Correlation of Fe/Cr phase decomposition process and age-hardening in Fe-15Cr ferritic alloys

The effects of thermal aging on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe-15Cr ferritic model alloys were investigated by TEM examinations, micro-hardness measurements and tensile tests. The materials used in this work were Fe-15Cr, Fe-15Cr-C and Fe-15Cr-X alloys, where X refers to Si, Mn and Ni to simulate a pressure vessel steel. Specimens were isothermally aged at 475 °C up to 5000 h. Thermal aging causes a significant increase in the hardness and strength. An almost twice larger hardening is required for embrittlement of Fe-15Cr-X relative to Fe-15Cr. The age-hardening is mainly due to the formation of Cr-rich α′ precipitates, while the addition of minor elements has a small effect on the saturation level of age-hardening. The correlation of phase decomposition process and age-hardening in Fe-15Cr alloy was interpreted by dispersion strengthened models.