATION IN Au-Si AMORPHOUS ALLOY

Electric resistivity measurements and X-ray diffraction analysis were performed to study the isothermal phase transformation in amorphous Au-Si ribbons with eutectic composition pre- pared using melt-spinning technique.A series of phase transformations take place spontaneously at room temperature and accelerate at elevated temperatures.Four stages of the transformation from amorphous state to the equilibrium state can be distinguished.Dis- cussion on the structural character of the metastable phases indicates that Hume-Rothery electron compounds and size factor compounds could form during isothermal aging.

Effect of Austenite Pre-deformation on Isothermal Martensite Transformation in an Fe-20.5Ni-4.8Mn Alloy

With electron microscopy the investigation on isothermal martensite transformation in an Fe20.5Ni-4.8Mn alloy has been carried out to clarify the effect of austenite state on the transformation, by applying pre-deformation to austenite before isothermal holding. Under the condition without pre-deformation, the isothermal martensite products are lath martensite with {111}fhabit planes. Dislocations in austenite seem to contribute to nucleation of martensite, and in this nascent Stage austenite substructure has no obvious effect on martensite growth. The consequent thickening of martensite laths is apparently influenced by local austenite states, resulting in the changes in orientation, morphology as well as substructure of martensite lath. The kinetics of isothermal martensite transformation is controlled by intedece dislocation determined nucleation of martensite in primary stage, but to a larger extent, by the austenite accommodation for the shape strain of martensite in the thickening Stage

Isothermal and athermal type martensitic transformations in yttria doped zirconia

The phase transformation from the high temperature tetragonal phase to the low temperature monoclinic phase of zirconia had been long considered to be a typical athermal martensitic transformation until it was recently identified to be a fast isothermal transformation. The isothermal nature becomes more apparent when a stabilizing oxide, such as yttria, is doped, by which the transformation temperature is reduced and accordingly the transformation rate becomes low. Thus it becomes easy to experimentally establish a C-curve nature in a TTT （Time-Temperature-Transformation） diagram. The C-curve approaches that of well known isothermal transformation of Y-TZP （Yttria Doped Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystals）, which typically contains 3mol% of Y2O3.In principle, an isothermal transformation can be suppressed by a rapid cooling so that the cooling curve avoids intersecting the C-curve in TTT diagram. Y-TZP is the case, where the stability of the metastable tetragonal phase is relatively high and thus the tetragonal phase persists even at the liquid nitrogen temperature. On the other hand, the high temperature tetragonal phase of pure zirconia can never be quenched-in at room temperature by a rapid cooling; instead it always turns into monoclinic phase at room temperature. This suggests the occurrence of an athermal transformation after escaping the isothermal transformation, provided the cooling rate was fast enough to suppress the isothermal transformation. Thus, with an intermediate yttria composition, it would be possible to obtain the tetragonal phase which is not only metastable at room temperature but athermally transforms into the monoclinic phase by subzero cooling. The objective of the present work is to show that, with a certain range of yttria content, the tetragonal phase can be quenched in at room temperature and undergoes isothermal transformation and athermal transformation depending on being heated at a moderate temperature or under-cooled below room temperature. Because both of the product phases are essentially the same monoclinic phase, both transformations are regarded as martensitic transformation, i.e. isothermal and athermal martensite. In some steels such as Fe-Mn-Ni and Fe-Ni-C, the occurrence of both isothermal and athermal martensitic transformations has been reported. However, in these cases, the isothermal transformation occurs at temperatures slightly above the Ms （Martensite start） temperatures, and thus these transformations are considered to conform the same C-curve. On the other hand, the Ms temperature of the present material is well below the C-curve, which suggests that completely different mechanisms are controlling the kinetics of these two modes of transformations. Other aspects on these transformations are also to be reported..

Microstructure transformation of deformed AZ91D during isothermal holding

In order to understand the thermodynamic properties of deformed AZ91D alloy during isothermal holding, the microstructure characteristics and transformation were investigated. The results present that deformation mainly concentrates on the edge of the chips and billets, especially at the interface of α/β. Microstructure transformation mechanism of deformed AZ91D during holding mainly includes recrystallization, spheroidization and Ostwald ripening. The mechanism was then thermodynamically analyzed. During the heating and isothermal holding process, recrystallization driven by residual energy within the deformed AZ91D alloy, spheroidization and Ostwald ripening induced by the reduction of interfacial energy, will inevitably and continuously occur with the extension of heating and holding.

Darboux Transformations for Space-Like Isothermic Surfaces in R^m,1

In this paper,by using the G_(m,1)~(1,1)-system,we study Darboux transformations for space-like isothermic surfaces in Minkowski space R~(m,1),where G_(m,1)~(1,1)=O(m+1,2)/O(m,1)×O(1,1).

Formation and evolution characteristics of bcc phase during isothermal relaxation processes of supercooled liquid and amorphous metal Pb

The formation and evolution characteristics of bcc phase during the isothermal relaxation processes for supercooled-liquid and amorphous Pb were investigated by molecular dynamics simulation and cluster-type index method （CTIM）. It is found that during the relaxation process, the formation and evolution of bcc phase are closely dependent on the initial temperature and structure. During the simulation time scale, when the initial temperature is in the range of supercooled liquid region, the bcc phase can be formed and kept a long time; while it is in the range of glassy region, the bcc phase can be formed at first and then partially transformed into hcp phase; when it decreases to the lower one, the hcp and fcc phases can be directly transformed from the glassy structure without undergoing the metastable bcc phase. The Ostwald＇s ＂step rule＂ is impactful during the isothermal relaxation process of the supercooled and glassy Pb, and the metastable bcc phase plays an important role in the precursor of crystallization.

Influence of isothermal bainitic processing on the mechanical properties and microstructure characterization of TRIP steel

The mechanical properties of transformation induced plasticity （TRIP） steel are strongly affected by the conditions of iso-thermal bainitic processing. The multiphase microstructure of TRIP steel under different conditions of isothermal bainitic processing was investigated using OM,SEM,XRD and TEM. The volume fraction of retained austenite and the carbon content in austenite were determined quantitatively using X-ray diffraction patterns. The relationship between mechanical properties and isothermal bainitic processing parameters was investigated. The stability of retained austenite was analyzed by the volume fraction of retained austenite and the carbon content in retained austenite. The experimental results show that the multiphase microstructure consists of ferrite,bainite and metastable retained austenite.To obtain good mechanical properties,the optimal conditions of isothermal bainitic temperature and holding time are 410-430°C and 180-240 s,respectively. After isothermal bainitic processing under the optimal conditions,the corresponding volume fraction of retained austenite is 5vol%-15vol%,which can provide enough retained austenite and plastic stability for austenite with high carbon content.

Isothermal Aging Kinetics in CuZnAl Shape Memory Alloy

Isothermal aging behaviours of a CuZnAl shape memory alloy have been investigated by means of dilatometry.The length of the specimens during isothermal aging from 190 to 280℃ increases with the aging time at each temperature.The isothermal aging kinetics fits in Avrami equation and the time exponent n decreases with the increase in aging temperature.The apparent activation energy for the isothermal aging process was measured to be 109.0kJ/mol,which is about equal to that of a relaxation internal friction peak at about 200℃ (f≈1 Hz) in the alloy.

DRIVING FORCE OF BAINITE TRANSFORMATION FOR Fe-C-Mn ALLOYS

The regular solution model developed by Hillert and Stanffanson is applied to calculate the driving force for transformations with three possible mechanisms in the intermediate tempera- ture range between proeutectoid and martensite transformation.Focus is made on the thermodynamical discussions for both diffusional and shear mechanisms for bainitic transfor- mations in different temperature ranges.

GROWTH OF ISOTHERMAL MARTENSITE IN AN Fe-Ni-Mn ALLOY

The substructural development of martensite plates at different stage of the transformation for an Fe-21Ni-4Mn alloy has been investigated by using transmission electron microscope. Twinning was found in small thin platelets at the initial stage.Fine twins extend to the whole platelet.The dislocations and twins were found in the thick platelets at a later stage.Bending of the twins was also observed frequently at this stage.Finally,several platelets coalesce with each other to form a macroscopic(252)_f martensite“plate”.The original habit plane of the individual platelet was measured to be close to(121)_f.

EFFECT OF MAGNETIC FIELD ON MARTENSITIC TRANSFORMATION IN Fe-21Ni-4Mn ALLOY

The pulsed magnetic field induced martensitic transformation with isothermal and athermal kinetics in Fe-2Ni-4Mn(wt-%)alloy has been studied by means of magnetization measurements,optical microscopy and thermodymical analyses.It is shown that there exits a critical magnetic intensity for induing martensitic transformation at a given temperature above Ms.The critical magnetic field increases linearly with increasing ΔT= T-M_S.The magnetic field strongly promotes the athermal martensitic transforamtion and restrains the isothermal one.The entropy change ΔS for athermal transformation at Ms is 4.13 J/mol· K.The effect of magnetic field on martensitic transformation in Fe-21Ni-4Mn alloy is main- ly due to Zeeman effect.Lath,plate and butterfly martensities were observed under magnetic field.

Effects of Rare Earths on the Tempering Transformation Kinetics of High Carbon Steel

Effect of rare earth metals (REM) on tempering process and decomposition kinetics of martensite and retained austenite of high carbon steel were investigated by DSC technique,based on the non-isothermal kinetic theory.The result shows that the addition of REM in high carbon steel increases the decomposition temperatures of martensite and retained austenite,decreases the thennal effect values,elevates the activity energies and changes the transformation mechanism.

Transformations and phase relations in Nb-Ti-Si ternary system at 1373～1473K

The isothermal sections of the Nb Ti Si ternary system at 1?473?K and 1?373?K were determined by means of diffusion triple technique and electron microprobe analysis. By analyzing the diffusion layers in the diffusion couples, the titanium silicides and niobium silicides forming in this system were identified. The results show that no ternary compounds formed in the Nb Ti Si ternary system at the test temperatures. The phase transformations occurring on cooling from 1?473?K to 1?373?K were discussed.

Kinetics and microstructural modeling of isothermal austenite-to-ferrite transformation in Fe-C-Mn-Si steels

During the multi-stage processing of advanced high-strength steels, the austenite-to-ferrite transformation, generally as a precursor of the formation of other non-equilibrium or metastable structures, has a severe effect on the subsequent phase transformations. Herein, a more flexible kinetic and microstructural predictive modeling for the key austenite-to-ferrite transformation of Fe-C-Mn-Si steels was developed,in combination with the classical nucleation theory, the general mixed-mode growth model based on Gibbs energy balance, the microstructural path method and the kinetic framework for grain boundary nucleation. Adopting a bounded, extended matrix space corresponding to a single ferrite grain, both softimpingement and hard-impingement can be naturally included in the current modeling. Accordingly, this model outputs the ferrite volume fraction, the austenite/ferrite interface area per unit volume, and the average grain size of ferrite, which will serve as the input parameters for modeling the subsequent bainite or martensite transformations. Applying the model, this work successfully predicts the experiment measurement of the isothermal austenite-to-ferrite transformation in Fe-0.17 C-0.91 Mn-1.03 Si(wt%) steel at different temperatures and explains why the final-state average grain size of ferrite has a maximum at the moderate annealing temperature. Effectiveness and advantages of the present model are discussed arising from kinetics and thermodynamics accompanied with nucleation, growth and impingement.

Isothermal transformation and precipitation behaviors of titanium microalloyed steels

The microstructure transformation and precipitation behavior of nano-carbides in Ti microalloyed steel during isothermal process were studied by a compression test on a Gleeble 3800 thermomechanical simulator and analyzed by optical microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and other methods.The results show thatγ→αphase transformation and TiC precipitation take place in Ti microalloyed steel during the isothermal process,and time–temperature–transformation curve and precipitation–time–temperature(PTT)curve are all of“C”-type.During the isothermal process,the interphase precipitation of TiC mostly occurs at the period of the phase transformation,and the random precipitation of TiC mostly occurs on the ferrite after the phase transformation.The increment in yield strength at the initial stage of isothermal transformation mainly comes from phase transformation strengthening.With the increase in isothermal time,the precipitation hardening effect becomes more important for nucleation and growth of titanium carbides and eventually reaches the maximum value at the precipitation finished point of the PTT curve.

Correlation of isothermal bainite transformation and austenite stability in quenching and partitioning steels

The possible decomposition of metastable austenite during the partitioning process in the high end quenching and partitioning （Q＆P） steels is somewhat neglected by most researchers. The effects of primary martensite and alloying elements including manganese, cobalt and aluminum on the isothermal decomposition of austenite during typical Q＆P process were studied by dilatometry. The transformation kinetics was studied systematically and resulting microstruc tures were discussed in details. The results suggested that the primary martensite decreased the incubation period of isothermal decomposition by accelerating the nucleation process owing to dislocations especially on phase and grain boundaries. This effect can be eliminated by a flash heating which recovered dislocations. Co addition significantly promoted the bainite transformation during partitioning while A1 and Mn suppressed the isothermal bainite transformation. The bainite transformation played an important role in carbon distribution during partitioning, and hence the amount and stability of austenite upon final quenching. The bainite transformation during partitioning is an important factor in optimizing the microstructure in Q＆P steels.

Morphological transformation of elongated MnS inclusions in non-quenched and tempered steel during isothermal heating

Elongated MnS inclusions in rolled non-quenched and tempered steel tend to cause the mechanical anisotropy of steel,deteriorate the mechanical properties and degrade the quality and service life of the steel products.To reveal the mechanisms of morphological transformation of strip-shaped MnS inclusions during isothermal heating,the effects of heat treatment time and temperature on the morphology,number density and size distribution of elongated MnS inclusions were systematically studied and discussed.A diffusion couple experiment was also conducted to clarify the diffusion mode of MnS inclusions.The experimental results showed that with the increase in isothermal heating time(from 0 to 10 h at 1473 K)and temperature(from 1173 to 1573 K for 3.0 h),the number density and average aspect ratio of MnS inclusions generally showed an increase and decrease trend,respectively,while the area fraction remained stable and only slightly fluctuated around 0.4%.In the diffusion couple,after the isothermal heating at 1473 K for 3.0 h,the elements Mn and S in the steel near the steel-MnS interface were very stable without any concentration gradient.The morphology change sequence of the elongated MnS inclusions in the rolled non-quenched and tempered steel during the isothermal heating was strip→cylinderization→spindle→spheroidization.Relationship between the diameter of MnS inclusion and the spacing between two MnS inclusions after splitting,and the fitting goodness of different n values under different experimental time and temperature confirmed that the driving force for the transformation of MnS inclusions during the isothermal heating was surface diffusion,instead of volume diffusion.

Transformation of nanoscale inclusions in 316L stainless steel processed by laser beam powder bed fusion during isothermal heating

Transformation mechanisms and reaction kinetics for formation of nanoscale inclusions in as-built 316L stainless steel produced by laser beam powder bed fusion(LB-PBF)during subsequent isothermal heating process were investigated and clarified experimentally and theoretically.The resulting changes in morphologies,size distributions,number densities,and chemical compositions of the inclusions were measured and discussed,along with microstructure and texture of the steel.The results showed that with increasing isothermal heating time and temperature,the columnar grains in the as-built LB-PBF 316L stainless steel transformed into equiaxed grains,which grew gradually and exhibited a large number of twins in the FCC structure.During isothermal heating,the reaction of Si in the steel with MnO–Cr_(2)O_(3)in the nanoscale inclusion resulted in a transformation from the homogeneous oxide MnO–SiO_(2)–Cr_(2)O_(3)to an inclusion with an obvious core–shell structure,and the core part was eventually rich in Si and the shell part was predominantly rich in Mn and Si,depending on the heating temperature and time.An Ostwald ripening model used for predicting the growth of nanoscale inclusions during isothermal heating verified that the observed effects of isothermal heating time and temperature were predicted for Si diffusion control.