Frühe Stadien der Ausscheidungsbildung – Experimente und Modellierung

Abstract

Precipitation hardening of structural high-performance materials is considered as one of the most important strengthening mechanisms. In alloys containing precipitate forming elements, a fine dispersion of nanometer-sized particles precipitates from a supersaturated solid-solution. The size, volume fraction, and number density of these precipitates can be controlled by elaborate thermo-mechanical processing or by thermal treatments. The Christian Doppler Laboratory “Early Stages of Precipitation” aims at establishing a deeper understanding of such precipitation processes in steels, nickel-base alloys, and refractory metals. The experimental part of the lab in Leoben focuses on the characterization of small precipitates by state-of-the art high-resolution methods such as atom probe tomography and transmission electron microscopy, by scattering techniques, and by thermal analysis. The modelling part in Vienna concentrates on the modelling of precipitation kinetics mostly within the framework of the scientific software “MatCalc”. The main objective of both parts is the comprehensive study of the microstructure-property relationship in order to develop particle strengthened alloys with improved mechanical properties.