This article summarizes findings from our previous investigations and
recent studies concerning precipitation in a maraging steel of type
13Cr-9Ni-2Mo-2Cu (at.%) with small additions of Ti (1 at.%) and Al (0.7
at.%). The material was investigated after aging at 475°C up to 400
h using both conventional and three-dimensional atom-probe analyses.
The process of phase decomposition in the steel proved to be
complicated. It consisted of precipitation of several phases with
different chemistry. A Cu-rich phase was first to precipitate and Mo
was last in the precipitation sequence. The influence of the complex
precipitation path on the material properties is discussed. The
investigation clearly demonstrated the usefulness of the applied
techniques for investigation of nanoscale precipitation. It is also
shown that, complementary methods (such as TEM and EFTEM) giving
structural and chemical information on a larger scale must be applied
to explain the good properties of the steel after prolonged aging.