Interface dominated cooperative nanoprecipitation in interstitial alloys.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 30275470.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-018-06474-w and PMC identifier 6167330.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Steels belong to one of the best established materials, however, the mechanisms of various phase transformations down to the nano length scale are still not fully clear. In this work, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy is combined with atomistic simulations to study the nanoscale carbide precipitation in a Fe-Cr-C alloy. We identify a cooperative growth mechanism that connects host lattice reconstruction and interstitial segregation at the growing interface front, which leads to a preferential growth of cementite (Fe<sub>3</sub>C) nanoprecipitates along a particular direction. This insight significantly improves our understanding of the mechanisms of nanoscale precipitation in interstitial alloys, and paves the way for engineering nanostructures to enhance the mechanical performance of alloys.