Effect of Tempering on the Bainitic Microstructure Evolution Correlated with the Hardness in a Low-Alloy Medium-Carbon Steel

A low-alloy medium-carbon bainitic steel was isothermally tempered at 300 degrees C for up to 24 hours which led to a significant hardness decrease. In order to explain the decreasing hardness, extensive microstructural characterization using scanning and transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and atom probe tomography was conducted. The experimental work was further supplemented by thermodynamic and kinetic simulations. It is found that the main underlying reason for the hardness reduction during tempering is related to dislocation annihilation, possibly also with corresponding changes in Cottrell atmospheres. On the other hand, cementite precipitate size, effective grain size of the bainite, and retained austenite fraction appear unchanged over the whole tempering cycle

Nucleation in Systems with Elastic Forces

Systems with long-range interactions when quenced into a metastable state near the pseudo-spinodal exhibit nucleation processes that are quite different from the classical nucleation seen near the coexistence curve. In systems with long-range elastic forces the description of the nucleation process can be quite subtle due to the presence of bulk/interface elastic compatibility constraints. We analyze the nucleation process in a simple 2d model with elastic forces and show that the nucleation process generates critical droplets with a different structure than the stable phase. This has implications for nucleation in many crystal-crystal transitions and the structure of the final state

Some aspects on modelling of the β-phase depletion behaviour under different oxide growth kinetics in HVOF CoNiCrAlY coatings

In this paper, β-phase depletion behaviour of free-standing high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermally sprayed CoNiCrAlY coatings was studied. Microstructural analysis showed a two-phase microstructure of γ-Ni matrix and β-NiAl secondary phase after heat treatment. Fine grains were found around the sprayed particle boundaries and coarse grains were retained as the original particle structure, with grain sizes varying from 2 to 0.5 μm or even less for both phases. The β-phase depletion behaviour was investigated during isothermal oxidation and was also modelled through diffusion calculations. A previously developed β-phase depletion model was utilised to study the evolution of β-phase depletion under different oxide growth kinetics. Three oxide growth models were tried: 1) Meier model, 2) thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) model, and 3) experimentally fitted oxide growth model. The oxide growth kinetics were converted to Al flux functions which were used as the boundary conditions in the DICTRA modelling. It is shown that the results obtained from the three models exhibit good agreements between the measured and predicted results for times up to 100 h at 1100 C, but discrepancies were noted at longer oxidation times. Further improvements on closely modelling the oxidation kinetics and the effective diffusion behaviour are needed to minimise the discrepancies at longer oxidation times

Modelling and experimental study on β-phase depletion behaviour of HVOF sprayed free-standing CoNiCrA1Y coatings during oxidation

This paper investigates the β-phase depletion behaviour during oxidation of free-standing CoNiCrA1Y (Co-31.7%Ni-20.8%Cr-8.1%A1-0.5%Y, all in wt%) bond coats prepared by high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) thermal spraying. The microstructure of the coatings was characterised using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). It comprises a two phase structure of fcc γ-Ni and bcc β-NiA1, with grain sizes varying largely from 0.5 to 2 μm for both phases. Isothermal oxidation tests of the free-standing coatings were carried out at 1100 °C for times up to 250 h. The β phase depletion behaviour at the surface was measured and was also simulated using Thermo-Calc and DICTRA software. An A1 flux function derived from an oxide growth model was employed as the boundary condition in the diffusion model. The diffusion calculations were performed using the TTNi7 thermodynamic database together with the MOB2 mobility database. Reasonable agreement was achieved between the measured and the predicted element concentration and phase fraction profiles after various time periods. Grain boundary diffusion is likely to be important to element diffusion in this HVOF sprayed CoNiCrA1Y coating due to the sub-micron grains