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Lesson 12

L12

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6 views

Lesson 12

L12

Uploaded by

nkgowenaruto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 20

CCB 211/CCB 231

Materials Science for Engineers

Lesson 12:
Dispersion Strengthening by Phase
Transformations & Heat Treatment

Instructor: Prof K. N. Nwaigwe, PhD

1
Expected Learning Outcomes
 Develop the expression for total free energy
change during a solid-state phase
transformation.
 Describe the kinetics of nucleation and growth
during a solid-state phase transformation.
 Design an age-hardening treatment for an
appropriate alloy.

2
Nucleation & Growth in Solid-State Reactions
 Nucleation:
 Heterogeneous nucleation of a precipitate occurs
most easily on surfaces already present in the
structure, i.e. grain boundaries and defects

 Growth:
 Precipitate growth occurs mainly by long-range
diffusion and redistribution of atoms
 In most cases, the controlling factor is the
diffusion step

3
Nucleation & Growth in Solid-State Reactions

 Kinetics:
 Overall rate (‘kinetics’) of a transformation depends on
both nucleation & growth
 Transformation time depends on initial concentration &
temperature
 Avrami equation relates the transformed fraction to
time

f = 1 − exp ( −ct n )
 where c and n are constants for a particular temperature.

 Effect of Temperature:
 Rate of phase transformation often depends on the
undercooling.
 Temperature increase has opposite effects on growth
rate and nucleation rates, both of which influence
overall rate of transformation
4
Nucleation & Growth in Solid-State Reactions

5
Alloys Strengthened by Exceeding Solubility
Limit

 Alloys can be dispersion-strengthened after the


solubility limit is exceeded (Lesson 11)

 Widmanstätten Structure:
 The second phase may precipitate out in certain
planes & directions parallel to preferred planes &
directions.
 This basket-weave pattern is called the
Widmanstätten structure
 Such structures permit faster growth rates, lower
ductility, and good fracture toughness.

© 2016 Cengage Learning Engineering. All Rights Reserved. 6


Alloys Strengthened by Exceeding Solubility
Limit

 Interfacial Energy Relationships:


 When precipitates form at an interface/boundary,
their shape is influenced by the interfacial energy
of the boundary.
 Precipitate shape is determined by the dihedral
angle between matrix-precipitate interfaces
 m,gb = 2 mp cos ( / 2 )

7
Alloys Strengthened by Exceeding Solubility
Limit

 Coherent Precipitate:
 In coherent precipitates, the precipitate’s crystal
planes are related to/continuous with the crystal
planes of the matrix.
 This helps block more dislocations

8
Age/Precipitation Hardening &
Applications

 Age/precipitation hardening is produced by a


sequence of phase transformations that leads to
a uniform dispersion of nanoscale precipitates in
a more ductile matrix.
 It is used to increase yield strengths of many
alloys via simple heat treatments.
 Aluminum, Nickel superalloys, and Titanium alloys
are age hardened for use in many applications
 A disadvantage is that age-hardened alloys can be
used over a limited temperature range. At high
temperature the precipitates begin to grow and
eventually dissolve

9
Microstructural Evolution in Age Hardening

 There are 3 steps in the age-hardening heat


treatment.

10
Microstructural Evolution in Age Hardening

 Step 1: Solution Treatment


 Alloy is heated above solvus temperature until a
homogeneous solid solution is produced, with no
phases or microchemical segregation

 Step 2: Quench
 Solid solution is rapidly cooled (‘quenched’), so atoms
cannot diffuse to nucleation sites. This forms a
nonequilibrium super-saturated solid solution

 Step 3: Age
 The solution is heated at a temperature below solvus
temperature (‘aging temperature’).
 The second phase precipitates out
 Eventually a 2 phase equilibrium may be formed
11
Microstructural Evolution in Age Hardening

 Nonequilibrium Precipitates during Aging:


 During aging of many alloys, a continuous series
of precursor precipitates forms as intermediates.
 These nonequilibrium precipitates are coherent
precipitates.
 Alloy strength increases with time as these
intermediate coherent precipitates are produced.
This is the aged state of the alloy
 Alloy strength begins to decrease when
noncoherent equilibrium precipitate is produced.
At this point the alloy is over-aged.

12
Effects of Aging Temperature & Time

 Properties of age-hardenable alloys depend both


on aging temperature & time.
 Using lower temperature and higher aging times
leads to increased maximum strength, which is
also maintained over a longer time.
 The properties are also more uniform if aging
proceeds slowly.
 Some alloys can age at room temperature
(‘natural aging’). It requires long times, but peak
strength is higher and there is no over-aging

13
Effects of Aging Temperature & Time

14
Requirements for Age Hardening

 Not all alloys can be age hardened. 4 conditions


must be met:
 Alloy system must have decreasing solubility with
decreasing temperature
 Matrix should be soft and ductile, and precipitate
hard and brittle
 The alloy must be quenchable
 A coherent precipitate must form

 Many important alloys meet these conditions,


such as those of Ni, Cu, Al, Mg, Fe, Cr and Ti.

15
Use of Age-Hardenable Alloys at High Temperatures

 We cannot use age-hardenable alloys at


temperatures which enable overaging or at which
the second phase redissolves in matrix.

 There are also issues with welding age-hardened


alloys.
 In the heat affected zone (HAZ), the area closest
to the welding beam loses all age hardening, while
the areas slightly further away overage,
weakening the welded region.

16
Use of Age-Hardenable Alloys at High Temperatures

17
Summary
 Solid-state transformations have a profound effect
on a material’s structure & properties, and can be
controlled by proper heat treatments.

 These heat treatments are designed to provide an


optimum distribution of 2 or more phases in the
microstructure.

 Dispersion strengthening permits a wide variety of


structures & properties to be obtained.

18
Summary
 Such transformations require both nucleation &
growth of new phases from original structure.
 Understanding phase transformation kinetics helps
design heat treatments for desired microstructure.
 Appropriate phase diagrams help us select necessary
compositions and temperature.

 Age/precipitation hardening is a powerful method


for controlling optimum dispersion strengthening in
alloys.

19
Summary
 In age hardening, a very fine widely dispersed
coherent precipitate is formed via heat treatment
that includes:
 Solution treating to produce single-phase solid
solution
 Quenching to retain that phase
 Aging to permit a precipitate to form

 For age hardening to occur, the phase diagram


must show decreasing solubility of solute in
solvent as temperature decreases.

20

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