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On the austenite stability of cryogenic Ni steels: microstructural effects: a review

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Abstract

Austenite stability is essentially important in improving the cryogenic toughness of cryogenic Ni steels and guiding the development of Ni-saving cryogenic steels. The austenite stability in the cryogenic Ni steels is influenced by many microstructure features, making it a complicated issue which is lack of a systematic discussion. In this article, the microstructural effects on the thermal and mechanical stability of austenite in the cryogenic Ni steels are reviewed and discussed. The thermal stability of austenite (TSA) will be enhanced by the enrichment of austenite-stabilizing elements in the austenite which decreases the martensite-start (Ms) temperature. The grain refinement enhances the TSA by synergistically increasing the nonchemical driving force for the martensite transformation and the concentrations of austenite-stabilizing elements in the austenite. The excessive increase in the volume fraction of austenite weakens the TSA by decreasing the concentrations of austenite-stabilizing elements in the austenite. The film austenite is usually thermally more stable than the block austenite owing to its higher concentrations of austenite-stabilizing elements. The mechanical stability of austenite (MSA) is also influenced by the concentrations of austenite-stabilizing elements which affect the Ms temperature. The reports on the effect of grain size of austenite on the MSA are inconsistent. Both negligible and important effects of the grain size of austenite on the MSA are analyzed. The grain orientation of austenite affects the MSA via changing the Schmid factor and the additional driving force for the martensite transformation. The orientation which yields a larger value of Schmid factor would exhibit a lower MSA. The MSA is affected by the matrix or the neighboring phase due to the stress and strain partitioning among austenite and other constituent phases. The dislocation multiplication could weaken the MSA by assisting the nucleation and growth of martensite embryo and enhance the MSA by hindering the motion of embryo/austenite interfaces when dislocation density is sufficiently large. Austenite with a combination of a high TSA and a moderate or high MSA is considered to be effective strategies to enhance cryogenic toughness of the cryogenic Ni steels.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Nos. 2017YFB0703001, 2017YFB0305100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51771153, 51371147, 51790481 and 51431008), the Innovation Guidance Support Project for Taicang Top Research Institutes (No. TC2018DYDS20), and the Innovation Foundation for Doctor Dissertation of Northwestern Polytechnical University (CX201825). The authors would like to thank the Analytical and Testing Center of Northwestern Polytechnical University for providing essential experimental apparatuses.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Solidification Processing, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, Shaanxi, People’s Republic of China

    W. X. Zhang, Y. Z. Chen, Y. B. Cong & F. Liu

  2. Yangtze River Delta Research Institute of NPU, Taicang, 215400, People’s Republic of China

    W. X. Zhang & Y. Z. Chen

  3. Baosteel Research Institute, Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Shanghai, 201900, People’s Republic of China

    Y. H. Liu

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Zhang, W.X., Chen, Y.Z., Cong, Y.B. et al. On the austenite stability of cryogenic Ni steels: microstructural effects: a review. J Mater Sci 56, 12539–12558 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-021-06068-w

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