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Nanoscale Analyses of High-Nickel Concentration Martensitic High-Strength Steels

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Abstract

Austenite reversion in martensitic steels is known to improve fracture toughness. This research focuses on characterizing mechanical properties and the microstructure of low-carbon, high-nickel steels containing 4.5 and 10 wt pct Ni after a QLT-type austenite reversion heat treatment: first, martensite is formed by quenching (Q) from a temperature in the single-phase austenite field, then austenite is precipitated by annealing in the upper part of the intercritical region in a lamellarization step (L), followed by a tempering (T) step at lower temperatures. For the 10 wt pct Ni steel, the tensile strength after the QLT heat treatment is 910 MPa (132 ksi) at 293 K (20 °C), and the Charpy V-notch impact toughness is 144 J (106 ft-lb) at 188.8 K (−84.4 °C, −120 °F). For the 4.5 wt pct Ni steel, the tensile strength is 731 MPa (106 ksi) at 293 K (20 °C) and the impact toughness is 209 J (154 ft-lb) at 188.8 K (−84.4 °C, −120 °F). Light optical microscopy, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopies, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, and local-electrode atom-probe tomography (APT) are utilized to determine the morphologies, volume fractions, and local chemical compositions of the precipitated phases with sub-nanometer spatial resolution. The austenite lamellae are up to 200 nm in thickness, and up to several micrometers in length. In addition to the expected partitioning of Ni to austenite, APT reveals a substantial segregation of Ni at the austenite/martensite interface with concentration maxima of 10 and 23 wt pct Ni for the austenite lamellae in the 4.5 and 10 wt pct Ni steels, respectively. Copper-rich and M2C-type metal carbide precipitates were detected both at the austenite/martensite interface and within the bulk of the austenite lamellae. Thermodynamic phase stability, equilibrium compositions, and volume fractions are discussed in the context of Thermo-Calc calculations.

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Acknowledgments

This research was sponsored by the Office for Naval Research (ONR) under grant N00014-09-1-0361, thanks to Dr. W. W. Mullins, grant officer. The atom-probe tomographic measurements were performed at the Northwestern University Center for Atom-Probe Tomography (NUCAPT). The local-electrode atom-probe tomograph was purchased and upgraded with funding from NSF-MRI (DMR-0420532) and ONR-DURIP (N00014-0400798, N00014-0610539, N00014-0910781) grants. The current study made use of the Shared Facilities at the Materials Research Center of Northwestern University, supported by the National Science Foundation’s MRSEC program (DMR-1121262). Additional instrumentation at NUCAPT was supported by the Initiative for Sustainability and Energy at Northwestern (ISEN). The authors thank Dr. Denis Keane for his help with the synchrotron experiments at the DuPont-Northwestern-Dow Collaborative Access Team (DND-CAT) of the Advanced Photon Source (APS). DND-CAT is supported by E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., The Dow Chemical Company, and Northwestern University. Use of the APS, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science by Argonne National Laboratory, was supported by the U.S. DOE, under Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Dieter Isheim (Research Assistant Professor), Allen H. Hunter (Postdoctoral Researcher) & David N. Seidman (Walter P. Murphy Professor)

  2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Allen H. Hunter (Postdoctoral Researcher)

  3. Carderock Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, West Bethesda, MD, USA

    Xian J. Zhang (Materials Engineer)

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  1. Dieter Isheim
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  4. David N. Seidman
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Correspondence to Dieter Isheim.

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Manuscript submitted September 12, 2011.

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Isheim, D., Hunter, A.H., Zhang, X.J. et al. Nanoscale Analyses of High-Nickel Concentration Martensitic High-Strength Steels. Metall Mater Trans A 44, 3046–3059 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-013-1670-6

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