Spatial fractal characteristic of spinodal decomposition in Fe-Cr-Ni duplex stainless steel
- City Univ. of Hong Kong (Hong Kong). Dept. of Physics and Materials Science
- Zhongshan Univ., Guangzhou (China). Dept. of Physics
Owing to the extensive use of duplex stainless steels in areas like chemical and petrochemical industries, considerable interest has arisen concerning the thermal degradation of these materials during service, and the consequent changes on the mechanical properties. The embrittlement of these steels is basically due to the decomposition of the ferrite phase at elevated temperatures, and duplex steels are seldom used at temperatures above 300 C. Although the microstructure of spinodal decomposition has been studied extensively using atom probe, it is interesting to investigate the development of fractal characteristics in the microstructure during spinodal decomposition. In this paper the authors present part of their recent results in this aspect on a duplex stainless steel. The {alpha} and {alpha}{prime} domains evolved from the primary ferrite phase during spinodal decomposition have different morphologies. The {alpha} (Fe-rich) forms the matrix while the {alpha}{prime} (Cr-rich) domains are developed in the form of discrete regions embedded within the {alpha} matrix. The distribution of these domains follows the fractal-growth characteristics with fractal dimensions ranging from 0.1 to 0.2. In addition, there exists a lower critical dimension beyond which the self-similarity of the domains breaks down.
- OSTI ID:
- 529528
- Journal Information:
- Scripta Materialia, Journal Name: Scripta Materialia Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 37; ISSN 1359-6462; ISSN SCMAF7
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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