The chemical composition of precipitated austenite in 9Ni steel

Abstract

Analytical scanning transmission electron microscopy and a novel Mössbauer spectrometry technique were used to measure the chemical composition of austenite particles which precipitate during intercritical tempering of 9Ni steel. Both techniques showed an enrichment of Ni, Mn, Cr, and Si in the austenite. A straightforward analysis involving data on both austenite composition and austenite formation kinetics suggests that the growth of austenite particles is controlled by a 3-dimensional diffusion process. The segregation of solutes to the austenite accounts for much of its stability against the martensitic transformation at low temperatures. Composition inhomogeneities develop in austenite particles after long temperings; the central regions of the particles are lean in solutes and are first to undergo the martensitic transformation. However, changes in solute concentrations of the austenite during long temperings seem too small to account for the large changes in austenite stability. It appears that some of the stability of precipitated austenite must be microstructural in origin. © 1986 The Metallurgical of Society of AIME.