Academic literature on the topic 'Laves phase (fe2nb)'

Alloy design concept for the development of a new class of austenitic heat resistant steels strengthened by Fe2M Laves phases (M: transition metals) has been proposed. The phase diagram studies on Fe-Ni-M ternary systems demonstrate that Fe2Nb with C14 structure is the most promising, because more than 40at% Ni can dissolve into the Fe sublattice sites and large γ+Fe2Nb two-phase region exists along the equi-niobium concentration direction. The control of the c/a ratio of the Laves phase using the composition homogeneity region by alloying makes it possible to disperse the Laves phase finely in the γ matrix. Based on the knowledge, a model alloy Fe-20Cr- 30Ni-2Nb (at%) was proposed and the TTP diagram of the Laves phase was constructed. The Laves phase homogeneously nucleates in the matrix and its fine morphology remains almost unchanged even after long-term aging at 1073K.

ABSTRACTWe have examined the compression response of a ternary Fe2Nb Laves phase by deforming micropillars with a diameter of ~2 μm produced by focused ion beam milling from a two-phase Fe-15Nb-40Ni (at.%) ternary alloy consisting of the Laves phase and γ-Fe. The Laves phase micropillars exhibit high strength of about 6 GPa (of the order of the theoretical shear strength of the material), followed by a burst of plastic strain and shear failure on the basal plane. If dislocation sources are introduced on a non-basal plane in the micropillars by nanoindentation prior to compression, yielding occurs at a significantly lower stress level of about 3 GPa and plastic deformation by slip proceeds on a pyramidal plane close to (-1-122). Furthermore, if regenerative dislocation sources for basal slip are present in the micropillar, the Laves phase can be continuously plastically deformed in a stable manner to at least 5% strain at a significantly lower stress of 800 MPa. We thus demonstrate the plastic deformation of this ternary Laves phase at the micron-scale at room temperature when sufficient dislocation sources are present.

Effects of aging treatment on high temperature strength of Nb added ferritic stainless steels for automotive parts were investigated. Hot tensile tests were carried out at 700 °C after the aging at 700 °C for different aging times using Gleeble 1500. High temperature strength of all steels decreased as the aging time increased. In Nb free steels, the reduction in high temperature strength is mainly due to grain growth. On the other hand, in Nb added steels, the reduction in high temperature strength occurred by Nb precipitation. It was observed that Fe2Nb (Laves phase), Nb(C,N) and Fe3Nb3C were precipitated out during the aging at 700 °C in Nb added steels. The coarsening rate of Fe2Nb was higher than that of Nb(C,N). Fine Fe2Nb precipitates formed during at the early stage of aging contributed to high temperature strength in 0.01C-0.38Nb steel. However, coarse Fe2Nb particles formed during the aging were very detrimental to high temperature strength. The coarsening of Fe2Nb was relatively retarded by adding Mo.

Alumina-forming austenitic (AFA) heat-resistance steels firstly developed by Yamamoto et al. at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have been reported as a new promising class of steels with potential for use in high temperature applications in recent years. The creep resistance of AFA steels is improved mainly by precipitation strengthening. Besides modifying the typical existing precipitates, i.e. MC and M23C6 type carbides, B2-NiAl and Fe2Nb-type Laves phase, introduction of coherent L12-ordered precipitate is highly desired. L12-ordered phase gamma prime (γ’) is the most important precipitate for high-temperature strengthening in Ni-based superalloys. In the present work, we demonstrate that addition of 2.8 wt. % Cu to an AFA steel promotes the formation of an L12-ordered phase with the dominating elements Ni, Cu and Al. TEM characterization after slow rate tensile tests indicated there were the different precipitation behaviours at 700°C and 750°C. It was revealed that the occurrence of L12-ordered Ni-Cu-Al phase depends on temperature and Ni content. This opens up new opportunities to promote the formation of L12-ordered phase in Fe-based austenitic heat-resistance steels and benefit high-temperature mechanical properties.

The effect of Laves phase (Fe2Nb) formation on the Charpy impact toughness of the ferritic stainless steel type AISI 441 was investigated. The steel exhibits good toughness after solution treatment at 850°C, but above and below this treatment temperature the impact toughness decreases sharply. With heat treatment below 850°C the presence of the Laves phase on grain boundaries and dislocations plays a significant role in embrittlement of the steel whereas above that temperature, an increase in the grain size from grain growth plays a major role in the impact embrittlement of this alloy. The toughness results agree with the phase equilibrium calculations made using Thermo–Calc® whereby it was observed that a decrease in the Laves phase volume fraction with increasing temperature corresponds to an increase in the impact toughness of the steel. Annealing above 900°C where no Laves phase exists, grain growth is found which similarly has a very negative influence on the steel’s impact properties. Where both a large grain size as well as Laves phase is present, it appears that the grain size may be the dominant embrittlement mechanism. Both the Laves phase and grain growth, therefore, have a significant influence on the impact properties of the steel, while the Laves phase’s precipitation behaviour has also been investigated with reference to the plant’s manufacturing process, particularly the cooling rate after a solution treatment. The microstructural analysis of the grain size shows that there is a steady increase in grain size up to about 950°C, but between 950°C and 1000°C there is a sudden and rapid 60 % increase in the grain size. The TEM analysis of the sample that was annealed at 900°C shows that the Laves phase had already completely dissolved and cannot, therefore, be responsible for “unpinning of grain boundaries” at temperatures of 900°C and higher where this “sudden” increase in grain size was found. The most plausible explanation appears to be one of Nb solute drag that loses its effectiveness within this temperature range, but this probably requires some further study to fully prove this effect. During isothermal annealing within the temperature range of 600 to 850°C, the time – temperature – precipitation (TTP) diagram for the Laves phase as determined from the transformation kinetic curves, shows two classical C noses on the transformation curves. The first one occurring at the higher temperatures of about 750 to 825°C and the second one at much lower temperatures, estimated to possibly be in the range of about 650 to 675°C. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analyses show that there are two independent nucleation mechanisms that are occurring within these two temperature ranges. At lower temperatures of about 600°C, the pertaining nucleation mechanism is on dislocations and as the temperature is increased to above 750°C, grain boundary nucleation becomes more dominant. Also, the morphology of the particles and the mis-orientation with the matrix changes with temperature. At lower temperatures the particles are more needle-like in shape, but as the temperature is increased the shape becomes more spheroidal. The effect of the steel’s composition on the Laves phase transformation kinetics shows that by lowering the Nb content in these type 441 stainless steels, had no significance effect on the kinetics on precipitation of the Laves phase. However, a Mo addition and a larger grain size of the steel, retard the formation of the Laves phase, although the optimum values of both parameters still need further quantification. The calculation made for the transformation kinetics of the Laves phase, using the number density of nucleation sites No and the interfacial energy, as the fitting parameters in this work, demonstrated a reasonable agreement with experimental results.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering
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