The role of interstitial nitrogen in the precipitation hardening reactions in high-chromium ferritic steels

Bibliography: pages 107-108.The effects of exposure to temperatures in the range 475 - 800°C on the hardness and associated microstructure of high chromium ferritic steels has been investigated. Low-carbon 26Cr-1Mo steels containing 0,02 - 0,04% nitrogen were found to constitute an age hardening system when quenched from a temperature of nitrogen solubility and exposed at temperatures in the range 600 - 700°C. TEM observations on thin foils revealed that hardening was associated with the formation of a high density of Cr-N zones. These grew on over-ageing into disc-shaped Cr-N precipitates situated on {100} lattice planes, and ultimately became large incoherent precipitates. Ageing at 475°C and 550°C produced hardening due to the formation of chromium-rich ferrite phases α' as a result of the miscibility gap in the Fe-Cr phase diagram. However the presence of interstitial nitrogen in solution in the steel considerably reduced the rate of hardening, especially at 475°C. TEM examination confirmed that this effect was due to the formation of Cr-N zones in preference to α'. This type of decomposition occurs by a mechanism of nucleation and growth, forming zones similar to those formed during an ageing at 600°C. When depleted of interstitial nitrogen, through precipitation at 800°C or through zone formation at 475°C, the specimens aged at 475°C underwent spinodal decomposition. Thus nitrogen in solid solution was found to have a significant effect on the 475°C hardening reaction. Precision X-ray diffraction measurements revealed the presence of secondary diffraction peaks associated with the Bragg peaks, which comfirmed the formation of Cr-rich phases during ageing at 475°C. The calculated associated lattice parameter measurements allowed estimates of the compositions of the decomposition phases to be made. These were calculated to be about 6-18% Cr in the Fe-rich and 60-80% Cr in the Cr-rich phases of the 26Cr-1Mo steel