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OULOUSE
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uverte (
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Eprints ID : 8740
To link to this article : DOI:10.1016/j.msea.2011.12.080
URL :
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.msea.2011.12.080
To cite this version : Malard, Benoit and Remy, B. and Scott, Colin
and Deschamps, Alexis and Chêne, Jacques and Dieudonné, Thomas
and Mathon, Marie-Hélène Hydrogen trapping by VC precipitates and
structural defects in a high strength Fe-Mn-C steel studied by
small-angle neutron scattering. (2012) Materials Science and Engineering A,
vol. 536. pp. 110-116. ISSN 0921-5093
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Hydrogen
trapping
by
VC
precipitates
and
structural
defects
in
a
high
strength
Fe–Mn–C
steel
studied
by
small-angle
neutron
scattering
B.
Malard
a,∗,
B.
Remy
b,
C.
Scott
b,
A.
Deschamps
a,
J.
Chêne
c,
T.
Dieudonné
b,c,
M.H.
Mathon
daSIMaP,INPGrenoble–CNRS–UJF,BP75,38402StMartind’HèresCedex,France bArcelorMittal(R&DAutomotiveProducts),VoieRomaine,57280Maizières-les-Metz,France cCEA/CNRS:“Hydrogène/Matériauxdestructure”,UMR8587,91191GifsurYvette,France dLaboratoireLéonBrillouin,CEA/Saclay,91191GifsurYvetteCedex,France
Keywords:
Small-angleneutronscattering Hydrogenembrittlement
Hydrogentrappedbynanoprecipitates
a
b
s
t
r
a
c
t
ThetrappingofhydrogenbyVCprecipitatesandstructuraldefectsinhighstrengthFe–Mn–Csteelwas studiedbysmallangleneutronscattering.NointeractionbetweenHandVinsolidsolutionhasbeen detectedbutasignificantinteractionbetweenHandstructuraldefectsintroducedbyplasticdeformation hasbeenmeasured.ThislasteffectwasreversibleuponoutgassingoftheH.Moreoverasignificant interactionbetweenHandVCprecipitateshasbeenmeasured;5ppmwt.ofHcouldbetrappedinthe precipitates.ThisisconsistentwiththehomogeneoustrappingofHwithintheprecipitatesratherthan attheprecipitate/matrixinterface.
1. Introduction
Fe–Mn–Causteniticsteelsthat exhibitthetwinninginduced plasticity(TWIP)effectareveryattractivematerialssolutionsfor weightreductionofcrash-resistantpartsinnewpassengervehicle developments,duetotheircombinationofextremelyhighenergy absorbingcapacity coupledwithlargeresidual elongationafter forming[1–6].
The combination of very high tensile strength (typically >1000MPa)coupledwithextendedformabilityinevitablyleadsto thepresenceofregionsofhighlevelsofinternalstressesaftercold formingoperations.Iftheconcentrationofmobileatomic hydro-gen(H)inthesezonesexceedsacriticallimit,thematerialcanbe susceptibletodelayedcracking[7].Hcontentinthesteelcanbe rigorouslycontrolledattheproductionstagebutmobileHmaybe introducedatlaterstagesbywelding,surfaceorheattreatments, corrosion,etc.ItisthusadvantageoustointroduceHtrappingsites inthemicrostructurethatcanactassinksformobileHandhence reducetheriskofdelayedcracking.Itisnowappreciatedthatthe additionofsmallamountsofvanadium(V)canreducetheseverity ofdelayedcrackingcausedbythepresenceofmobileH[8]whileat thesametimeenhancingthemechanicalproperties[9].However, thephysicalinteractionsbetweenmobileHandVeitherinsolid
∗ Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+330476826669;fax:+330476826644. E-mailaddress:benoit.malard@simap.grenoble-inp.fr(B.Malard).
solutionorintheformofvanadiumcarbides(VC)precipitatesin austeniticTWIPsteelsneedtobestudiedinordertoincreaseour understandingofthetrappingprocess.
Itisnoteasytoexperimentallydetecthydrogeninsteelsbecause ofitshighmobilityandlowsolubility.Therefore,theunderstanding ofhydrogenbehaviourincludingdiffusionandtrappinghasbeen limitedduetothelackofsuitablemonitoringtools[10].Thermal desorptionanalysis(TDA)isusuallyusedtodeterminethe hydro-gen desorption characteristics, giving useful information about trappingsitesandmobilehydrogencontentovertheentire speci-men[11–14].TDAisoftenusedinconjunctionwithelectrochemical permeationtechniques(EP)whichprovidecomplementary infor-mationaboutdiffusioncoefficients[15,16].However,information aboutthestate,numberanddistributionofhydrogenatomswithin thesamplearestilluncertain.
Techniquesinvolvingneutronscatteringareamongthemost suitabletoolsforobtaininginformationonHdistributionbecause neutronshavetheadvantageofahighsensitivitytolightelements likehydrogen.Neutronscatteringtechniquesareappropriatefor measuringmicrostructuresinthescalerangefromsub-angstrom (neutrondiffraction)[17]tomillimetrelevel(neutronradiography)
[18,19].Inparticular,smallangleneutronscattering(SANS)isan appropriatetechniquefordetectingHinteractionswithnanoscale microstructuralfeatures.For example,Rossetal.[20]and Max-elonetal.[21]haveusedthistechniqueinPd alloystoreacha consistentdescriptionof theinteractionbetweenhydrogenand dislocations. In addition, Kluthe et al. reported detection of H
segregationattheinternalinterfaceofAg/MgOusingSANS[22]. Theyshowedcleardifferencesinthescatteringprofilesbetween Hordeuterium(D)chargedandunchargedsamples.Insituations withlowerH concentrations,a differencein neutronscattering profilescanalsobeobservedbetweenH-chargedanduncharged steels.Ulbrichtetal.,usingSANS,reportedthatthebehaviourofH trappedinthemicrostructuralheterogeneitiesofapressurevessel steelwasmainlycorrelatedwithirradiationeffects[23].Recently, aJapaneseteamatNIMShasappliedSANStechniquestothe detec-tionofHtrappedbyniobiumcarbides(NbC)inferriticsteels[24]. TheneutronscatteringintensityfromnanometrescaleNbC pre-cipitatesappearstobehigherinthecaseofH-chargedsamples. Ifthesamesamplesarethen heatedtooutgasH theenhanced scatteringintensitydisappears.Theauthorsclaimthatthiseffect iscausedbythesegregationortrappingofHattheNbC/ferrite interface.
H also interacts withlattice defects such as vacancies, dis-locations and stacking faults. For example the trapping of H bydislocationsand«martensitehasbeenobserved experimen-tally by tritium autoradiography on austenitic stainless steels by Chêne et al. [25]. An indirect demonstration of the phe-nomenonof trapping is given by thedecrease in theapparent Hdiffusioncoefficientwhenthematerialisplasticallydeformed
[26]. The peculiarity of H trapping at dislocations lies in the fact that these traps are mobile and can therefore assist the mechanism of H diffusion. The important role of mobile traps for thetransport of H was firstproposed byBastien and Azou
[27]50yearsago.Thistransportmechanismwasexperimentally demonstrated by Donovan [28] by measuring the flow of tri-tiumdesorptionintroducedintensile specimens.Recently,new observationsconductedbyChêneandBrass[29–31]wereusedto quantifychangesintheamountoftritiumdesorbedduringa ten-siletestperformedonasinglecrystalofnickel-basedsuperalloy
[30].
Inthispresentwork,toshedlightontheinteractionbetween HandnanoscaleVCprecipitatesaswellasotherstructuraldefects suchasstackingfaults,twinsanddislocations,SANSandTDSwere employedtoinvestigatetwo TWIPsteelcompositions; aV-free steel,and a V-containingsteel where theVwaseither in solid solutionorintheformofprecipitates.Theeffectoflatticedefects wasinvestigatedbycomparingsampleswithdifferentdegreesof coldrolling.MeasurementswerecarriedoutwithandwithoutH charging.
2. Materialsandtechniques
Themeasuredspecimenswereintheformof1.2mmcoldstrips preparedwiththreedifferentmicrostructures(seeTable1foralloy compositions).
Thefirstmicrostructure(A)wasareferencealloywithnoV addi-tionsinafullyrecrystallisedstate.Thesecond(B)usesthesame basecompositionmodifiedbytheadditionof0.215wt.%V.Itwas studiedinthefullhardstate(coldrolledwith50%reduction)where allVisinsolidsolution(validatedbyselectivechemicaldissolution) andcontainingahighdensityofcrystallinedefects(dislocations, twinsandstackingfaults).Thethirdspecimen,(C)wasidenticalto (B)exceptrecrystallisationannealedwith60%oftheavailableV
Table1
Compositionoftheausteniticsteelsin%wt.
C Mn Si P N V
Sample(A) 0.585 18.4 0.195 0.032 0.020 0
Samples(B)and(C) 0.600 18.14 0.185 0.032 0.016 0.215
precipitatedassphericalshapeVC[9].1 DifferentHchargingand outgassingcycleswereappliedtothesemicrostructures.
Theprocessingcycleforthethreemicrostructureswasthe fol-lowing.Afterreheating(1180◦C–15min)thecastingotswerehot
rolledto2.4mmandwaterquenchedfromabove900◦C.The
sam-pleswerethenchemicallystripped(HClbath),andcoldrolledwith areductionrateof50%to1.2mm.Atthisstepthereference(B)with Vinsolidsolutionfinisheditsprocessingcycle.Themicrostructures (AandC)wereannealedat800◦Cfor180stoformsemi-coherent
VCwithanaverageprecipitatediameterof7–8nm[9,32](C)anda fullyrecrystallisedmicrostructure(AandC).
Samples12mm×12mm in areawere mechanicallythinned andcathodicallychargedwithHin0.1MaqueousNaOHsolution. Twoseries ofcharging experimentswere carriedout, resulting invery differentH concentrationsand distribution(see Table2
fordetailsonsample thicknessand chargingconditions).Inthe moderateHchargingconditions(18◦C,24h),assumingthatthe
apparentdiffusioncoefficientofHatroomtemperatureisabout DRT=10−12cm2s−1[33],theHconcentrationprofileisexpectedto
extendoverabout10mmonbothsidesofthesamplethickness (500mm).Thiscorrespondstoanonhomogeneousdistributionof Hinthespecimenandalowaverageconcentration.Inthesevere Hchargingconditions(80◦C,62h),accordingtothe
experimen-talvalueoftheapparentdiffusioncoefficientat80◦CinFe–Mn–C
TWIPsteels[34],theHconcentrationprofileextendsabout100mm onbothsidesofthesamplethickness(200mm),resultinginamore homogeneoushydrogenationandahigheraverageconcentration. Moreovershort-circuitdiffusionofHalonggrainboundariesmay slightlyenhanceHabsorption[34].ImmediatelyafterHcharging, thesampleswerestoredinliquidnitrogentopreventHdesorption beforeSANSmeasurement.
Thetotal H contentwasmeasuredwiththe meltextraction technique.Thesampleismeltedinacrucibleandthehydrogenis extractedusinganinertcarriergaspulse(argon).Thesignal gener-atedbythethermalconductivityanalyserisintegratedtocalculate theconcentrationbyweightofthesample.Thesensitivityofthis techniqueisabout0.1ppmwt.;itwasnotpossibletogivea stan-darddeviationontheconcentrationvaluesbecauselackofmaterial meantthattoofewmeasurementscouldbemadeonhydrogenated samples.
SANSexperimentswereperformedonthePAXYinstrumentat theLaboratoireLéonBrillouin(LLB)inSaclay,France.Neutronsare monochromatedbyavelocityselectortoameanwavelengthof6 ˚A and9.5 ˚A,thewavelengthspreadbeingd/=9%.Thiswavelength waschoseninordertoavoiddoublediffractionproblemsthatcan arisefromtheaustenitemicrostructure.Sample–detectordistances of1.865mand6.065mwereusedwiththewavelengthof6 ˚Aand 9.5 ˚Awithappropriatecollimationsettingstogiveaccessto scat-teringvectorsQ(Q=4psin/)rangingfrom0.06 ˚A−1 to0.2 ˚A−1.
Thediameteroftheneutronbeamwas8mm.Dataprocessingwas carriedoutusingtheGRASPsoftwaredevelopedbyC.Dewhurst attheInstituteLaueLangevin(ILL).Datafileswerecorrectedfor electronicnoise,detectorresponseandbackgroundnoise,and nor-malisedusingawaterstandard.TheLaueintensitywassubtracted forallthepresenteddata.
3. Results
3.1. Microstructuralobservations
SampleAconsistedoffullyrecrystallisedaustenitewithagrain size of4–5mm. No precipitateswere detectedby TEManalysis.
Table2
ConcentrationinH(ppmwt)ofthedifferentsamplesusedforSANSexperiments.BchgorCchgmeanschargedsample.BoutmeansoutgassedsampleBat260◦Cduring24h. CoutmeansoutgassedsampleCat150◦Cduring16h.
Microstructure NoHcharging ModerateHcharging
0.5mm;24h;18◦C;1mA/cm2 SevereHcharging 0.2mm;62h;80◦C;50mA/cm2 (A)Novanadium <1.5 (B)Vinsolidsolution 1.9 Bchg:2.5 Bout:0.8 (C)VCprecipitates 0.7 Cchg:72 Cout:11.5
Fig.1.Microstructuralobservationsofsample(C).(a)BrightfieldTEMmicrographshowingthepartiallyrecrystallisedgrainstructure.(b)Opticalmicrograph(grainsize 3–4mm).(candd)TEMextractionreplicasshowingtheVCprecipitatesinblack.
Sample B consisted of heavily cold rolled austenite (grain size priortorolling8–10mm)whichcouldnotbeusefullyanalysedin theTEM.Howeverselectivechemicaldissolutionconfirmedthat noVwasprecipitatedinthisspecimen.Fig.1shows microstruc-tural observations of sample C (with VC). Precipitation of VC slows down the recrystallisation kinetics [9] so that the final austenitic microstructurecontains a few partiallyrecrystallised grains(Fig.1a),howeverthevastmajorityofthematerialisfully recrystallised.Themeangrainsizewas3–4mm(Fig.1b).The distri-butionandthemeanradiusoftheVCprecipitatesinthesampleC weredeterminedusingTEMextractionreplicas.Fig.1canddshows VCprecipitateswithradiivaryingfrom1to25nm.
Fig.2showstheVCsizedistributionasmeasuredfromTEM replicaobservations.Theaverageprecipitateradiusis3.9nmand the distribution can be adequately described by a log-normal function. Selective chemical dissolution followed by ICP-OES indicated that 1537ppm wt. V was precipitated after anneal-ing [9]. This is equivalent to a volume fraction of ∼0.23% of VC. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
C
o
u
n
t
Precipitate radius (nm)
Histogram of precipitate sizes
506 precipitates Average radius 3.9 nm
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 0.1 0.01 V-free alloy V in solid solution
VC precipitated alloy
Intensity
(cm
-1
)
Q (Å-1)
Fig.3. IversusQforthe3reference(withoutH)samples.WithoutV(A),Vinsolid solution(B)andVCprecipitates(C).
3.2. SANSresults
3.2.1. Comparisonbetweentheinitial(uncharged) microstructures
Fig.3showsthescatteredintensitiesinalog–logplotforthe threeinitial(uncharged)microstructures.
Thereferencesample(A)showsthelowestscatteringintensity, duetotheabsenceofanyVCprecipitatesandthefullyrecrystallised microstructure.Therecordedsignalcorrespondstothebackground fromthematrix(scatteringfromremainingimpuritiesand crys-tallinedefects).
The full hard specimen with V in solid solution (B) shows substantial scattering at low scattering vectors. This scattering decreaseslinearlyinthelog–logplot,followingapowerlawthat willbediscussedmoreindetailinthenextsection.Sincethis mate-rialdoesnotcontainadditionalprecipitatesascomparedtosample (A),2itcanbeinferredthatthemeasuredsignalisrelatedtothehigh densityofcrystallinedefectsintroducedbycoldrolling.
The recrystallised sample containing VC precipitates (C) presents a scattering signal typical of a low volume fraction precipitate-containing matrix, witha broad shoulder. The inte-gratedintensityofthissignalQo(afterbackgroundLaueintensity
subtractionandextrapolationtoinfinitescatteringvectorsusing thePorodasymptoticbehaviour)providesameasurementofthe precipitatevolumefraction:
Qo=
Z
∞ 0I(Q )Q2dQ=22f
v(1−fv)(p−m)2
wherefvistheprecipitatevolumefraction,pandmarethe
den-sityofneutronscatteringlengthsintheprecipitatesandmatrix: p= bV +bC 2˝p =3.49×1014m−2, m∼=4bFe+bMn 5˝m =5.77×1014m−2
wherebiisthenuclear(coherent)scatteringlengthofspeciesi(see
Table3),and˝p=8.97 ˚A3and˝m=11.8 ˚A3aretheaverageatomic
volumesoftheprecipitateandmatrix.
Themeasuredvolumefractionis0.27%,whichisingood agree-mentwiththatobtainedbyselectivedissolutionpresentedabove (∼0.23%).
2Theabsenceofanystrain-inducedprecipitationwasconfirmedbychemical extractionfollowedbyICP-OES.
Table3
Nuclearcoherentscatteringlength.
Fe Mn C V H b(1×E−15m) 9.4500 −3.7300 6.6460 −0.3824 −3.739 0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1000 0.1 0.01 V - 50% rolling V - 15% rolling V - 0% rolling V-free alloy Intensity (cm -1 ) Q (Å-1)
Fig.4.IversusQforthesampleswithVinsolidsolution(B)atdifferentcoldrolling reduction(0%,15%and50%reductions).Thereference(A)annealedsamplewithout Visincludedforcomparison(freealloy).
Fromthisscatteringcurve,wealsocalculatedthePorodradius oftheprecipitatedistributionusingtheequationbelow:
Rp=3V S =
3Qo
K
SandVarethetotalsurfaceandthetotalvolumeoftheprecipitates, Qo is theintegrated intensityasdefined above and Kis the
Y-interceptofI·q4=f(q4)[35].WeobtainedavalueofR
p=3.3±0.2nm, whichisconsistentwiththeTEMmeasurements.
3.2.2. Effectofcoldrollingreduction
Theintensityof scatteringfromsample(B)washigher than expected. In order tofurther investigatethe origin of this sig-nalwemeasuredsampleswithdifferentcoldrollingreductions.
Fig.4showstheeffectofvariationsintheamountofcoldrolling reduction(0%,15%and50%)appliedtoreferencesample(B)on thescatteringintensityintheunchargedstate(<2ppmwt.ofH). Thescatteringintensityofthefullyrecrystallisedreferencesample withoutV(sample(A))isalsoincludedforcomparison.
Whennocoldrollingisapplied,thescatteringintensityofthe V-containingmaterialissimilartothatoftherecrystallised,non-V containingmaterial,showingthatthepresenceofVinsolidsolution andalsothedifferenceingrainsizedoesnothaveasignificant effectontheneutronscatteringintensity.Thesamplewith15% coldreductionshowsascatteringintensityintermediatebetween thatofthe0%and50%rolledmaterials.Italsoexhibitsasimilar power-lawscatteringbehaviour,withanexponentofabout−3.5. Thisbehaviourisconsistentwithwhatisknownfromthescattering ofdislocations,whichhavebeenshowntoproduceaQ−3behaviour
[36].Thedifferenceinscatteringintensitybetweenthethreecold rollingreductionscanthereforebeattributedtothedifferencein thedensityofdislocations,twinsandstackingfaultsintroducedby theplasticstrain.
3.2.3. EffectofHchargingonthefullhardsample(sampleB) WehaveevaluatedtheeffectofHchargingonthescattered intensityfromfullhard samplescoldrolledto50%reduction(V insolidsolution).Fig.5showsthecomparisonatsmallscattering vectorsofthescatteringintensityfromtheuncharged(B)sample
0.1 1 10 100 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.008 Uncharged (1.9 ppm H) Charged (2.5 ppm H) Outgassed (0.8 ppm H)
In
te
n
si
ty
(
cm
-1)
Q (Å-1)V in solid solution - 50% rolling
Fig.5. IversusQ.EffectofHconcentrationonscatteringfromcrystaldefectsofthe sample(B).
(measuredHcontent: 1.9ppmwt.),inthesamesampleafterH charging(measuredHcontent:2.5ppmwt.)andaftercharging fol-lowedbyoutgassingbyannealingundervacuumfor24hat260◦C
(measuredHcontent:0.8ppmwt.).
Whenthefullhardsample(B)ishydrogenchargedthe scatter-ingintensitydecreases,whilethesamepowerlawexponentisstill observed.Outgassingreversesthischange:theoutgassedsample showsthesamescatteringintensityastheunchargedsample.This changeofintensityoccurringafterHchargingislikelyduetothe segregationofmobileHtodefectsthatresultsinadecreaseofthe associatedstrainfieldsandthereforetothescatteringintensitythat isrelatedtothemagnitudeofthisstrainfield.Duetoitslarge par-tialmolarvolume,atomicHisknowntobesensitivetolocalstress fields[37].Thecompletereversibilityoftheintensitychangewith outgassingimpliesthatthistreatmentremovesmostorallofthe Hsegregatedtocrystallinedefects.
Thefactthatthenuclearscatteringintensitydecreaseswiththe additionofHisnotexpectedfromtheexistingliterature,e.g.Ross etal.[20].Theseauthorsmeasuredthatthescatteringintensity, associatedwithH-dislocationinteractionsinpalladium,increases withHanddecreaseswithD.However,besidesthelarge differ-enceintheHsolubilityinPdandFe–Mn–CTWIPsteel,different typesofdefectsmaybepresentineachexperiment.Moreovertheir calculationsdonotincludetheinfluenceoftheeffectofstress relax-ationduetotrappedH[38].InourcasetheFe–Mn–CTWIPsteels arestronglytwinnedandhavelowstackingfaultenergy.Thislow energyinducesalargenumberofstackingfaultsduetothe disso-ciationofdislocations.AccordingtotheobservationofHtrapping on«martensite[25],itisanticipatedthatHsegregationonthese stackingfaultsalsooccurs.
Atlargescatteringvectors, noeffectofHisobserved.Thisis quitereasonablebecauseatlargeQthecrystallinedefectsdonot contributemuchtothescatteredintensity.
3.2.4. InteractionbetweenHandtheVCprecipitates(sampleC) WehaveevaluatedtheeffectofHchargingonsample(C) con-tainingVCprecipitates.Inthiscaseastrongchargingprocedure wasfollowed,resultingin72ppmwt.ofHinthechargedsample. Afteroutgassingfor16hat150◦CtheremainingHconcentration
was11.5ppmwt.
Fig.6showsthecomparisonofthescatteringintensityofthe threesamples,namelyunchargedspecimen(C),specimen(C)after Hchargingandspecimen(C)afterHchargingandoutgassing.At lowscatteringvectors,itisobservedthatthescatteringintensity decreaseswiththeadditionofH,andincreaseswithoutgassing. Thisbehaviourissimilartothatobservedinthefullhardsample,
0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 0.1 0.01 Uncharged (0.7 ppm H) Charged (72 ppm H) Outgassed (11.5 ppm H)
Intensity (cm
-1)
Q (Å
-1)
VC containing alloyFig.6. IversusQforsamples(C)withVCprecipitatesatdifferentconcentrationsof H.
anditcanbeassumedthatitisrepresentativeoftheinteraction betweenHandthecrystallinedefectsremaininginthesample. Actually,whenthesampleis outgassedat150◦C thescattering
intensityatlowQincreasestovaluesthataresignificantlyhigher thanthereferencesample.Thisislogicalifweassumethatthereis strongoutgassingofHreversiblytrappedatcrystallinedefectsbut notfromtheresidualHtrappedbytheVCprecipitates.
Atlargerscatteringvectors,wheremostofthesignalrelatesto theVCprecipitates,theoppositebehaviourisfound,namelythe scatteringintensityincreaseswiththeadditionofHanddecreases againwithoutgassing.
TheintensityvariationscanbemoreeasilyobservedinaKratky plotofI·Q2versusQ[35](seeFig.7).Onthisplotthescattering
vectorattheintensitymaximumattheshoulderisinversely pro-portionaltotheaverageprecipitateradiusandtheareabelowthe curveistheintegratedintensitythatdependsontheprecipitate volumefractionandthescatteringcontrastbetweenthe precipi-tatesandmatrix.ThisplotshowsthattheadditionofHstrongly increasesthescatteringintensity(byapproximately25%). More-over,thisincreaseofintensityisclosetoamultiplicationfactorin therangeofscatteringvectorswheretheintensityisdominated bythesignalofprecipitates,sincetheshapeofthesignalisnot muchaffected.Whenthesampleisoutgassedat150◦C,the
inten-sityisobservedtodecrease,butstayssignificantlyhigherthanthat ofthereferencesample,whichisconsistentwiththeremainingH concentrationmeasuredafterdegassing(11ppmvs.0.7ppminthe unchargedsample).
Fig.7.KratkyplotofIQ2versusQforsamples(C)withVCprecipitatesatdifferent concentrationsofH.
3.2.5. QuantitativeassessmentoftheinteractionbetweenVC precipitatesandH
ThechangeinneutronscatteringintensitywithHchargingand outgassingobservedinsample(C)demonstratesthatan interac-tionexistsbetweenH present inthealloy andVCprecipitates. TheincreaseinneutronscatteringintensitywithHcharging cor-respondstoanincreaseofthecontrastinscatteringlengthdensity betweentheprecipitatesandmatrix.Sincethecoherentnuclear cross-sectionofHisnegativeandtheprecipitatescatteringlength densityissmallerthanthatofthematrix,thiscontrast enhance-mentcorrespondstoHtrappingbytheprecipitates.Wehaveseen that theincrease of intensitymeasuredin the H-charged sam-plecorrespondednearlytoa simplemultiplicationfactorofthe reference(uncharged)samplesignal.Thisexperimentaldatais con-sistentwithahomogeneoustrappingofHinsidetheprecipitates, althoughitisnotpossibletoruleoutaheterogeneoustrappingof Hinthevicinityoftheprecipitate–matrixinterface.Htrappingof TiCparticlesinbccsteelshasbeenshowntooccurbothatthe parti-cle/matrixinterfaceandinthebulkandtodependonthecoherency oftheprecipitate/matrixinterface[39].MoreoverHtrappinginthe bulkofsemi-coherentandincoherentg′(Ni
3Al)precipitatesinfcc
Nibasesuperalloyshasbeenevidencedbytritiumautoradiography
[40].AtomisticcalculationshaveshownthatsuchaHsegregationin Ni3AlprecipitatesistheresultofalargerHsolubilityintheNi3Al
phasethaninNibasematrix[41].SimilareffectsmayexplainH trappinginthebulkofVCprecipitates.
Within this hypothesis, we can evaluate the relationship betweenthetrappedHcontentintheprecipitatesandthechange inneutronscatteringintensity.
Foratwo-phasesystem,theneutronscatteringintensityI(Q) isproportionaltothesquareofthecontrastinnuclearscattering density[35]:
I(Q)∝(p−m)2
TheeffectofHonthenuclearscatteringlengthofthematrixcan beneglectedsincetheHconcentrationisverylowsothat: m∼= 4bFe+bMn
5˝m
TocalculatetheeffectofHintakeintheprecipitates,wewilluse theapproximationthatthelatticeparameteroftheVCprecipitates isnotchangedsignificantlybythepresenceofH.Wewilldefine thefractionXpHofHinsidetheprecipitatesastheratiobetween
thenumberofHatomsandhalfthenumberof(V+C)atoms: XpH∼= 2nH
nV+nC
Then the nuclear scattering length density of the precipitates becomes:
p∼= (1/2)bV
+(1/2)bC+XpHbH ˝p
ThefractionofH in theprecipitatesXpH canbetranslatedinto
theoverallconcentrationofHinthesamplethatistrappedinthe precipitates(XtotHinatomicfraction):
XtotH=fv˝m
˝pXpH
And finally the overall concentrationof H in thesample CtotH
trappedintheprecipitatescanbeexpressedinppmwt.: CtotH=
106 55.4XtotH
Withtheabove equations wecan relatethe relativechange in scatteringintensity1I/ItotheamountofHtrappedinsidethe pre-cipitates(expressedasanoverallHconcentrationinthesample).
0 20 40 60 80 100 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 0.2% Volume fraction 0.3% Volume fraction 0.4% Volume fraction ∆ I / I (% )
H concentration trapped in the precipitates (ppm wt) Fig.8.1I/IversusconcentrationofHtrappedintheVCprecipitates.
Fig.8showsaplotofthisrelativevariationofintensityfordifferent valuesoftheprecipitatevolumefraction.
Experimentally,itisdifficulttoobtainaprecisioninintensity calibration that is betterthan 10–15% in SANS data, sothat it isunlikelythat,fortheprecipitatevolumefractionsinvestigated inthis work,H trappingquantitiescorrespondingtoan overall concentrationofless than 2ppm wt.canbe detectedwiththis technique.
Therelativeincreaseinneutronscatteringintensityobserved afterstrongHcharginginalloy(C)(seeFig.7)isabout25%. There-forethereshouldbeabout∼5ppmwt. ofHtrapped insidethe precipitates(assuming0.3%volumefractionofVC).Thevast major-ity (67ppm wt. H) must therefore be segregated tocrystalline defectsandgrainboundariesorhomogeneouslydistributedinthe matrix.35ppmwt.ofHtrappedinavolumefractionofabout0.3% correspondstoanatomicfractionofHintheprecipitatesofabout 10%.Aftervacuumoutgassing at150◦C thescatteringintensity
decreases.1I/Iisabout12%morethanthereferencesamplewhich suggeststhatthereremains∼3ppmwt.ofHtrappedinthe pre-cipitatesafteroutgassing.Thus,itappearsthattheVCprecipitates arereasonablyeffectiveirreversibleHtrappingsitesfor moder-ateHconcentrations,uptoafewppmwt.Fromthedataanalysis carriedoutinthepresentwork,theHtrappingappearstooccur homogeneouslywithintheprecipitates.
4. Conclusion
InthisworkwehavestudiedtheinteractionbetweenHand an austenitic Fe–Mn–C TWIP steel containing V with different microstructuresusingTEMandSANS.Themainconclusionsthat canbedrawnfromthisexperimentalstudyarethefollowing: -No interaction between H and V in solid solution has been
detected.
-AsignificantinteractionbetweenHandstructuraldefects intro-ducedbyplasticdeformation(coldrolling)hasbeenmeasured. Namely,theneutronscatteringintensityrelatedtothese struc-turaldefectswasloweredbytheintroductionofHinthesamples. Thisispossiblyduetoareductioninthestrainfieldofthepartial dislocationsduetothesegregationofH.Thiseffectwasreversible uponoutgassing.
-AsignificantinteractionbetweenHandVCprecipitateshasbeen measured.Namely,anincreaseoftheneutronscattering inten-sityisobservedwhenthesamplesarechargedwithH.Fromthe
3NosignsofdamageormacroscopicH
intensity increase this is consistent with the homogeneous trappingofHwithintheprecipitatesratherthanatthe precip-itate/matrixinterface.Inthestudiedconditions,wehaveshown thatapproximately5ppmwt.ofHcouldbetrappedinthisway. Thiseffectwasnotcompletelyreversibleuponsampleoutgassing at150◦C,showingthattheVCprecipitatesaremoderatelystable
Htrappingsites. Acknowledgements
TheauthorswouldliketothankC.DewhurstandD.Bowyeron D11atILL,A.RadulescuonKWS-2attheJulichNeutronCentre fortheirinstrumentalhelpsandG.PetitgandandP.Bargesfrom ArcelorMittalfortheirexperimentalworks.Wealsoacknowledge VANITECfortheirfinancialcontribution.
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