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Resolving the Morphology of Niobium Carbonitride Nano-Precipitates in Steel Using Atom Probe Tomography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2014

Andrew J. Breen ,
Kelvin Y. Xie ,
Michael P. Moody ,
Baptiste Gault ,
Hung-Wei Yen ,
Christopher C. Wong ,
Julie M. Cairney  and
Simon P. Ringer
Andrew J. Breen
Affiliation:
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia The Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Kelvin Y. Xie
Affiliation:
School of Mechanical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218-2682, USA
Michael P. Moody
Affiliation:
Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, OX13PH, Oxford, UK
Baptiste Gault
Affiliation:
Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Parks Road, OX13PH, Oxford, UK
Hung-Wei Yen
Affiliation:
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia The Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Christopher C. Wong
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Julie M. Cairney*
Affiliation:
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia The Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
Simon P. Ringer
Affiliation:
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia The Australian Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
*
*Corresponding author. [email protected]
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Abstract

Atom probe is a powerful technique for studying the composition of nano-precipitates, but their morphology within the reconstructed data is distorted due to the so-called local magnification effect. A new technique has been developed to mitigate this limitation by characterizing the distribution of the surrounding matrix atoms, rather than those contained within the nano-precipitates themselves. A comprehensive chemical analysis enables further information on size and chemistry to be obtained. The method enables new insight into the morphology and chemistry of niobium carbonitride nano-precipitates within ferrite for a series of Nb-microalloyed ultra-thin cast strip steels. The results are supported by complementary high-resolution transmission electron microscopy.

Keywords

HSLA steelatom probe tomographyniobiumprecipitationclusteringlocal magnification effects
Type
FEMMS Special Issue
Information
Microscopy and Microanalysis , Volume 20 , Issue 4 , August 2014 , pp. 1100 - 1110
Copyright
© Microscopy Society of America 2014 

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