Magnetic Field-Induced Precipitation Behaviors of Alloy Carbides M₂C, M₃C, and M₆C in a Molybdenum-Containing Steel

The effect of a 12-T high magnetic field on alloy carbide precipitation in an Fe-C-Mo alloy during tempering at an intermediate temperature was investigated. Thin foils and carbon extraction replicas of the treated specimens were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results show that the applied high field effectively promoted the precipitation of (Fe,Mo)₆C alloy carbide. The concentration of Fe atom in Fe_6−x Mo _x C carbide is increased whereas that of Mo atom decreased when the high magnetic field was applied. However, the high magnetic field almost had no detectable influence on the atom concentration in (Fe,Mo)₂C and (Fe,Mo)₃C carbides. First principle calculations have been performed to calculate the magnetic moment per iron atom of the carbides to explore the origin of the effect of the magnetic field. The influence of the high magnetic field on the precipitation behaviors of alloy carbides was closely related to the magnetic moment of (Fe,Mo)₂C, (Fe,Mo)₃C, and (Fe,Mo)₆C. The magnetic field promotes the formation of the carbides with high total magnetic moment. The effect of the high magnetic field on the substitutional solute atom (Fe and Mo) concentration change in the three alloy carbides was attributed to their magnetization differences per Fe atom.