Abstract
Microstructures and austenite grain growth behavior of the alumina-forming austenitic (AFA) steel subjected to normalizing and annealing at various temperatures were investigated. A modified kinetic model of austenite grain growth was constructed based on consideration of the heating history. Abnormal growth of austenite grain occurs when the temperature is increased to 1473 K, and some special large particles of the precipitates located at grain boundaries form when the sample is normalized at the temperature of 1523 K. Both NbC and NiAl precipitates are identified using routine x-ray diffraction. The fitted data based on the kinetic model used and the consideration of the heating history is in agreement with the changes in the austenite grain growth in the AFA steel even when there is abnormal grain growth. The grain growth exponents are shown to be 2.85 and 2.42 for normalizing and annealing, respectively.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M.P. Brady, Y. Yamamoto, M.L. Santella, P.J. Maziasz, B.A. Pint, C. Liu, Z. Lu, and H. Bei: The development of alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels for high-temperature structural use. JOM 60(7), 12 (2008).
Y. Yamamoto, M.P. Brady, Z.P. Lu, P.J. Maziasz, C.T. Liu, B.A. Pint, K.L. More, H. Meyer, and E.A. Payzant: Creep-resistant, Al2O3-forming austenitic stainless steels. Science 316(5823), 433 (2007).
M.P. Brady, Y. Yamamoto, M.L. Santella, and L.R. Walker: Composition, microstructure, and water vapor effects on internal/external oxidation of alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels. Oxid. Met. 72(5–6), 311 (2009).
Y. Yamamoto, M.P. Brady, Z.P. Lu, C.T. Liu, M. Takeyama, P.J. Maziasz, and B.A. Pint: Alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels strengthened by laves phase and MC carbide precipitates. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 38(11), 2737 (2007).
G. Trotter and I. Baker: The effect of aging on the microstructure and mechanical behavior of the alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel Fe–20Cr–30Ni–2Nb–5Al. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 627, 270 (2015).
Y. Yamamoto, M.P. Brady, M.L. Santella, H. Bei, P.J. Maziasz, and B.A. Pint: Overview of strategies for high-temperature creep and oxidation resistance of alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 42(4), 922 (2011).
X.Q. Xu, X.F. Zhang, G.L. Chen, and Z.P. Lu: Improvement of high-temperature oxidation resistance and strength in alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels. Mater. Lett. 65(21), 3285 (2011).
J. Moon, T.H. Lee, Y.U. Heo, Y.S. Han, J.Y. Kang, H.Y. Ha, and D.W. Suh: Precipitation sequence and its effect on age hardening of alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 645, 72 (2015).
Y. Yamamoto, M.L. Santella, M.P. Brady, H. Bei, and P.J. Maziasz: Effect of alloying additions on phase equilibria and creep resistance of alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 40(8), 1868 (2009).
Y. Yamamoto, M. Takeyama, Z.P. Lu, C.T. Liu, N.D. Evans, P.J. Maziasz, and M.P. Brady: Alloying effects on creep and oxidation resistance of austenitic stainless steel alloys employing intermetallic precipitates. Intermetallics 16(3), 453 (2008).
X.Q. Xu, X.F. Zhang, X.Y. Sun, and Z.P. Lu: Roles of manganese in the high-temperature oxidation resistance of alumina-forming austenitic steels at above 800 °C. Oxid. Met. 78(5–6), 349 (2012).
M.P. Brady, J. Magee, Y. Yamamoto, D. Helmick, and L. Wang: Co-optimization of wrought alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel composition ranges for high-temperature creep and oxidation/corrosion resistance. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 590, 101 (2014).
D.Q. Zhou, X.Q. Xu, H.H. Mao, Y.F. Yan, T.G. Nieh, and Z.P. Lu: Plastic flow behaviour in an alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel at elevated temperatures. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 594, 246 (2014).
G. Trotter, G. Rayner, I. Baker, and P.R. Munroe: Accelerated precipitation in the AFA stainless steel Fe–20Cr–30Ni–2Nb–5Al via cold working. Intermetallics 53, 120 (2014).
Q. Gao, Y. Wang, M. Gong, F. Qu, and X. Lin: Non-isothermal austenitic transformation kinetics in Fe–10Cr–1Co alloy. Appl. Phys. A 122(2), 1 (2016).
S. Illescas, J. Fernández, and J. Guilemany: Kinetic analysis of the austenitic grain growth in HSLA steel with a low carbon content. Mater. Lett. 62(20), 3478 (2008).
A.J. Kaijalainen, P.P. Suikkanen, T.J. Limnell, L.P. Karjalainen, J.I. Kömi, and D.A. Porter: Effect of austenite grain structure on the strength and toughness of direct-quenched martensite. J. Alloys Comp. 577, S642 (2013).
L. Tian, Q. Ao, and S. Li: Effect of austenitic state on microstructure and mechanical properties of martensite/bainite steel. J. Mater. Res. 29(07), 887 (2014).
L. Wang, Z. Wang, and K. Lu: Grain size effects on the austenitization process in a nanostructured ferritic steel. Acta Mater. 59, 3710 (2011).
K. Banerjee, M. Militzer, M. Perez, and X. Wang: Nonisothermal austenite grain growth kinetics in a microalloyed X80 linepipe steel. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 41(12), 3161 (2010).
P.R. Rios: Abnormal grain growth development from uniform grain size distributions. Acta Mater. 45(4), 1785 (1997).
P.R. Rios: Abnormal grain growth in pure materials. Acta Metall. Mater. 40(10), 2765 (1992).
C.M. Garzón and A.J. Ramirez: Growth kinetics of secondary austenite in the welding microstructure of a UNS S32304 duplex stainless steel. Acta Mater. 54(12), 3321 (2006).
H. Adrian and F.B. Pickering: Effect of titanium additions on austenite grain growth kinetics of medium carbon V–Nb steels containing 0.008–0.018%N. Mater. Sci. Tech. 7(2), 176 (1991).
P.A. Manohar, D.P. Dunne, T. Chandra, and C.R. Killmore: Grain growth predictions in microalloyed steels. ISIJ Int. 36(2), 194 (1996).
S.P.A. Gill and A.C.F. Cocks: A variational approach to two dimensional grain growth—II. Numerical results. Acta Mater. 44(12), 4777 (1996).
J.E. Burke and D. Turnbull: Recrystallization and grain growth (Pergamon Press, London, 1952).
P.A. Beck, J.C. Kremer, L. Demer, and M. Holzworth: Grain growth in high-purity aluminum and in an aluminum-magnesium alloy. Trans. Am. Inst. Min., Metall. Pet. Eng. 175, 372 (1948).
S. Uhm, J. Moon, C. Lee, J. Yoon, and B. Lee: Prediction model for the austenite grain size in the coarse grained heat affected zone of Fe–C–Mn steels: Considering the effect of initial grain size on isothermal growth behavior. ISIJ Int. 44(7), 1230 (2004).
J. Moon, J. Lee, and C. Lee: Prediction for the austenite grain size in the presence of growing particles in the weld HAZ of Ti-microalloyed steel. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 459(1–2), 40 (2007).
H. Pous-Romero, I. Lonardelli, D. Cogswell, and H. Bhadeshia: Austenite grain growth in a nuclear pressure vessel steel. Mater. Sci. Eng., A 567, 72 (2013).
D. Li, K. Shinozaki, H. Harada, and K. Ohishi: Investigation of precipitation behavior in a weld deposit of 11Cr–2W ferritic steel. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 36(1), 107 (2005).
Q.Z. Gao, M.L. Gong, Y.L. Wang, F. Qu, and J.N. Huang: Phase transformation and properties of Fe–Cr–Co alloys with low cobalt content. Mater. Trans. 56(9), 1491 (2015).
R. Staśko, H. Adrian, and A. Adrian: Effect of nitrogen and vanadium on austenite grain growth kinetics of a low alloy steel. Mater. Charact. 56(4–5), 340 (2006).
M. Hillert: On the theory of normal and abnormal grain growth. Acta Metall. 13(3), 227 (1965).
T. Zhou, R.J. O’malley, and H.S. Zurob: Study of grain-growth kinetics in delta-ferrite and austenite with application to thin-slab cast direct-rolling microalloyed steels. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 41(8), 2112 (2010).
C. Yue, L. Zhang, S. Liao, and H. Gao: Kinetic analysis of the austenite grain growth in GCr15 steel. J. Mater. Eng. Perform. 19(1), 112 (2010).
M. Militzer, E.B. Hawbolt, T.R. Meadowcroft, and A. Giumelli: Austenite grain growth kinetics in Al-killed plain carbon steels. Metall. Mater. Trans. A 27(11), 3399 (1996).
H.V. Atkinson: Overview no. 65: Theories of normal grain growth in pure single phase systems. Acta Metall. 36(3), 469 (1988).
F. Gil, J. Manero, and J. Planell: Effect of grain size on the martensitic transformation in NiTi alloy. J. Mater. Sci. 30(10), 2526 (1995).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The grant and financial support by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51501034), the Natural Science Foundation—Steel and Iron Foundation of Hebei Province (Grant No. E2014501056), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. N142303001) are gratefully acknowledged. The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the help of Dr. Madeleine Strong Cincotta (University of Wollongong, Australia) in the final language editing of this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gao, Q., Qu, F., Zhang, H. et al. Austenite grain growth in alumina-forming austenitic steel. Journal of Materials Research 31, 1732–1740 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2016.178
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2016.178