The influence mechanism of trace Nb element addition on the microstructure and impact–damping properties of Fe–Cr–Al alloy
摘要
To reveal the influence mechanism of trace amount of Nb element addition on microstructure, impact toughness and damping properties of Fe–Cr–Al-based alloys, the hot-rolled Fe–Cr–Al alloy (HR-Fe–Cr–Al) and Fe–Cr–Al–0.1Nb alloy (HR-Fe–Cr–Al–Nb) were selected as the research objects. Their microstructure was characterized by OM, SEM, EBSD and TEM. Their impact toughness and damping performance were tested. The results indicated that grains of HR-Fe–Cr–Al were elongated and the average size of grains along the rolling direction was about 0.6 mm. The phase composition was ferrite matrix, AlN and SiC-precipitated phases distributing around the grain boundaries. The grain morphology of HR-Fe–Cr–Al–Nb was also elongated. However, the average size of grains along the rolling direction reduced to about 0.5 mm. The main reason for grain refinement is that after the addition of trace Nb element, deformation dislocations segregate at grain boundaries, which inhibits grain boundary migration during the hot rolling. At the same time, the precipitated phases (AlN and SiC) were reduced. The impact test results indicate room-temperature impact energy of HR-Fe–Cr–Al–Nb is slightly lower than that of HR-Fe–Cr–Al. The reason is that dislocation entanglement is promoted and formed dislocation cell structures after Nb addition. The damping performance test results indicate the damping properties of HR-Fe–Cr–Al–Nb are better in the medium strain range. The main reason is that dislocation damping behavior follows the G–L dislocation pinning model in this stage. After the addition of trace Nb element, deformation dislocations mainly segregate at grain boundaries, which consumes more energy during vibration process.