KINETICS OF PRECIPITATION AND DISSOLUTION IN MODEL FeCV AND FeCVNb ALLOY, AND A MICROALLOYED ULTRA HIGH STRENGTH SPRING STEEL
Résumé
Precipitation kinetics were studied in two model alloys and an industrial spring steel. A combination of selected techniques was used to follow the evolution of precipitates volume fraction and size distribution during austenitisation (FeVC and FeNbVC). This was then modelled, first using a simple model based on the classical nucleation theory and diffusion controlled growth and second with the help of a more complex software developped by one of the authors (MatCalc). A good agreement is obtained when comparing calculations and experimental results obtained on the model alloys. This is less so for the industrial alloy, where dissolution kinetics appear to be faster than expected.