Hydrogen-Induced Micro-Strain Evolution in Super Duplex Stainless Steel—Correlative High-Energy X-Ray Diffraction, Electron Backscattered Diffraction, and Digital Image Correlation

The local lattice strain evolution during electrochemical hydrogen charging and mechanical loading in 25Cr-7Ni super duplex stainless steel were measured in-situ using synchrotron high-energy x-ray diffraction. Post-mortem electron backscattered diffraction analysis showed that the austenite phase underwent plastic deformation in the near-surface due to hydrogen-enhanced localized plasticity, where the ferrite phase experienced hardening. In bulk regions, the ferrite was the softer phase, and the austenite remained stiff. Digital image correlation of micrographs recorded, in-situ, during mechanical tensile testing revealed intensified plastic strain localization in the austenite phase, which eventually led to crack initiation. The absorption of hydrogen caused strain localization to occur primarily in austenite grains.

Microstructure and Oxidation Behavior of Fe-25Mn-9Al-8Ni-1C-xTi Alloy Prepared by Vacuum Arc Melting

In this study, Fe-25Mn-9Al-8Ni-1C-xTi alloy (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4 wt.%) was prepared by vacuum arc melting, and the corresponding microstructure and oxidation behavior at 600 °C were studied. The results show that Fe-25Mn-9Al-8Ni-1C-xTi alloy mainly contains austenite phase, ferrite phase and TiC phase. With Ti content increasing, the austenite phase content decreases, while the contents of ferrite phase and TiC phase increase. The oxidation performance test results show that the addition of Ti element greatly reduces the oxidation weight gain of the alloys at the initial oxidation stage. With the extension of the oxidation time and the further increase of the Ti content, the alloys oxidation weight gain shows a trend of first increasing and then decreasing. When the Ti content is 0.2 wt.%, the oxidation weight gain of this series of alloy reaches the lowest value during the stable oxidation period. Compared with Fe-25Mn-9Al-8Ni-1C alloy, its weight gain per unit area is reduced by 21.1%. Fe-25Mn-9Al-8Ni-1C-xTi alloy oxide layer exhibits a double-layer structure. The outer oxygen layer is mainly loose iron-oxides, while in the inner oxygen layer, the oxides are mainly composed of manganese-oxides and aluminum-oxides, which are relatively dense.

Microstructure analysis and crack nucleation in TWIP steel tube at expansive deformation

The expansion test of twinning induced plastic (TWIP) steel tube was carried out at room temperature. Cracks appeared inside the tube edge when TWIP steel tube expands by 15.6%. The microstructure evolution, deformation mechanism and crack generation of TWIP steel after expansion were investigated by XDR OM TEM and EBSD. The results show that TWIP steel tube still austenite phase after expansion at room temperature; a great deal of dislocations are gathered around the grain boundaries and twin boundaries, the integral number of twins is high, and the mechanism of expansion deformation is the joint action of dislocations slip and deformation twins; Twins produce a large number of finer secondary or even multiple twins, intersecting each other; After expansion, the silk texture with direction of <111>∥X0 dominated by rotating brass texture {110}<111> is gradually produced through grain deformation and rotation; The proportion of small angle grain boundaries increased greatly; It is deduced that the criterion of crack nucleation is based on the difference between the dislocation pile-up energy (DPE) and the crack nucleation energy (CNE), and the expansion deformation process of TWIP steel satisfies the condition of crack nucleation.

Magnetic and Magnetostrictive Properties of Ni50Mn20Ga27Cu3 Rapidly Quenched Ribbons

The influence of the rapid solidification technique and heat treatment on the martensitic transformation, magnetic properties, thermo- and magnetic induced strain and electrical resistivity is investigated for the Cu doped NiMnGa Heusler-based ferromagnetic shape memory ribbons. The martensitic transformation temperatures are unexpectedly low (below 90 K—which can be attributed to the disordered texture as well as to the uncertainty in the elements substituted by the Cu), preceded by a premartensitic transformation (starting at around 190 K). A thermal treatment slightly increases the transformation as well as the Curie temperatures. Additionally, the thermal treatment promotes a higher magnetization value of the austenite phase and a lower one in the martensite. The shift of the martensitic transformation temperatures induced by the applied magnetic field, quantified from thermo-magnetic and thermo-magnetic induced strain measurements, is measured to have a positive value of about 1 K/T, and is then used to calculate the transformation entropy of the ribbons. The magnetostriction measurements suggest a rotational mechanism in low fields for the thermal treated samples and a saturation tendency at higher magnetic fields, except for the temperatures close to the phase transition temperatures (saturation is not reached at 5 T), where a linear volume magnetostriction cannot be ruled out. Resistivity and magnetoresistance properties have also been measured for all the samples.

Cold Formabilities of Martensite-Type Medium Mn Steel

Cold stretch-formability and stretch-flangeability of 0.2%C-1.5%Si-5.0%Mn (in mass%) martensite-type medium Mn steel were investigated for automotive applications. High stretch-formability and stretch-flangeability were obtained in the steel subjected to an isothermal transformation process at temperatures between Ms and Mf − 100 °C. Both formabilities of the steel decreased compared with those of 0.2%C-1.5%Si-1.5Mn and -3Mn steels (equivalent to TRIP-aided martensitic steels), despite a larger or the same uniform and total elongations, especially in the stretch-flangeability. The decreases were mainly caused by the presence of a large amount of martensite/austenite phase, although a large amount of metastable retained austenite made a positive contribution to the formabilities. High Mn content contributed to increasing the stretch-formability.

The effect of cold rolling and high-temperature gas nitriding on austenite phase formation in AISI 430 SS

Austenitic stainless steel is the most commonly used material in the production of orthopedic prostheses. In this study, AISI 430 SS (0.12 wt. % C; 1 wt. % Si; 1 wt. % Mn; 18 wt. % Cr; 0.04 wt. % P and 0.03 wt. % S) will be modified by creating austenite and removing its ferromagnetic properties via the high-temperature gas nitriding process. Cold rolling with various percentage reduction (30, 50, and 70 %) was followed by gas nitriding at a temperature of 1200 °C with holding times of 5, 7, and 9 hours, then quenching in water was carried out on as-annealed AISI 430 SS. The formation of the austenite phase was examined by XRD (x-ray diffraction). The microstructure and element dispersion were observed using SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometry), whereas the mechanical properties after gas nitriding and water quenching were determined by Vickers microhardness testing. At all stages of the gas nitriding process, the FCC iron indicated the austenite phase was visible on the alloy's surface, although the ferrite phase is still present. The intensity of austenite formation is produced by cold rolling 70 % reduction with a 5-hour gas nitriding time. Furthermore, the nitrogen layer was formed with a maximum thickness layer of approximately 3.14 µm after a 50 % reduction in cold rolling and 9 hours of gas nitriding process followed by water quenching. The hardness reached 600 HVN in this condition. This is due to the distribution of carbon that is concentrated on the surface. As the percent reduction in the cold rolling process increases, the strength of AISI 430 SS after gas nitriding can increase, causing an increase in the number of dislocations. The highest tensile strength and hardness of AISI 430 SS of 669 MPa and 271.83 HVN were obtained with a reduction of 70 %.

Effect of Heat Treatment on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of SS316L by Micro Selective Laser Melting

Recently, micro selective laser melting (μSLM) system equipped with finer laser beam has been developed to improve additive manufacturing resolution. The microstructures and properties of μSLM produced metals and alloys could be different from those by conventional-size SLM, which warrants further investigation. Moreover, the widely used material, SS316L stainless steel, demonstrates unique cellular structures and excellent combination of strength and ductility after SLM. How the microstructures evolve after heat treatment and affect the mechanical properties remain to be clarified for μSLMed SS316L. In this study, the effect of heat treatment on the microstructures and mechanical properties of μSLMed SS316L was studied. Two heat treatment methods, namely HT650°C-2h and HT950°C-2h, were employed. It is found that the heat treatment has no effect on phase formation, and a preferred grain growth orientation with (110) plane along building direction and a single austenite phase was detected in all samples. Cellular structures were observed in as-printed samples and found to grow up a little bit after HT650°C-2h, but disappear after HT950°C-2h. Besides, more carbides are detected after HT650°C-2h, while they are partially dissolved after HT950°C-2h. For mechanical properties, the as-printed sample shows the best combination of strength and ductility, thanks to the strengthening effects from cellular structures and dislocations. The inferior mechanical properties after heat treatment is attributed to reduction of dislocations and disappearance of cellular structures. In addition, the presence of carbides can significantly reduce the ductility.