Tailoring precipitation behavior of carbonitrides in high manganese-aluminum steels via microalloying elements

The growing demand for lightweight materials to enhance fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions has intensified research into high manganese-aluminum steels, which combine exceptional ductility, reduced density, and cost efficiency. This study examines how microalloying elements (titanium, rare...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Erkang Liu, Wentao Wu, Youliang Zhao, Xin Tan, Shuxu Nie, Qingzhi Yan, Min Xia, Hongyan Guo, Manchao He, Changchun Ge
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Journal of Materials Research and Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2238785425010579
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The growing demand for lightweight materials to enhance fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions has intensified research into high manganese-aluminum steels, which combine exceptional ductility, reduced density, and cost efficiency. This study examines how microalloying elements (titanium, rare earth, and nickel) modify the precipitation behavior of carbonitrides in these steels. Through FESEM/EDS characterization and thermodynamic simulations using FactSage 8.1, we demonstrate that microalloying additions diversify carbonitride phases from initial AlN, Mn(S,Se)–AlN, and Al2O3–Mn(S,Se)–AlN formations into six distinct types, including Ti(C,N) and its composite variants. Specifically, microalloying lowers solidus/liquidus temperatures, enabling more uniform nucleation and finer precipitate formation. Titanium preferentially combines with carbon and nitrogen, replacing detrimental AlN inclusions with refined Ti(C,N) particles. Rare earth elements optimize carbonitride size and distribution by controlling elemental diffusion during solidification, while nickel mitigates titanium segregation to enhance nucleation uniformity. These insights establish practical strategies for tailoring carbonitride precipitation in industrial manufacturing processes, effectively connecting fundamental research with the production of high-performance, high-manganese-aluminum steels.
ISSN:2238-7854