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A giant Zn segregation transition is revealed using CALPHAD-integrated density-based modeling of segregation into Fe grain boundaries (GBs). The results show that above a threshold of only a few atomic percent Zn in the alloy, a substantial amount of up to 60 at.% Zn can segregate to the GB. We found that the amount of segregation abruptly increases with decreasing temperature, while the Zn content in the alloy required for triggering the segregation transition decreases. Direct evidence of the Zn segregation transition is obtained using high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy. Base on the model, we trace the origin of the segregation transition back to the low cohesive energy of Zn and a miscibility gap in Fe-Zn GB, arising from the magnetic ordering effect, which is confirmed by ab-initio calculations. We also show that the massive Zn segregation resulting from the segregation transition greatly assists with liquid wetting and reduces the work of separation along the GB. The current predictions suggest that control over Zn segregation, by both alloy design and optimizing the galvanization and welding processes, may offer preventive strategies against liquid metal embrittlement.
Liquid-metal embrittlement (LME) of galvanized (Zn-coated) advanced high-strength steels is a long-known problem in materials science. Here we reveal the initial microstructural processes underneath the Zn-coating that lead to LME-microcrack initiation in the steel substrate. We track the microstructural evolution during the first tens of milliseconds and find pronounced signatures of Fe-Zn intermetallic precipitation in both ferrite grain boundaries and at internal ferrite-oxide phase boundaries. In concert with novel CALPHAD-integrated density-based thermodynamic modelling, we demonstrate that Zn-rich intermetallic phase-nucleation can occur at markedly low processing temperatures due to a segregation transition. We show that a small Znenrichment caused by Zn bulk-diffusion during the initial temperature rise in a joining process is sufficient to induce the segregation transition and subsequent nucleation of Fe-Zn intermetallic grain-boundary phases, which the experiments link to crack initiation sites. These findings direct focus onto LME-controlling microstructural and thermodynamic phenomena at temperatures below the ductility trough and the austenite formation temperature.
The plastic deformation results in irreversible microstructure changes in the steel, which can be considered as the initial stage of the fracture process. However, detecting, monitoring and evaluating, damage states and small defects non-destructively in advance still proves challenging. It was reported in literature the phenomenon of the spontaneous emergence of weak magnetic fields in structural steels and pipelines, which originates due to heterogeneous mechanical and / or thermal stresses. This observation is not associated with induced phase transformations by deformation and appears to be a promising tool for the prior characterization of damage in ferromagnetic steels. To provide a better understanding of the physical bases of the process, the magnetic microstructure of such materials and the change of magnetic domains after undergoing plastic deformation were studied. For this purpose, a colloidal solution with paramagnetic particles in the nanometer scale (ferrofluid) was used, through the Bitter technique, in order to, not only observe a change in size of the magnetic domains of the material, but also changes in their morphology. Ferritic steels with different carbon contents (0.08%; 0.22% and 0.45%) were studied in this work.
The plastic deformation results in irreversible microstructure changes in the steel, which can be considered as the initial stage of the fracture process. However, detecting, monitoring and evaluating, damage states and small defects non-destructively in advance still proves challenging. Dubov reported the phenomenon of the spontaneous emergence of weak magnetic fields in ferritic structural steel and pipelines, which originate due to heterogeneous mechanical and / or thermal stresses. This observation is not associated with induced phase transformations by deformation and appears to be a promising tool for the prior characterization of damage in ferromagnetic steels. To provide a better understanding of the physical bases of the process, the magnetic microstructure of such materials and a change of magnetic domains after undergoing plastic deformation were studied. A colloidal solution with paramagnetic particles in the nanometer range (ferrofluid), which allowed, through the Bitter technique, not only to observe a change in size of the magnetic domains of the material, but also changes in their morphology. Ferritic steels with their concentrations of carbon in its composition (0.12%; 0.17% and 0.45%) were studied in this work.