Browsing by Author "Dorin, T"

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    Complementarity of SANS,TEM and APT for the study of NbC and MnS precipitates in a direct strip cast steel
    (Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society, 2016-02-04) Dorin, T; Wood, K; Stanford, N; Taylor, A; Hodgson, PD
    One of the main alloy design strategies to provide strengthening to low alloy steels is the deliberate addition of strong carbide forming elements such as Nb or Ti to form nano-precipitates with a carbide or carbo-nitride chemistry 1 . The addition of Mn is also common commercial practice to remove free sulphur from the steel. Thus, low alloy steels contain at least two chemically distinct precipitate populations, coarse manganese sulphides and fine carbo-nitrides. When steel alloys are processed by thin slab or direct strip casting (DSC), a significant decrease in the size of the sulphides is observed 2 and this is a direct consequence of the higher cooling rates experienced in these processes 3 . Since DSC is a relatively new processing technology 4 , the precise measurement of these nano-sulphides has not before been required, and very little information on this topic is available in the open literature. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS), atom probe tomography and electron microscopy have been used to investigate the MnS and Nb(C,N) precipitate populations in a low alloy steel processed by direct strip casting. Rapid cooling refined the sulphides, and both the SANS and atom probe tomography data indicate that sulphur is retained in solid solution after rapid cooling. A similar result is observed for the Nb-carbonitrides. The rapid cooling supresses precipitate formation, and only small Nb and N enriched clusters are able to form. These NbN clusters have a low volume fraction compared to the equilibrium condition in which classical Nb(C,N) precipitation is complete. Finally, we present a method to extract precipitate chemistry from the SANS data in order to validate the atom probe measurements on a statistically robust specimen volume.
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    The effect of molybdenum on clustering and precipitation behaviour of strip-cast steels containing niobium
    (Elsevier B. V., 2019-12) Jiang, L; Marceau, RKW; Guan, B; Dorin, T; Wood, K; Hodgson, PD; Stanford, N
    Two high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels containing Nb-carbonitrides were produced, one contained Mo and the other was Mo-free. The alloys were produced by simulated direct strip casting, and were fully bainitic in the as-cast condition. Isothermal ageing treatments were carried out to precipitate harden the alloy, and the strength was measured using a shear punch test. The dislocation density was measured with X-ray diffraction (XRD), and was found to be larger in the alloy containing Mo in all ageing conditions. Atom probe tomography (APT) showed the presence of solute clusters in the as-cast condition, and the addition of Mo increased both size and volume fraction of these clusters. The solute clusters provided significant strengthening increments of up to 112 MPa, and cluster strengthening was larger in the Mo-containing alloy. Precipitation of Nb-carbonitrides was observed after longer ageing times, which were refined by the addition of Mo. This was attributed to the higher dislocation density that increased the number of nucleation sites. Precipitate chemistry was similar for both alloys, and contrary to some literature reports, minimal Mo was observed to segregate to the precipitates. A thermodynamic rationale is presented which describes the reasons that Mo segregates to the Nb-carbide in some alloys but not in others, despite the alloy chemistries being relatively similar. © 2019 Acta Materialia Inc.
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    Effect of molybdenum on the precipitation in ferritic niobium-containing steels produced by strip casting
    (Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE), 2020-11-11) Jiang, L; Wood, K; Dorin, T; Marceau, RKW; Stanford, N
    Molybdenum (Mo) is often alloyed into the steels containing niobium (Nb), in order to enhance the formation of harder microstructures, such as bainite and acicular ferrite, and denser and finer precipitates. However, the effect of Mo on the nano-precipitates formed in the ferrite of Nb steels is still subject to debate, mostly due to its experimentally challenging nature. In addition, direct strip casting is a revolutionary casting technique that integrates casting and subsequent rolling together with rapid solidification and cooling rates, which not only simplifies the process, but also confers superior energy-saving as compared to conventional alloy thermomechanical processing. In this work, therefore, we have studied the effect of Mo on the precipitation in the ferrite of a Nb-containing micro-alloyed steel produced by strip casting using various advanced characterisation techniques. Isothermal ageing treatments were carried out at 650 ℃ up to 10,000 s to form precipitates, and the strength was measured using shear punch test. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation showed that precipitates were formed along dislocations in both steels with and without Mo. Atom probe tomography (APT) analyses revealed that the addition of Mo increased both size and volume fraction of solute clusters after short ageing times, which provided a much higher cluster strengthening. Precipitation of Nb-rich carbonitrides were found after longer ageing treatments. However, no significant Mo was observed to segregate to the precipitate. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) results indicated that the addition of Mo reduced the average precipitate size. X-ray diffraction (XRD) results suggested. © The Authors
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    Investigate the effect of molybdenum on precipitation in coiled strip cast niobium steels using correlative microscopy
    (Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society, 2016-02-04) Jiang, L; Dorin, T; Marceau, RKW; Wood, K; Hodgson, P; Stanford, N
    Steels containing both Nb and Mo have been reported to exhibit superior strength as compared to those containing only Nb. This has been explained by the formation of harder microstructures, such as bainite and acicular ferrite, and denser and finer precipitates promoted by the addition of Mo. For further improvement of this strengthening method, a fundamental understanding of the effect of Mo on precipitation in steels is necessary. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is commonly used for precipitation studies and provides direct imaging of the precipitates, however it only allows local observation and it is thus non statistical by nature and makes it difficult to estimate precipitates volume fraction. On the other hand, small angle neutron scattering (SANS) can be used as a statistical technique to quantitatively study precipitation. Consequently, TEM and SANS provide complementary information and are thus powerful when used in combination. SANS measurement was used to determine the size distribution and volume fraction of particles. Meanwhile, TEM observation was performed to obtain the distribution, morphology, chemistry and size of particles on the samples investigated by SANS. In this research, the effect of Mo on precipitate formation is studied in steels processed with the recently developed direct strip casting process and subsequent coiling treatment. Direct strip casting is a revolutionary casting technique that integrates casting and subsequent rolling together with rapid solidification and cooling rates, which not only simplifies the process, but also confers superior energy-saving as compared to conventional alloy thermomechanical processing. The strip cast samples were isothermally coiled at 700 ̊C for durations up to 10000 seconds. TEM results show that interphase precipitates were formed in both alloys and the size of particles were in the range of 10 nm. Additionally, SANS was used to quantify the precipitate size and volume fraction evolution during coiling.
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    Natural ageing behaviour in Al-Cu alloys containing Sc and Z
    (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, 2021-11-24) Jiang, L; Wood, K; Knott, RB; Sokolova, AV; Dorin, T
    The 2xxx series Al-Cu alloys have been extensively used as engineering structures and components of lightweight vehicles due to their excellent strength-to-weight ratio. Recent research has demonstrated that further substantial enhancement in the strength of Al-Cu alloys could be achieved by adding Sc and Zr by forming nano-sized Al3(Sc, Zr) dispersoids. However, further development and manufacturing of these new Sc and Zr-containing Al-Cu alloys are limited by a lack of basic understanding of the effect of Al3(Sc, Zr) dispersoids on the microstructural evolution during room temperature storage after quenching from solution treatment (called natural ageing). In this work, therefore, we have studied the effect of Al3(Sc, Zr) dispersoids on natural ageing behaviour in an Al-4wt.%Cu-0.1wt.%Sc-0.1wt.%Zr alloy using small-angle neutron and x-ray scattering (SANS and SAXS). The hardness measurement shows that the presence of Al3(Sc, Zr) dispersoids significantly delays the natural ageing kinetics of Al-Cu alloys. SANS was used to quantify the size distribution of Al3(Sc, Zr) dispersoids which is ~ 25 ± 3 nm. In-situ SAXS results show that the presence of Al3(Sc, Zr) dispersoids results in a significant delay in the solute clustering formation during natural ageing. This is attributed to the suppression of the natural ageing kinetics in the Al-Cu-Sc-Zr alloys. These results were confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The suppression mechanism is hypothesized to come from the dispersoids and Sc solute acting as vacancy sinks which slows down the diffusion of solute at room temperatures. © 2021 The Authors