Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb Addition

This study investigates the effect of niobium (Nb) addition on the microstructure and mechanical behavior particularly impact toughness of 300-grade maraging steel. Two novel Nb-modified alloys were developed: one with partial substitution of titanium (Ti) by Nb (0.64 wt.%), and another with complet...

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Main Authors: Gerardo Jesus Aracena Pérez, Angelo José Zimmermann, Isabel Ferreira Barros, Marcos Natan da Silva Lima, Edipo Silva, Luís Flávio Gaspar Herculano, Daniel Pallos Fridman, Alexandre Bellegard Farina, Miloslav Béreš, Mohammad Masoumi, Hamilton Ferreira Gomes de Abreu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais (ABM); Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica (ABC); Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol) 2025-06-01
Series:Materials Research
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Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-14392025000200231&lng=en&tlng=en
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author Gerardo Jesus Aracena Pérez
Angelo José Zimmermann
Isabel Ferreira Barros
Marcos Natan da Silva Lima
Edipo Silva
Luís Flávio Gaspar Herculano
Daniel Pallos Fridman
Alexandre Bellegard Farina
Miloslav Béreš
Mohammad Masoumi
Hamilton Ferreira Gomes de Abreu
author_facet Gerardo Jesus Aracena Pérez
Angelo José Zimmermann
Isabel Ferreira Barros
Marcos Natan da Silva Lima
Edipo Silva
Luís Flávio Gaspar Herculano
Daniel Pallos Fridman
Alexandre Bellegard Farina
Miloslav Béreš
Mohammad Masoumi
Hamilton Ferreira Gomes de Abreu
author_sort Gerardo Jesus Aracena Pérez
collection DOAJ
description This study investigates the effect of niobium (Nb) addition on the microstructure and mechanical behavior particularly impact toughness of 300-grade maraging steel. Two novel Nb-modified alloys were developed: one with partial substitution of titanium (Ti) by Nb (0.64 wt.%), and another with complete substitution (1.4 wt.% Nb), based on a 1:2 Ti-to-Nb weight ratio. These were compared to a conventional 18Ni300 maraging steel. Thermodynamic and kinetic simulations using Thermo-Calc® and JMatPro® guided the alloy design, revealing that Nb addition favors the formation of Ni3Nb and Laves phases and delays precipitation kinetics compared to Ni3Ti. Microstructural characterization (XRD, SEM, EBSD) confirmed martensite refinement and reduced prior austenite grain size (PAGS) with increasing Nb content. Mechanical testing showed that the partially Nb-modified alloy exhibited the highest impact toughness, reaching 14.4 J, while maintaining a yield strength of 1.61 GPa and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1.68 GPa. The fully Nb-substituted alloy achieved 13.4 J of impact toughness and recovered high strength levels (YS: 1.78 GPa, UTS: 1.83 GPa) comparable to commercial grades.
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language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Associação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais (ABM); Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica (ABC); Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol)
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spelling doaj-art-2f4e457543d742319643eaa71099c0972025-08-20T02:08:40ZengAssociação Brasileira de Metalurgia e Materiais (ABM); Associação Brasileira de Cerâmica (ABC); Associação Brasileira de Polímeros (ABPol)Materials Research1516-14392025-06-0128suppl 110.1590/1980-5373-mr-2025-0221Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb AdditionGerardo Jesus Aracena Pérezhttps://orcid.org/0009-0001-3616-6817Angelo José ZimmermannIsabel Ferreira BarrosMarcos Natan da Silva Limahttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6530-4898Edipo SilvaLuís Flávio Gaspar HerculanoDaniel Pallos Fridmanhttps://orcid.org/0009-0008-6808-0322Alexandre Bellegard FarinaMiloslav Bérešhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-0678-8460Mohammad Masoumihttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4365-6734Hamilton Ferreira Gomes de AbreuThis study investigates the effect of niobium (Nb) addition on the microstructure and mechanical behavior particularly impact toughness of 300-grade maraging steel. Two novel Nb-modified alloys were developed: one with partial substitution of titanium (Ti) by Nb (0.64 wt.%), and another with complete substitution (1.4 wt.% Nb), based on a 1:2 Ti-to-Nb weight ratio. These were compared to a conventional 18Ni300 maraging steel. Thermodynamic and kinetic simulations using Thermo-Calc® and JMatPro® guided the alloy design, revealing that Nb addition favors the formation of Ni3Nb and Laves phases and delays precipitation kinetics compared to Ni3Ti. Microstructural characterization (XRD, SEM, EBSD) confirmed martensite refinement and reduced prior austenite grain size (PAGS) with increasing Nb content. Mechanical testing showed that the partially Nb-modified alloy exhibited the highest impact toughness, reaching 14.4 J, while maintaining a yield strength of 1.61 GPa and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 1.68 GPa. The fully Nb-substituted alloy achieved 13.4 J of impact toughness and recovered high strength levels (YS: 1.78 GPa, UTS: 1.83 GPa) comparable to commercial grades.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-14392025000200231&lng=en&tlng=enMaraging SteelNb additionEBSDToughness
spellingShingle Gerardo Jesus Aracena Pérez
Angelo José Zimmermann
Isabel Ferreira Barros
Marcos Natan da Silva Lima
Edipo Silva
Luís Flávio Gaspar Herculano
Daniel Pallos Fridman
Alexandre Bellegard Farina
Miloslav Béreš
Mohammad Masoumi
Hamilton Ferreira Gomes de Abreu
Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb Addition
Materials Research
Maraging Steel
Nb addition
EBSD
Toughness
title Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb Addition
title_full Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb Addition
title_fullStr Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb Addition
title_full_unstemmed Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb Addition
title_short Increase in Toughness of 300-Grade Maraging Steel with Nb Addition
title_sort increase in toughness of 300 grade maraging steel with nb addition
topic Maraging Steel
Nb addition
EBSD
Toughness
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1516-14392025000200231&lng=en&tlng=en
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