In this study, a nanocrystalline FeNiCrMoMnSiC alloy was fabricated, and its austenite stability, microstructure, and mechanical properties were investigated. A sintered FeNiCrMoMnSiC alloy sample with nanosized crystal was obtained by high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering. The sintering behavior was investigated by measuring the displacement according to the temperature of the sintered body. Through microstructural analysis, it was confirmed that a compact sintered body with few pores was produced, and cementite was formed. The stability of the austenite phase in the sintered samples was evaluated by X-ray diffraction analysis and electron backscatter diffraction. Results revealed a measured value of 51.6% and that the alloy had seven times more austenite stability than AISI 4340 wrought steel. The hardness of the sintered alloy was 60.4 HRC, which was up to 2.4 times higher than that of wrought steel.

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• Microstructure and mechanical behavior of AISI 4340 steel fabricated via spark plasma sintering and post-heat treatment
  Jungbin Park, Junhyub Jeon, Namhyuk Seo, Singon Kang, Seung Bae Son, Seok-Jae Lee, Jae-Gil Jung
  Materials Science and Engineering: A.2023; 862: 144433.     CrossRef

We investigate the effect of phosphorous content on the microstructure and magnetic properties of Fe_83.2Si_5.33-0.33xB_10.67-0.67xP_xCu_0.8 (x = 1–4 at.%) nanocrystalline soft magnetic alloys. The simultaneous addition of Cu and P to nanocrystalline alloys reportedly decreases the nanocrystalline size significantly, to 10–20 nm. In the P-containing nanocrystalline alloy, P atoms are distributed in an amorphous residual matrix, which suppresses grain growth, increases permeability, and decreases coercivity. In this study, nanocrystalline ribbons with a composition of Fe_83.2Si_5.33-0.33xB_{10.67- 0.67x}P_xCu_0.8 (x = 1–4 at.%) are fabricated by rapid quenching melt-spinning and thermal annealing. It is demonstrated that the addition of a small amount of P to the alloy improves the glass-forming ability and increases the resistance to undesirable Fex(B,P) crystallization. Among the alloys investigated in this work, an Fe_83.2Si₅B₁₀P₁Cu_0.8 nanocrystalline ribbon annealed at 460°C exhibits excellent soft-magnetic properties including low coercivity, low core loss, and high saturation magnetization. The uniform nanocrystallization of the Fe_83.2Si₅B₁₀P₁Cu_0.8 alloy is confirmed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy analysis.

In the present study, we investigated the austenite stability of a sintered Fe-based nanocrystalline alloy. The volume fraction of austenite was measured based on the X-ray diffraction data of sintered Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys, which were prepared by high-energy ball milling and spark plasma sintering. The sintered alloy samples showed a higher volume fraction of austenite at room temperature as compared to the equilibrium volume fraction of austenite obtained using thermodynamic calculations, which resulted from the nanosized crystalline structure of the sintered alloy. It was proved that the austenite stability of the sintered Fe-based alloy increased with a rise in the amount of austenite stabilizing elements such as Mn, Ni, and C; however, it increased more effectively with a decrease in the actual grain size. Furthermore, we proposed a new equation to predict the martensite starting temperature for sintered Fe-based alloys.

In the present study, we have investigated the effect of sintering process conditions on the stability of the austenite phase in the nanocrystalline Fe-5wt.%Mn-0.2wt.%C alloy. The stability and volume fraction of the austenite phase are the key factors that determine the mechanical properties of FeMnC alloys, because strain-induced austenitemartensite transformation occurs under the application of an external stress at room temperature. Nanocrystalline Fe-5wt.%Mn-0.2wt.%C samples are fabricated using the spark plasma sintering method. The stability of the austenite phase in the sintered samples is evaluated by X-ray diffraction analysis and hardness test. The volume fraction of austenite at room temperature increases as the sample is held for 10 min at the sintering temperature, because of carbon diffusion in austenite. Moreover, water quenching effectively prevents the formation of cementite during cooling, resulting in a higher volume fraction of austenite. Furthermore, it is found that the hardness is influenced by both the austenite carbon content and volume fraction.

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• Austenite Stability of Sintered Fe-based Alloy
  Seunggyu Choi, Namhyuk Seo, Junhyub Jun, Seung Bae Son, Seok-Jae Lee
  Journal of Korean Powder Metallurgy Institute.2020; 27(5): 414.     CrossRef

In this study, nanocrystalline Cu-Ni bulk materials with various compositions were cold compacted by a shock compaction method using a single-stage gas gun system. Since the oxide layers on powder surface disturbs bonding between powder particles during the shock compaction process, each nanopowder was hydrogen-reduced to remove the oxide layers. X-ray peak analysis shows that hydrogen reduction successfully removed the oxide layers from the nano powders. For the shock compaction process, mixed powder samples with various compositions were prepared using a roller mixer. After the shock compaction process, the density of specimens increased up to 95% of the relative density. Longitudinal cross-sections of the shock compacted specimen demonstrates that a boundary between two powders are clearly distinguished and agglomerated powder particles remained in the compacted bulk. Internal crack tended to decrease with an increase in volumetric ratio of nano Cu powders in compacted bulk, showing that nano Cu powders has a higher coherency than nano Ni powders. On the other hand, hardness results are dominated by volume fraction of the nano Ni powder. The crystalline size of the shock compacted bulk materials was greatly reduced from the initial powder crystalline size since the shock wave severely deformed the powders.

In this study, nanocrystalline nickel powders were cold compacted by a dynamic compaction method using a single-stage gas gun system. A bending test was conducted to measure the bonding strengths of the compacted regions and microstructures of the specimen were analyzed using a scanning electron microscopy. The specimen was separated into two parts by a horizontal crack after compaction. Density test shows that the powder compaction occurred only in the upper part of the specimen. Brittle fracture was occurred during the bending test of the compact sample. Dispersion of shock energy due to spalling highly affected the bonding status of the nanocrystalline nickel powder.