M
4
C
3
precipitation in Fe–C–Mo–V steels and relationship to hydrogen trapping
Strong steels suffer from embrittlement due to dissolved hydrogen, a phenomenon which can be mitigated by trapping the hydrogen at carbide particles, where it is rendered benign. The precipitation and coarsening of plate-like M 4 C 3 carbides, during the tempering of quaternary Fe–C–Mo–V martensitic steels, has been characterized both experimentally and by developing appropriate kinetic theory. The trapping capacity is found to peak when the carbides are about 10 nm in length, indicating a role of coherency strains in trapping hydrogen atoms via elastic interactions. This suggests a method for developing alloys which are better able to resist the detrimental effects of hydrogen.