Control of the coarsening kinetics of β′ precipitates in V-modified Fe-Ni-Al-Cr-Ti alloys
摘要
This research studies the effect of vanadium on the coarsening kinetics of coherent β′ (NiAl) precipitates in Fe-Ni10-Al15-Cr10-Ti1-Vx (x = 1 and 3 at.%) alloys. They were melted in a mini electric arc furnace, homogenized at 1250 °C for 12 h, followed by isothermal aging at 800, 850, and 900 °C for different periods of time. X‑ray diffraction confirms the presence of the β′ phase in an α-matrix. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) images show that the morphological evolution of the precipitates during aging treatments follows this sequence: interconnected and spherical, spherical and cuboidal, cuboidal and parallelepiped, globular. These results reveal that as aging time increases, the number of precipitates decreases while their size increases. Vickers microhardness tests confirm that as aging time increases, hardness decreases due to precipitate coarsening, leading to the degradation of mechanical properties. These findings highlight the vanadium’s role content in fitting the microstructural stability and mechanical performance of Fe-based alloys.
Graphical abstract