Microstructural development during the quenching and partitioning process in a newly designed low-carbon steel

This paper presents a detailed characterization of the microstructural development of a new quenching and partitioning (Q&P) steel. Q&P treatments, starting from full austenitization, were applied to the developed steel, leading to microstructures containing volume fractions of retained austenite of up to 0.15. The austenite was distributed as films in between the martensite laths. Analysis demonstrates that, in this material, stabilization of austenite can be achieved at significantly shorter time scales via the Q&P route than is possible via a bainitic isothermal holding. The results showed that the thermal stabilization of austenite during the partitioning step is not necessarily accompanied by a significant expansion of the material. This implies that the process of carbon partitioning from martensite to austenite occurs across low-mobility martensite–austenite interfaces. The amount of martensite formed during the first quench has been quantified. Unlike martensite formed in the final quench, this martensite was found to be tempered during partitioning. Measured volume fractions of retained austenite after different treatments were compared with simulations using model descriptions for carbon partitioning from martensite to austenite. Simulation results confirmed that the carbon partitioning takes place at low-mobility martensite–austenite interfaces.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.OLD Metals Processing, Microstructures and PropertiesOLD Surface and Interface Engineerin

Thermo – mechanical properties of SPS produced self-healing thermal barrier coatings containing pure and alloyed MoSi2 particles

Yttria – partially stabilised zirconia (YPSZ) MoSi2 composites have been designed to prolong the lifetime of the matrix by self – healing cracks during thermal cycling. The healing reaction at high temperatures is based on the decomposition of MoSi2, leading to a volumetrically expanding reaction product, which seals the crack. In this work, coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and the fracture toughness of composites containing MoSi2 particles, produced by spark plasma sintering (SPS) have been compared to conventional YPSZ. The CTE mismatch between YPSZ and MoSi2 was found to be small, implying that thermally induced mismatch stresses will be small and the composites have a similar CTE to conventional YPSZ. Fracture toughness was found not to be affected by the particles and showed similar values to unreinforced YPSZ. Cracks introduced by indentation have been shown neither to prefer, or avoid, the particles suggesting that such a composite system is capable of autonomously activating the self – healing reaction

Krypton incorporation in sputtered silicon films

The incorporation of Kr in sputtered a-Si films has been investigated in a systematic way by varying the Kr to Si flux, yielding Kr concentrations up to 5 at %. Compositions were determined with X-ray microanalysis. A model has been applied to describe the composition of the growing film. The layers were characterized by positron annihilation, Raman spectroscopy and Mossbauer spectroscopy. The present results clearly indicate that ion assisted growth leads to a strong reduction of open volume defects, and that the Kr resides in very small clusters