The role of interstitial nitrogen in the precipitation hardening reactions in high-chromium ferritic steels

Leitch, John Edward

The role of interstitial nitrogen in the precipitation hardening reactions in high-chromium ferritic steels

Master Thesis

1987

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Centre for Materials Engineering

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment

Abstract

The effects of exposure to temperatures in the range 475 - 800°C on the hardness and associated microstructure of high chromium ferritic steels has been investigated. Low-carbon 26Cr-1Mo steels containing 0,02 - 0,04% nitrogen were found to constitute an age hardening system when quenched from a temperature of nitrogen solubility and exposed at temperatures in the range 600 - 700°C. TEM observations on thin foils revealed that hardening was associated with the formation of a high density of Cr-N zones. These grew on over-ageing into disc-shaped Cr-N precipitates situated on {100} lattice planes, and ultimately became large incoherent precipitates. Ageing at 475°C and 550°C produced hardening due to the formation of chromium-rich ferrite phases α' as a result of the miscibility gap in the Fe-Cr phase diagram. However the presence of interstitial nitrogen in solution in the steel considerably reduced the rate of hardening, especially at 475°C. TEM examination confirmed that this effect was due to the formation of Cr-N zones in preference to α'. This type of decomposition occurs by a mechanism of nucleation and growth, forming zones similar to those formed during an ageing at 600°C. When depleted of interstitial nitrogen, through precipitation at 800°C or through zone formation at 475°C, the specimens aged at 475°C underwent spinodal decomposition. Thus nitrogen in solid solution was found to have a significant effect on the 475°C hardening reaction. Precision X-ray diffraction measurements revealed the presence of secondary diffraction peaks associated with the Bragg peaks, which comfirmed the formation of Cr-rich phases during ageing at 475°C. The calculated associated lattice parameter measurements allowed estimates of the compositions of the decomposition phases to be made. These were calculated to be about 6-18% Cr in the Fe-rich and 60-80% Cr in the Cr-rich phases of the 26Cr-1Mo steel.