The age-hardening behaviours in Fe-Pt-Mn martensitic alloys which are expected from the previous researches in the age-hardenable Fe-Ni-Mn alloys have been ascertained experimentally in this study.
The results obtained in this study are summarized as follows:
(1) A prominent age-hardening response in the Fe-Pt-Mn martensitic alloys is observed and the strain hardening due to the formation of the coherent zone (probably PtMn β phase) in the matrix will be a major factor of age-hardening as in the case of Fe-Ni-Mn alloys.
(2) Comparing the Fe-Pt-Mn alloys with the Fe-Ni-Mn alloys, the following characteristics are found which are attributable to the prominent hardening response in the former alloys. (i) Because the affinity with the solute atoms Pt and Mn in the Fe-Pt-Mn alloys is stronger than that with Ni and Mn in the Fe-Ni-Mn alloys, the former alloy system has an extended miscibility gap island and a more excessive supersaturation of solute atoms in martensite, thus increasing the precipitated zone. And the
bcc PtMn ordered phase and the
bcc NiMn ordered phase can be considered as the coherent precipitated zone in both alloy systems respectively. In both precipitated zones, the shearing resistance by the dislocation may depend on the binding affinity in each zone. (ii) Because the lattice strain due to solid solution of Pt and Mn atoms in the Fe matrix is greater than that of Ni and Mn atoms, it can be expected that the strain-hardening response increases in the Fe-Pt-Mn alloys when the precipitation of the coherent zone occurs.
(3) The
fct PtMnβ
1 phase having a CuAu type ordered structure is observed on the over-aged stages in Fe-Pt-Mn alloys. This β
1 phase can also be found in a state of coexisting with ferrite after slow cooling from the austenite region and precipitates from austenite at about 680°C with an exothermic change and an expansion in length.
(4) It may be concluded that in the ternary iron-base martensitic alloys which are composed of a binary alloy system having the
bcc phase (containing a CsCl type compound) in 50-50 atomic pct composition and iron, such as Fe-Mn-Pd, Fe-Ni-Zn and Fe-Ni-Pd alloys, an age-hardening response can be expected in a similar way to the Fe-Pt-Mn alloy due to the same hardening mechanism.
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