Deformation Induced Soft and Hard Lath Packets Enhance Ductility in Martensitic Steels

Martensitic steels are widely used structural materials with outstanding mechanical properties. Their high strength is provided by the non-diffusional phase transformation of fcc γ into thin lamellar bcc plates during fast cooling. Coherency strains between the fcc and bcc lamellae induce large dislocation densities in the range of 1016 m−2, well above the densities attainable by conventional plastic deformation. Using high resolution X-ray line profile analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and hardness tests we show that during tensile deformation when the active Burgers vectors are within the lath plane the lath-packets work soften. On the contrary, when the active Burgers vectors are oblique to the lath-plane the lath-packets work harden. The softening and hardening processes in the differently oriented lath-packets produce a composite of hard and soft components on the length scale of lath-packet size. The stress–strain response of the alloy is discussed in terms of the different mean free paths and the different annihilation lengths of dislocations in the softened and hardened lath-packets. The relatively good ductility is shown to be produced by the composite microstructure induced by plastic strain.

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.

Yield of InxGa1-xAs Superlattices Under Bending and Nanoindentation

A series of InxGa1-xAs superlattices grown on InP substrates with differing coherency strains have been deformed by bending at 500°C and by nanoindentation at room temperature. The deformation was characterised by transmission electron microscopy through examination of thin sections machined in a focused ion beam microscope. The bent samples sheared along {111} planes, and the most highly strained samples partially relaxed through the formation of misfit dislocations. Under indentation the majority of the plastic strain in the multilayers is accommodated by twinning whereas no twins were observed under indents in the InP substrate. The overall dimensions of the plastic zone increased linearly with indent load.

Determination Of Coherency Strains Around Particles In Ni-Al Alloys By HREM And CBED

Quantitative evaluation of coherency strains in Ni-12 at.% Al alloys has been performed by means of high resolution electron microscopy (HREM) and convergent beam electron diffraction (CBED) techniques. The alloy Ni-12 at.%Al is composed of two phases, the disordered fee Ni-Al solid solution and the coherent Ni3Al (γ') particles with an LI2 structure. The presence of γ' particles can impart excellent mechanical properties to these alloys. However these particles coarsen if subject to high temperature with an important reduction of mechanical properties. Coarsening of coherent particles in solid alloys is driven by the decrease of surface and elastic energies. The effect of surface energy is well understood but that of the elastic energy still requires experimental investigation. The source of elastic interaction between particles is the lattice parameter mismatch between particles and matrix. Evaluation of the elastic strain fields around particles can give some insight into the elastic interaction between particles and thus into the coarsening mechanism from an experimental viewpoint.