Precipitation kinetics during aging of an alumina-forming austenitic stainless steel

The microstructural evolution of DAFA26, an alumina-forming austenitic (AFA) stainless steel, was investigated during aging. The effect of aging at 750 °C and 800 °C on the growth of spherical γ'-Ni3(Al, Ti) particles present in the as-processed state was studied extensively using X-ray diffraction, microhardness testing, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atom probe tomography. The γ' particles had a cube-on-cube orientation relationship with the matrix (i.e. ((010)m//(010)p, [100]m//[100]p)). The coarsening kinetics of γ'-Ni3Al particles were in agreement with the Lifshitz, Slyozof-Wagner theory. Coarse Laves phase particles were also present in the as-processed state, and during the aging process both smaller Laves phase precipitates and B2-NiAl precipitates formed on both the grain boundaries and in the matrix. The γ' precipitates were determined to have the most impact on the room temperature hardness.