Bastian Rheingans

Solubility of nitrogen in ferrite; the Fe–N phase diagram

Abstract To accurately define important phase boundaries in the iron–nitrogen (temperature–composition) phase diagram as well as the (temperature–potential) Lehrer diagram, the solubility of nitrogen in ferrite was determined as a function of the nitriding potential (which defines the chemical potential of nitrogen) and the temperature. To this end, thin iron foils were homogeneously nitrided in flowing gas mixtures composed of ammonia and hydrogen. Phase identification was performed by means of X-ray diffraction analysis. Further, from the data obtained, the absorption function and the enthalpy for dissolution of nitrogen into ferrite and the enthalpy of the reaction occurring at the α/(α + γ′)-phase boundary were determined. The data obtained were corrected for the occurrence of a stationary state instead of a local equilibrium at the surface of the specimens. It followed that parts of the phase boundaries in the Lehrer diagram do not represent equilibrium states but rather stationary states.

Octapod-shaped, nanosized, amorphous precipitates in a crystalline ferrite matrix

The development of uniquely octapod-shaped nanosized amorphous silicon–nitride precipitates in a ferrite matrix was observed upon nitriding of Fe–4.5at.%Si alloy. The legs of the amorphous precipitate are oriented along ⟨1 1 1⟩-directions of the ferrite. The occurrence of such peculiarly shaped amorphous silicon–nitride precipitates, which experience a volume misfit of more than 100% with the surrounding ferrite, was attributed to precipitate growth influenced by long-range diffusion within the evolving highly anisotropic stress field around the developing precipitates after nucleation.

Isochronal crystallization kinetics of Fe40Ni40B20 amorphous alloy

The kinetics of crystallization of amorphous Fe40Ni40B20 alloy upon isochronal annealing was investigated applying power-compensating differential scanning calorimetry with heating rates of (5, 10, 20, 30, 40) K/min. The corresponding microstructural evolution was studied by means of X-ray diffraction, focused ion beam and scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Crystallization of Fe40Ni40B20 alloy upon isochronal annealing takes place by formation of nano-scaled grains consisting of a face-centered cubic solid solution phase (Fe,Ni) and an orthorhombic compound phase (Fe,Ni)3B. Kinetic analysis was performed by application of a modular model of phase transformation kinetics, fitted to all experimental transformation-rate curves simultaneously. The crystallization reaction can be described by nucleation with a continuous nucleation rate incorporating a nucleation index a and by growth in three dimensions according to a linear growth law. The kinetics of transformation and the resulting microstructure observed upon isochronal annealing clearly differ from those upon isothermal annealing investigated in a previous study, reflecting different mechanisms operating upon isochronal and isothermal crystallization.

Continuous and discontinuous precipitation in Fe-1 at.%Cr-1 at.%Mo alloy upon nitriding; crystal structure and composition of ternary nitrides

Abstract The internal nitriding response of a ternary Fe–1 at.%Cr–1 at.%Mo alloy, which serves as a model alloy for many CrMo-based steels, was investigated. The nitrides developing upon nitriding were characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis, transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. The developed nitrides were shown to be (metastable) ternary mixed nitrides, which exhibit complex morphological, compositional and structural transformations as a function of nitriding time. Analogous to nitrided binary Fe–Cr and Fe–Mo alloys, in ternary Fe–Cr–Mo alloys initially continuous precipitation of fine, coherent, cubic, NaCl-type nitride platelets, here with the composition (Cr½,Mo½)N¾, occurs, with the broad faces of the platelets parallel to the {1 0 0}α-Fe lattice planes. These nitrides undergo a discontinuous precipitation reaction upon prolonged nitriding leading to the development of lamellae of a novel, hexagonal CrMoN2 nitride along {1 1 0}α-Fe lattice planes, and of spherical cubic, NaCl-type (Cr,Mo)Nx nitride particles within the ferrite lamellae. The observed structural and compositional changes of the ternary nitrides have been attributed to the thermodynamic and kinetic constraints for the internal precipitation of (misfitting) nitrides in the ferrite matrix.

Analysis of Precipitation Kinetics on the Basis of Particle-Size Distributions

A model for the description of precipitation kinetics is presented and applied to experimental data for the evolution of the particle-size distribution in a dilute model system (Cu-Co) upon isothermal annealing at different temperatures. For coupling nucleation kinetics and growth kinetics, the model includes a recently proposed inverse evaluation method for consistent and numerically efficient evaluation of the thermodynamics of both nucleation and growth. Using the experimental data for the evolution of the particle-size distributions, obtained at least at two different temperatures, as a reference, unique and physically reasonable values for, at least, the interface energy and the activation energies for nucleation and growth can be obtained. The sensitivity of the kinetic model fitting to precise description of the thermodynamics of the particle–matrix system and the inferiority of kinetic model fitting to average data, such as data for the mean particle radius, have been highlighted.

Transformation-rate maxima during lath martensite formation: plastic vs. elastic shape strain accommodation

Abstract Recently, a modulated formation behaviour of lath martensite in Fe–Ni(-based) alloys was observed, exhibiting a series of transformation-rate maxima. This peculiar transformation behaviour was explained on the basis of the hierarchical microstructure of lath martensite, minimising the net shape strain associated with martensite formation, by a block-by-block formation of martensite packages occurring simultaneously in all packages. In the present work, the martensitic transformation upon slow cooling of two Fe–Ni alloys, containing 22 and 25 at.% of Ni, respectively, was investigated by high-resolution dilatometry with the aim of identifying the influence of alloy composition on the modulated transformation behaviour. The differences observed for the two alloys, a more rapid sequence of the transformation-rate maxima and a narrower temperature range in case of Fe-25 at.% Ni, can be explained consistently as a consequence of the lower transformation temperatures in Fe-25 at.% Ni, highlighting the role of temporary accommodation of the shape strain during formation of the lath martensite microstructure: the depression of the transformation toward lower temperatures leads to a higher strength of the austenite, hence resulting in a more elastic (less plastic) temporary accommodation of the shape strain upon block formation and thereby in a more effective mutual compensation of the shape strain by neighbouring blocks. A kinetic model on the basis of energy-change considerations is presented which is able to describe the observed modulated transformation behaviour.