Elimination of precipitate free zones in an Fe−Nb creep-resistant alloy

Abstract

Precipitation of the Fe2Nb intermetallic compound has previously been found to cause substantial hardening during aging of Fe rich Fe-Nb alloys. However, the formation of a wide precipitate free zone adjacent to the grain boundaries caused a degradation of creep resistance. In an effort to decrease the precipitate free zone width, thereby improving the creep resistance, an extensive study was made of the precipitation behavior of an Fe-1.7 at. pct Nb(Cb) alloy quenched from the δ-phase field. The quenched alloy was found to decompose via a two step reaction during aging at temperatures below 550°C. The first step in the decomposition reaction is thought to occur by clustering of Nb atoms in the ferrite matrix, similar to the clustering of Mo atoms which is known to occur during aging of Fe-Mo alloys. The second step in the reaction is not well understood. The precipitate free zones were formed by solute depletion in the vicinity of the grain boundary and the subsequent difficulty of nucleation of the Fe2Nb precipitates in the regions of lowered solute concentration. Using two step aging treatments, an initial low temperature step to develop the Nb atom clusters followed by a higher temperature step to cause Fe2Nb precipitation, the precipitate free zones were eliminated from the aged alloys. The origin of this effect is thought to be the heterogeneous nucleation of Fe2Nb precipitates on the clusters developed during the initial aging step.