A high-strength silicide phase in a stainless steel alloy designed for wear-resistant applications

Autor: Bowden, D., Krysiak, Y., Palatinus, L., Tsivoulas, D., Plana-Ruiz, S., Sarakinou, E., Kolb, U., Stewart, D., Preuss, M.
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Communications, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2018)
'Nature Communications ', vol: 9, pages: 1374-1-1374-10 (2018)
ISSN: 2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03875-9
Popis: Hardfacing alloys provide strong, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant coatings for extreme environments such as those within nuclear reactors. Here, we report an ultra-high-strength Fe–Cr–Ni silicide phase, named π-ferrosilicide, within a hardfacing Fe-based alloy. Electron diffraction tomography has allowed the determination of the atomic structure of this phase. Nanohardness testing indicates that the π-ferrosilicide phase is up to 2.5 times harder than the surrounding austenite and ferrite phases. The compressive strength of the π-ferrosilicide phase is exceptionally high and does not yield despite loading in excess of 1.6 GPa. Such a high-strength silicide phase could not only provide a new type of strong, wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant Fe-based coating, replacing more costly and hazardous Co-based alloys for nuclear applications, but also lead to the development of a new class of high-performance silicide-strengthened stainless steels, no longer reliant on carbon for strengthening.
Databáze: OpenAIRE