Intermetallic strengthened alumina-forming austenitic steels for energy applications.

摘要

In order to achieve energy conversion efficiencies of >50 % for steam turbines/boilers in power generation systems, materials required are strong, corrosion-resistant at high temperatures (>700°C), and economically viable. Austenitic steels strengthened with Laves phase and Ni3Al precipitates, and alloyed with aluminum to improve oxidation resistance, are potential candidate materials for these applications. The creep resistance of these alloys is significantly improved through intermetallic strengthening (Laves-Fe 2Nb + L12-Ni3Al precipitates) without harmful effects on oxidation resistance.;This research starts with microstructural and microchemical analyses of these intermetallic strengthened alumina-forming austenitic steels in a scanning electron microscope. The microchemistry of precipitates, as determined by energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope, is also studied. Different thermo-mechanical treatments were carried out to these stainless steels in an attempt to further improve their mechanical properties. The microstructural and microchemical analyses were again performed after the thermo-mechanical processing. Synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used to measure the lattice parameters of these steels after different thermo-mechanical treatments. Tensile tests at both room and elevated temperatures were performed to study mechanical behaviors of this novel alloy system; the deformation mechanisms were studied by strain rate jump tests at elevated temperatures. Failure analysis and post-mortem TEM analysis were performed to study the creep failure mechanisms of these alumina-forming austenitic steels after creep tests. Experiments were carried out to study the effects of boron and carbon additions in the aged alumina-forming austenitic steels.