Consequences of the Re-Transformation of Precipitated Austenite in Ferritic Cryogenic Steels. Technical Report No. 8

摘要

The re-transformation of precipitated austenite ( gamma /sub R/) in Fe-(6-9)%Ni steels has been investigated, with particular emphasis on the influence of transformation characteristics on alloy toughness at cryogenic temperature. In all cases studied the precipitated austenite re-transforms, either during cooling to cryogenic temperature or during deformation prior to fracture of the alloy. When the re-transformation is thermally induced the product martensite tends to form in a variant identical to that present before precipitation of the austenite; no significant refinement of the microstructure is achieved. On the other hand, mechanical transformation of the austenite produces a distribution of martensite variants determined by the local strain, hence preserving a refined microstructure conducive to low temperature toughness. (ERA citation 05:022648)