Austenite stabilization through manganese enrichment

In commercial practice 5.5Ni steel is toughened for cryogenic service by a three-step heat treatment designated the “QLT” treatment. To determine why this treatment is necessary and successful, a series of two-step heat treatments was applied to 5.5Ni steel and the resulting microstructural states were characterized and compared with that obtained through the QLT treatment. It was concluded from this analysis that the QLT treatment lowers the ductile-brittle transition temperature by precipitating a dense distribution of thermally stable austenite along the boundaries of martensite laths, which interrupts the crystallographic alignment of laths within martensite packets and prevents cooperative trans-packet cleavage. Essentially, it reduces the mean free fracture path for cleavage. The multistep heat treatment is necessary because of the low nickel content; a single step heat treatment leads to an austenite precipitate which is either too lean in solute to be retained or too coarse in its distribution to be effective. The problem is avoided in the QLT treatment since the intercritical anneal (L) serves to create regions of high solute content along the prior martensite lath boundaries. The intercritical temper (T) then precipitates a dense distribution of high solute, stable austenite within these enriched regions.

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Microstructural sources of toughness in QLT-Treated 5.5Ni cryogenic steel

A correlation was confirmed between the good low temperature Charpy toughness of 9Ni steel and the stability of its precipitated austenite against the martensitic transformation. Changes in the microstructure during isothermal tempering were studied in detail. The austenite/martensite interface is originally quite coherent over ∼100 A distances. With further tempering, however, the dislocation structure at the austenite/martensite interface changes, and this change may be related to the increased instability of the austenite particles. The reduction in austenite carbon concentration does not seem large enough to account for the large reduction in austenite stability with tempering time. The strains inherent to the transformation of austenite particles create dislocation structures in the tempered martensite. The large deterioration of the Charpy toughness of overtempered material is attributed, in part, to these dislocation structures.

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The stability of precipitated austenite and the toughness of 9Ni steel

The structural steels used in critical construction applications have traditionally been heat-treated low-alloy steels. These normalized and/or quenched and tempered steels derive strength from their carbon contents. Carbon is a very efficient and cost-effective element for increasing strength in ferrite-pearlite or tempered martensitic structures, but it is associated with poor notch toughness. Furthermore, it is well known that both the overall weldability and weldment toughness are inversely related to the carbon equivalent values, especially at high carbon contents. The stringent control needed for the welding of these traditional steels is one of the major causes of high fabrication costs. In order to reduce fabrication cost while simultaneously improving the quality of structural steels, a new family of high-strength low-alloy steels with copper additions (HSLA-100) has been developed. The alloy design philosophy of the new steels includes a reduction in the carbon content, which improves toughness and weldability.

HSLA-100 steels: Influence of aging heat treatment on microstructure and properties

Additive manufacturing of high-strength CrMnFeCoNi high-entropy alloys-based composites with WC addition

Both scanning transmission electron microscopic (STEM) and chemical extraction techniques were used to analyze the chemical content of precipitated austenite in 5.5Ni steel as a function of heat treatment. Austenite was introduced into the steel by tempering at 600 °C for 2 h (QT2) or 100 h (QT100), by tempering for 1 h at 670 °C (QL), or by double tempering 1 h at 670 °C + 1 h at 600 °C (QLT). The two methods of chemical analysis employed for the analysis of this austenite differ quantitatively in the measured austenite composition but are in qualitative agreement; they show an austenite enrichment in Ni, Cr, Mn, and Mo which is most pronounced (and nearly equivalent) for the QT100 and QLT treatments. The similar enrichment of the QT100 and QLT material is interpreted in light of the sequence of reactions leading to the QLT structure. A good correlation is found between the apparent solute enrichment of the precipitated austenite and its thermal stability on cooling to 77 K.

The composition of precipitated austenite in 5.5ni steel

The scavenging effect of precipitated austenite in a low carbon, commercial Fe-5.5Ni cryogenic alloy was investigated through observation of the dissolution of cementite precipitates during intercritical tempering and study of the associated change in Charpy impact toughness. Cementite precipitates initially located along prior austenite grain boundaries were gradually dissolved into reverted austenite as the intercritical tempering proceeded. The austenite tends to form at or around the carbide particles and may be catalyzed by their presence. The Charpy impact energy is changed through both a decrease in the ductile-brittle transition temperature and an increase in the upper shelf energy. The latter effect is specifically associated with the dissolution of the carbides which act as preferential void nucleation sites in the untempered alloy.

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J. I. Kim

Papers

The composition of precipitated austenite in 5.5ni steel

On the scavenging effect of precipitated austenite in a low carbon fe-5, 5ni alloy