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.

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 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.

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.

Formation kinetics of austenite in pearlitic ductile iron

This work evaluated the isothermal transformation of austenite in unalloyed pearlitic ductile iron and drew the isothermal phase diagram of austenitization in the ductile iron, Austenite forms at grain boundaries and then grows up to graphite regions during austenitiza- tion. The formation kinetics of austenite complies with the Avrami equation, in which the parameter （n） ranges from 4.71 to 4.99. The start time and finish time of transformation can be calculated at each temperature using the Avrami equation.

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.

The Evolution of Ultrafine Grained Structure Formation Through Isothermal Static Phase Transformation

In the current study,a 0.3C-2Si-2Mn-0.28Mo (in wt%) steel with high hardenability was deformed at a relatively low temperature followed by isothermal static phase transformation.This novel thermomechanical processing made it possible to successfully produce an ultrafine ferrite grained structure (～2 μm) in the absence of both dynamic phase transformation and controlled cooling.The use of a model Ni-30Fe austenitic alloy showed that the low temperature deformation induced very fine intragranular defects throughout the microstructure,which would then act as fine spaced ferrite nucleation sites at an early stage of phase transformation.As a result,the coarsening of ferrite was extremely limited during isothermal phase transformation,resulting a very fine ferrite grained structure;even nanoscale in the region of the prior austenite grain boundary.

Competitive role of film-like austenite and transition carbides on hydrogen embrittlement resistance and impact toughness in bainite-containing quenched and partitioned steel

A microstructure composed of martensite matrix,lower bainite,and stable film-like austenite was designed by a quenching and isothermal bainitic holding process in a 0.30C–2.69Mn–1.71Si(wt.%)steel.The yield strength,tensile strength,and ductile-to-brittle transition temperature(DBTT)of the high-strength steel thus obtained were 1263 MPa,1521 MPa,and-33℃,respectively,and at-20℃,it showed superior low-temperature toughness,which reached 77.5 J/cm^(2).Meanwhile,it showed excellent hydrogen embrittlement(HE)resistance,and the total elongation loss is only 3.1%after 15 min of hydrogen charging.The excellent comprehensive performance is attributed to the fact that fine stable austenite with film-like morphology hindered the crack nucleation and propagation,and hindered hydrogen diffusion as a hydrogen trap.However,with a decrease in the isothermal temperature,transition carbide precipitation was accompanied by a further decrease in austenite grain size.For this condition,although transition carbides can act as effective hydrogen traps,excessive precipitation decreased the carbon content of retained austenite and increased the deformation heterogeneity between austenite and martensite matrix,leading to weakened austenite stability and HE resistance,a total elongation loss of approximately 39%(15 min hydrogen charging),a sharp decrease in impact toughness,and an increase in DBTT.The competitive role of film-like austenite and transition carbides on the comprehensive mechanical performance of steel is revealed,especially the suppression of crack nucleation and propagation that will provide a guide for the design of high strength steels with excellent impact toughness and HE resistance.

Precipitation Characteristics and Mechanism of Vanadium Carbides in a V-Microalloyed Medium-Carbon Steel

The precipitation characteristics and mechanism of vanadium carbides during isothermal transformation at 650℃ in aV-microalloyed medium-carbon steel were investigated through scanning electron microscopy and transmission electronmicroscopy as well as dilatometry test. Five morphologies of vanadium carbides were found to precipitate at differentnucleation sites during the transformation. Two kinds of interphase precipitation form simultaneously in both pro-eutectoidand pearlitic ferrites. The linear arrays of fine interphase precipitates are parallel to the γ/α interface, and the fine needles ofinterphase precipitates are perpendicular to the 7/ct interface. The vanadium carbides of long or short fibers, coarse particlesand fine particles form in both pro-eutectoid and pearlitic ferrites, displaying different precipitation distributions andorientation relationships with ferrite. The precipitation mechanisms of vanadium carbide precipitates with different modeswere proposed, and the precipitation sequence of various vanadium carbide precipitates was finally ascertained.

Mechanical Property and Microstructural Characterization of C-Mn-Al-Si Hot Dip Galvanizing TRIP Steel

Mechanical properties and microstructure in high strength hot dip galvanizing TRIP steel were investigated by optical microscope (OM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), dilatometry and mechanical testing. On the heat treatment process of different intercritical annealing (IA) temperatures, isothermal bainitic transformation (IBT) temperatures and IBT time, this steel shows excellent mechanical properties with tensile strength over 780 MPa and elongation more than 22%. IBT time is a crucial factor in determining the mechanical properties as it confirms the bainite transformation process, as well as the microstructure of the steel. The microstructure of the hot dip galvanizing TRIP steel consisted of ferrite, bainite, retained austenite and martensite during the short IBT time. The contents of ferrite, bainite, retained austenite and martensite with different IBT time were calculated. The results showed that when IBT time increased from 20 to 60 s, the volume of bainite increased from 14.31% to 16.95% and the volume of retained austenite increased from 13.64% to 16.28%; meanwhile, the volume of martensite decreased from 7.18% to 1.89%. Both the transformation induced plasticity of retained austenite and the hardening of martensite are effective, especially, the latter plays a dominant role in the steel containing 7.18% martensite which shows similar strength characteristics as dual-phase steel, but a better elongation. When martensite volume decreases to 1.89%, the steel shows typical mechanical properties of TRIP, as so small amount of martensite has no obvious effect on the mechanical properties.