Simulation of crystal plasticity of P92 heat resistant steel considering martensitic lath structure

Based on the theory of crystal plasticity, coupled with dislocation and lath hardening models, this paper establishes a crystal plasticity finite element model describing the high temperature creep of P92 steel. Open source software was used to generate lath models with an average size of 350nm, 650nm and 950nm to explore the effect of lath coarsening on the high-temperature creep behavior of P92 steel. The results show that the roughening of the slats increases the rate of creep deformation, resulting in a decrease in the service life of the material. Observing the slat model, it can be seen that the roughening of the slats enlarges the numerical gradient of stress and strain, and aggravates the overall plastic strain of the model. The coarsening of the slats accelerates the movement of dislocations, causing the density of movable dislocations to increase, and at the same time the shear strain amplitude of the slip system increases, thereby reducing the hardening behavior of the material.

Effect of Heat Treatments on Microstructural Evolution and Tensile Properties of 15Cr12MoVWN Ferritic/Martensitic Steel

In this study, the phase transformation temperature of 15Cr12MoVWN ferritic/martensitic steel was determined by differential scanning calorimetry to provide a theoretical basis for the design of a heat treatment process. An orthogonal design experiment was performed to investigate the relationship between microstructure and heat treatment parameters, i.e., normalizing temperature, cooling method and tempering temperature by evaluating the room-temperature and elevated-temperature tensile properties, and the optimum heat treatment parameters were determined. It is shown that the optimized heat treatment process was composed of normalizing at 1050 °C followed by air cooling to room temperature and tempering at 700 °C. Under the optimum heat treatment condition, the room-temperature tensile properties were 1014 MPa (UTS), 810.5 MPa (YS) and 18.8% (elongation), while the values are 577.5 MPa (UTS), 469 MPa (YS) and 39.8% (elongation) tested at 550 °C. The microstructural examination shows that the strengthening contributions from microstructural factors were the martensitic lath width, dislocations, M23C6, MX and grain boundaries of prior austenite grain (PAG) in a descending order. The main factors influencing the tensile strength of 15Cr12MoVWN steel were the martensitic lath width and dislocations.

Internal Stresses and their Sources in BCC and FCC Steels

The present work summarizes and presents separate results obtained by the authors when investigating mesoscopic and microscopic internal stresses formed under the conditions of thermal and mechanical treatment of martensitic, pearlitic and austenitic steels. Internal stresses were investigated using the method based on the analysis of bend extinction contours. The results obtained on industrial steels were presented. The sources were described and examples of internal stresses induced by these sources were given. The nature of bending-torsion of the crystal lattice depending on the averaging volume was determined. It has been shown that in martensitic steels along with the increase in the averaging volume (carbide particle → separate martensitic lath → martensite packet→ martensitic plate → grain) the amplitude of bending-torsion of the crystal lattice decreases. The nature of distortions also changes. At large amplitudes and low volumes of averaging they are completely or partly elastic, at large volumes of averaging they are completely plastic. Thereby, distortions are fully driven by the excess dislocation density.

Martensitic Transformation and Crystal Structure Characterization of Ni-Fe-Ga-Co Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloys

In this paper, the martensitic transformation temperature, the microstructure and the crystal structure of the complicated martensitic phases of Ni56-xFe19Ga25Cox (x =0, 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6) alloys were investigated by DSC, XRD, SEM and TEM techniques. DSC results show that the martensitic transformation temperature Tm, which is above the room temperature, decreases with the increasing Co content. The microstructure of the Ni56-xFe19Ga25Cox (x =0, 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6) alloys is composed by the martensitic lath and randomly distributed γ phase. The 6M+14M mixed modulated martensite and the γ second phase were detected in the Ni53Fe19Ga25Co3 alloy by XRD and TEM tests.

Effect of Lath Width and Dislocation Density on Resistance to Irradiation of Warmly Deformed SCRAM Steel

The martensitic lath width (0.83 ± 0.45μm ∼ 0.48 ± 0.14 μm) and dislocation density (1.3 ± 0.3 × 1015 m−2 ∼ 6.4 ± 1.6 ×1015 m−2) change of Super-clean Reduced Activation Martensitic (SCRAM) steel caused by warm deformation on Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine have been examined. The irradiation-induced helium bubbles and hardening were observed in all the specimens after helium implantation to 1e + 17/cm2 at 723 K. The helium bubbles became smaller and more numerous while the distribution was more homogeneous when the lath width decrease and dislocation density increase. The nano-indentation hardness indicated that the sample, the martensitic lath width is 0.83 ± 0.45μm and the dislocation density is 1.3 ± 0.3 × 1015 m−2, exhibited the maximum nano-indentation variation (ΔH) and the ΔH decreased with the lath width decreasing and dislocation density increasing. The hardening occurred in all helium implanted samples can mainly be ascribed to helium bubbles.

Effect of Annealing Temperature on Microstructures and Properties of Warmly Deformed SCRAM Steel

Effect of annealing temperature on microstructures and properties of warmly deformed SCRAM (Super-clean Reduced Activation Martensitic) steel on Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine was investigated. The results showed that an increase in the annealing temperature can result in increasing the martensitic lath width from 0.48 um to 0.65 um and decreasing the dislocation density from 6.4×1015m-2to 2.8×1015m-2in SCRAM steel. The specimen exhibited high reduction of area and total elongations when the annealing temperature is up to 600 oC. The tensile fracture surface observation indicated that dimples became more uniform and deeper and cleavage fracture traces disappeared with the annealing temperature increasing. The irradiation-induced helium bubbles and hardening were observed in all the specimens after helium implantation to 1e + 17/cm2at 450 oC. The helium bubbles became larger but less when the annealing temperature increased. The optimal annealing temperature is 450 oC in this experiment.

Effect of Strain on Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Warmly Deformed SCRAM Steel for Fusion Application

The SCRAM steel was processed by warm deformation on Gleeble-3500 thermo-simulation machine. The effect of strain on the microstructures and mechanical properties of SCRAM steel was investigated. The results show that an increase in the strain can result in refining the martensitic laths, increasing the volume fraction of precipitates and the dislocation density in SCRAM steel. The martensitic lath width decreases from 0.83 μm to 0.48 μm and the dislocation density increases from 1.3 × 1015 m-2 to 6.4 × 1015 m-2 in SCRAM steel. The specimen exhibits high ultimate tensile strength and yield strength but low reduction of area and total elongations when the strain (ε) is up to 0.5. The tensile fracture surface observation indicates that dimples become smaller and shallower while tear ridges drastically grow up with the strain increasing.

Effects of Hot-Forging Process on Combination of Strength and Toughness in Ultra High-Strength TRIP-Aided Martensitic Steels

Recently developed ultra high-strength low alloy transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP)-aided steel with martensitic lath structure matrix or "TRIP-aided Martensitic steel; TM steel" possesses a high impact toughness. In this study, to apply the TM steel to some hot-forging parts, the effects of hot-forging on microstructure, retained austenite characteristics, tensile properties and toughness in the TM steels with chemical composition of 0.3-0.4%C, 1.5%Si, 1.5%Mn, 0.002%B, 0.02Ti, 0.05Nb (mass%) were investigated. The hot forging brought on an excellent combinations of tensile strength of 1500-2000 MPa or 0.2% offset proof stress of 1200-1560 MPa and Charpy impact absorbed value of 35-80 J/cm2 when partitioned at 250-350°C after quenching in oil. The combinations exceeded so much those of the conventional quench and tempering structural steels. From examinations of microstructure and retained austenite characteristics, it was found that the excellent combinations are mainly caused by (i) refined and uniform martensitic lath structure matrix with a small amount of carbide, (ii) increasing narrow martensite with high dislocation density and (iii) the increased stability of retained austenite, resulting from the FQP process.

Effects of Two-Step Tempering Treatment on the Microstructural Formation of T91 Ferritic Steels

As a representative type of high Cr ferritic heat-resistant steels, T91 steels (ASME SA-213 T91/P91) has been recognized as the preferable materials and widely used in high-temperature structural components such as header and main steam pipe in advanced power plants. For the service condition is tempered martensites, its corresponding microstructure and mechanical performance are mainly adjusted by the tempering treatment. After exploring the size and number of MX and M23C6precipitating particles and the width of martensitic lath as a function of tempering temperature, it is recognized that the high tempering temperature leads to an increase of secondary hardening effect, while the low tempering temperature brings a high dislocation density and a small martensitic lath. Hence, a two-step tempering treatment was developed after the traditional normalizing process, in which the T91 steels sample was firstly tempered at a low temperature in order to form some precipitates and then tempered at a high temperature. Those firstly-formed precipitates would pin the dislocations and martensitic laths on the subsequent tempering process, which finally leads to more precipitates, higher dislocation density and smaller martensitic lath width than that obtained from the traditional tempering process.