1973 Volume 59 Issue 3 Pages 454-468
The strength and ductility of two-phase iron alloys with a ductile second phase were studied. The alloys used in this investigation were classified in three groups, that is, Fe-Cr-Ni alloys composed of austenite and ferrite, Fe-Ni-C alloys composed of austenite and martensite, and Fe-C alloys composed of ferrite and martensite; these phases had various volume fractions.
The main results obtained are as follows:
(1) In case of Fe-Cr-Ni alloys having different volume fractions of phases, when the same heat treatment was given, the better combination of strength and elongation was obtained in two-phase alloys than in single-phase alloys of austenite or ferrite. The main cause of this behavior was the difference in grain size. The coarsening of grains in two-phase alloys was much slower than that in single-phase alloys.
(2) The effects of grain size on strength were shown by Petch type relations even in two-phase alloys as well as in single phase ones.
(3) The effect of the volume fraction of phases on tensile properties with nearly the same grain size depended on the difference between the tensile properties of the second phase and the matrix. As the ratio of the 0.2% proof stress of the second phase to that of the matrix became larger than about 3, the relationb etween 0.2% proof stress and the volume fraction became to deviate from a linear relationship; this is known as the law of mixture. This may be caused by the difference of strains in the second phase and the matrix which becomes larger with an increase of the ratio.
