Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2022, Vol. 35 ›› Issue (4): 591-595.DOI: 10.1007/s40195-021-01265-7

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Redistribution of C and N Atoms in High Nitrogen Martensitic Stainless Steel During Cryogenic Treatment

Xin Cai1,2, Xiaoqiang Hu2(), Leigang Zheng2, Dianzhong Li2   

  1. 1University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
    2Shenyang National Laboratory for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China
  • Received:2021-03-20 Revised:2021-04-13 Accepted:2021-04-25 Online:2021-06-15 Published:2021-06-15
  • Contact: Xiaoqiang Hu
  • About author:Xiaoqiang Hu, xqhu@imr.ac.cn

Abstract:

The redistribution of C and N atoms during cryogenic treatment is crucial for the microstructure evolution and properties of high nitrogen martensitic steel. Here, the distinct redistribution behavior of C and N atoms in a martensitic stainless steel with 0.3 wt% C and 0.5 wt% N after cryogenic treatment were investigated by the atom probe tomography. Carbon clusters begin to form after cryogenic treatment at - 60 °C and gradually increase with the decrease of cryogenic treatment temperature. While Mo-N and Cr-N pairs are homogeneously distributed in the matrix even after cryogenic treatment at -120 °C, and then form enrichment phenomenon when the cryogenic temperature is deeply lowered to - 190 °C. It is found that the distinct redistributions of C and N atoms are associated with the different interaction energy between substitutional atoms and them. The stronger interaction between Cr, Mo atoms and N delays the segregation of N during the cryogenic treatment. Finally, the mechanical properties results confirmed that the deep lower cryogenic treatment is a promising method to improve the hardness and strength in the high nitrogen martensitic stainless steel.

Key words: Interstitial atom, Cryogenic treatment, Martensitic stainless steel, Atom probe tomography