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Interface Segregation and Nitrogen Measurement in Fe–Mn–N Steel by Atom Probe Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2017

Brian Langelier ,
Hugo P. Van Landeghem Open the ORCID record for Hugo P. Van Landeghem [Opens in a new window] ,
Gianluigi A. Botton  and
Hatem S. Zurob
Brian Langelier*
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, ON, Canada
Hugo P. Van Landeghem
Affiliation:
SIMaP, UMR 5622, Grenoble INP – CNRS – UGA, 1130 rue de la piscine, BP75, F-38420 St Martin d’Hères, France
Gianluigi A. Botton
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W., Hamilton, ON, Canada
Hatem S. Zurob
Affiliation:
SIMaP, UMR 5622, Grenoble INP – CNRS – UGA, 1130 rue de la piscine, BP75, F-38420 St Martin d’Hères, France
*
*Corresponding author. langelb@mcmaster.ca
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Abstract

Improved understanding of the interactions between solutes and the austenite/ferrite interface can benefit modeling of ferrite growth during austenite decomposition, as the transformation kinetic is significantly affected by solutes that influence interface mobility. Solute-interface interactions dominate solute segregation at the interface in binary systems, but in multi-component alloys, solute–solute interactions may also affect segregation. In this study, interface segregation in Fe–Mn–N is examined and compared with Fe–Mn–C, to reveal the extent to which C affects the segregation of Mn. Atom probe tomography (APT) is well-suited to analyze solute concentrations across the interface, as this technique combines high spatial resolution and compositional sensitivity. Measurements of Mn show that segregation is only observed for Fe–Mn–C. This demonstrates that Mn segregation is primarily driven by an affinity for C, which also segregates to the interface. However, the measurement of N in steels by APT may be affected by a variety of experimental factors. Therefore, in verifying the Fe–Mn–N result, systematic examination is conducted on the influence of pulsing method (voltage versus laser), sample preparation (ion milling versus electropolishing), and vacuum storage on the measured N concentration. Both laser pulsing and focused ion beam sample preparation are observed to decrease the apparent N concentration.

Keywords

atom probe tomographyinterface segregationnitrogen quantificationmartensitesteel
Type
Materials Science (Metals)
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 23 , Special Issue 2: Atom Probe Tomography & Microscopy 2016 , April 2017 , pp. 385 - 395
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2017 

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