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The Aging and Tempering of Iron-Nickel-Carbon Martensites

  • Symposium on Tempering of Steel
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Abstract

The aging and tempering of freshly quenched (Ms > RT) and virgin (Ms < RT) martensites with lath and plate morphologies in Fe-Ni-C alloys have been studied to obtain kinetic and structural information. At subambient temperatures, the first change is attributed to isothermal conversion of a small amount of retained austenite or to slight relaxations in the martensite, but this is not a significant part of the martensite aging process. Aging above −40 °C to about 70 °C is accompanied by the diffusion-controlled clustering of carbon atoms, resulting in an increase in electrical resistivity proportional to the carbon content but independent of the martensitic morphology. This regime is followed above 100 °C by the precipitation of ε-carbide (i.e., the conventional first stage of tempering), which may emerge directly from the carbon-rich clusters. At still higher temperatures, cementite forms separately (i.e., the conventional third stage of tempering) in competition with the ε-carbide. These two precipitation processes overlap, and their kinetics appear to be controlled by iron-atom diffusion away from the growing carbide particles along dislocation paths. No evidence was found in this investigation for a regime reflecting carbon migration to dislocations or other defects, but this possibility is not ruled out by the experimental methods employed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ford Motor Company, 48121, Dearborn, MI

    A. M. Sherman (Principal Research Scientist Associate)

  2. Climax Molybdenum Company, 48106, Ann Arbor, MI

    G. T. Eldis (Research Manager)

  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 02139, Cambridge, MA

    MORRIS Cohen (Institute Professor Emeritus)

Authors
  1. A. M. Sherman
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  2. G. T. Eldis
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  3. MORRIS Cohen
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Additional information

This paper is based on a presentation made at the “Peter G. Winchell Symposium on Tempering of Steel” held at the Louisville Meeting of The Metallurgical Society of AIME, October 12-13, 1981, under the sponsorship of the TMS-AIME Ferrous Metallurgy and Heat Treatment Committees.

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Sherman, A.M., Eldis, G.T. & Cohen, M. The Aging and Tempering of Iron-Nickel-Carbon Martensites. Metall Trans A 14, 995–1005 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02659847

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