Marco Wendler

Segregation-Induced Enhancement of Low-Temperature Tensile Ductility in a Cast High-Nitrogen Austenitic Stainless Steel Exhibiting Deformation-Induced α′ Martensite Formation

In spite of the formation of a high fraction of deformation-induced α′ martensite, the tensile elongation of a cast high-nitrogen austenitic stainless steel was found to enhance at lower temperatures, a behavior deviating from that exhibited by wrought and homogenized austenitic stainless steels. The observed behavior was explained by the presence of microstructural regions with different stabilities with respect to deformation-induced α′ martensite formation caused by the segregation of alloying elements.

Design of novel materials for additive manufacturing - Isotropic microstructure and high defect tolerance

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is a powder-bed additive manufacturing technology enabling the production of complex metallic parts with generally good mechanical properties. However, the performance of powder-bed based additively manufactured materials is governed by multiple factors that are difficult to control. Alloys that solidify in cubic crystal structures are usually affected by strong anisotropy due to the formation of columnar grains of preferred orientation. Moreover, processing induced defects and porosity detrimentally influence static and cyclic mechanical properties. The current study presents results on processing of a metastable austenitic CrMnNi steel by EBM. Due to multiple phase transformations induced by intrinsic heat-treatment in the layer-wise EBM process the material develops a fine-grained microstructure almost without a preferred crystallographic grain orientation. The deformation-induced phase transformation yields high damage tolerance and, thus, excellent mechanical properties less sensitive to process-induced inhomogeneities. Various scan strategies were applied to evaluate the width of an appropriate process window in terms of microstructure evolution, porosity and change of chemical composition.

Estimation of the Temperature-Dependent Nitrogen Solubility in Stainless Fe-Cr-Mn-Ni-Si-C Steel Melts During Processing

The influence of chemical composition, temperature, and pressure on the nitrogen solubility of various high alloy stainless steel grades, namely Fe-14Cr-(0.17-7.77)Mn-6Ni-0.5Si-0.03C [wt pct], Fe-15Cr-3Mn-4Ni-0.5Si-0.1C [wt pct], and Fe-19Cr-3Mn-4Ni-0.5Si-0.15C [wt pct], was studied in the melt. The temperature-dependent N-solubility was determined using an empirical approach proposed by Wada and Pehlke. The thus calculated N-concentrations overestimate the actual N-solubility of all the studied Fe-Cr-Mn-Ni-Si-C steel melts at a given temperature and pressure. Consequently, the calculation model has to be modified by Si and C because both elements are not recognized in the original equation. The addition of the 1st and 2nd order interaction parameters for Si and C to the model by Wada and Pehlke allows a precise estimation of the temperature-dependent nitrogen solubility in the liquid steel bath, and fits very well with the measured nitrogen concentrations during processing of the steels. Moreover, the N-solubility enhancing effect of Cr- and Mn-additions has been demonstrated.

Magnetic measurement of strain-induced martensite formation in Fe–30Ni steel

ABSTRACT This investigation focuses on deformation-induced plasticity in Invar-type steel alloys. The effect is being studied in an austenitic model alloy, containing 30 wt-% of nickel. Its temperature dependent mechanical properties are being presented. Furthermore, the martensitic phase content has been determined by magnetic means in an alloy with two ferromagnetic phases for the first time. The results show that the α′-martensite formation within the austenitic phase with primarily wavy glide mechanism allows an increase in ductility of around 10% at the Msσ temperature of −5°C. This is the point of maximum uniform elongation. Near the Ms temperature, a microstructure of 70 vol.-% deformation-induced α′-martensite can be achieved.