Effects of Plastic Deformation and Stresses on Dilatation duringthe Martensitic Transformation in a B-bearing Steel

To provide data for improved modelling of the behaviour of steel components in a simultaneous forming and quenching process, the effects of plastic deformation and stresses on dilatation during the martensitic transformation in a B-bearing steel were investigated. It was found that plastic deformation of austenite at high temperatures enhances ferrite formation significantly, and consequently, the dilatation decreases markedly even at a cooling rate of 280’C/s. The created ferritic-martensitic microstructure possesses clearly lower hardness and strength than the martensitic structure. Elastic stresses cause the preferred orientation in martensite to be formed so that diametric dilatation can increase by nearly 200% under axial compression.

High temperature strength and ductility of the(C+N)strengthening Fe-Cr-Mn(W,V)steels

Fe-Cr-Mn(W, V) austenite steels used as low radioactive structural materialsin fusion reactor have been investigated. The results show that the high temperature strength andthe creep fracture life of Fe-Cr-Mn(W, V) steels can be effectively improved through (C+N)complex-strengthening, so can be the high temperature ductility. The strength and ductility of thesteels are superior to that of SUS316 steels and JPCAS below 673 K. The relationship betweenstrength, ductility and the formation temperature is related to the evolution of deformationmicrostructure. The fracture and microstructure observation above 673 K indicates that the main wayto further improve ductility at high temperature is the control of carbide coarsening at the grainboundaries.

Phase stability in an austenitic Fe-Cr-Mn (W,V) alloy

By means of deformation and long term aging, the stability and phaseequilibrim characteristic of the C + N synthetically strengthening austenitic Fe-Cr-Mn (W, V) alloywere investigated. Experimental results indicate that he austenitic alloy remains stability and nogamma - > alpha transformation occurs under 500 deg C. Synthetic addition of C and N cause thegrains to refine and powerfully retards formation of epsilon martensite and precipitation of sigmaphase. M_s point is elevated with long term aging at elevated temperature (500-700 deg C) due to alarge number of strain induced carbides precipitate. Along with accelerated decomposition of straininduced alpha' martensite and occurrence of recrystallization gamma - > alpha transformation andsigma phase precipitation are promoted s that austenite becomes unstable.

Investigations of a nanostructured FeMnSi shape memory alloy produced via severe plastic deformation

Low-cost iron-based shape memory alloys（SMAs） show great potential for engineering applications. The developments of new processing techniques have recently enabled the production of nanocrystalline materials with improved properties. These developments have opened avenues for newer applications for SMAs. The influence of severe plastic deformation induced by the high-speed high-pressure torsion（HSHPT） process on the microstructural evolution of an Fe–Mn–Si–Cr alloy was investigated. Transmission electron microscopic analysis of the alloy revealed the existence of nanoscale grains with an abundance of stacking faults. The high density of dislocations characteristic of severe plastic deformation was not observed in this alloy. X-ray diffraction studies revealed the presence of ε-martensite with an HCP crystal structure and γ-phase with an FCC structure.

Repetitive Thermomechanical Processing towards Ultra Fine Grain Structure in 301,304 and 304L Stainless Steels

Thermomechanical processing as a combination of cold rolling and annealing was performed on austenitic stainless steels 301,304 and 304L. Two cold rolling steps each one up to a reduction of 75% were combined with an intermediate annealing at 800℃ for 20 min. The final annealing was performed at.the same temperature and time. Cold rolling contributed to martensite formation at the expense of metastable austenite in the studied materials. Austenite in 301 was found to be less stable than that in 304 and 304L. Hence, higher strength characteristics in the as-quenched 301 stainless steels were attributed to the higher volume fraction of martensite. Both α′-martensite and ε-martensite were found to form as induced by deformation. However, the intensity of ε-martensite increased as the stability of austenite decreased. Annealing after cold rolling led to the reversion of austenite with an ultra fine grained structure in the order of 0.5-1 μm from the strain induced martensite. The final grain size was found to be an inverse function of the amount of strain induced martensite. The thermomechanical processing considerably improved the strength characteristics while the simultaneous decrease of elongation was rather low.

In Situ TEM Observation on Martensitic Transformation during Tensile Deformation of SUS304 Metastable Austenitic Stainless Steel

Through in situ transmission electron microscopy observation on SUS304 metastable austenitic stainless steel during stretching at room temperature,it is found that e martensite plates were induced preferentially from the sites of dislocation pile-ups.With increasing deformation,some of ε thin martensite platelets disappear and reversibly transform toγ austenite without heating treatment,which is different from the previous result that ε martensite can entirely transform toα＇martensite.Then,some of deformation twins appear and grow along the vertical direction of ε martensite due to（111）_γ⊥（1010）_ε.Moreover,it is directly observed that multiple transformation mechanisms via γ→ε→γ,γ→ε,γ→α′,γ→ε→α′,γ→ deformation twins →α′ can co-exist.

Microstructure and mechanical properties of 20Si2CrNi3MoV steel treated by HDQP process

A combined process of hot-deformation plus two-step quenching and partitioning （HDQP） treatment was applied to a low carbon 20Si2CrNi3MoV steel, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, scanning electron microscopy （SEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Vickers hardness and tension test were used to characterize the microstructure and mechanical properties. More stable retained austen ite due to fine microstructures and typical curved micromorphology is obtained, and the newly-treated steel obtains more retained austenite because of the effect of hot deformation. The retained austenite fraction increases and then decreases with the increasing quenching temperature from 200 to 350 ℃. The maximum retained austenite fraction （18.3 % ） and elongation （15 % ） are obtained to enhance the ductility.