High temperature deformation of Laves phase precipitates in alumina-forming austenitic stainless steels

Laves phases with the C14 type structure are present in recently-developed, alumina-forming austenitic (AFA) stainless steels. Here, for the first time, we show the Laves phase undergoes plastic deformation when such AFA steels are deformed at 700 °C at strain rate of 5 × 10−4 s−1. The gliding dislocations in the Laves phase leave behind stacking faults that we have analyzed using transmission electron microscopy. The stacking faults are on the basal plane of the Laves phase and are bounded by 1/3 〈1 0 1¯ 0〉 partial dislocations. These slip of dislocations are effective plastic deformation and improve the ductility of AFA materials.