Abstract
Advancing magnetic field-assisted processing, as an energy-efficient method for tailoring steel microstructures, requires a thorough understanding of how the high magnetic field impacts microstructural evolution, particularly its effect on prior austenite grain structures. The current investigation of a near-eutectoid composition, Fe-C alloy, uses electron backscatter diffraction to examine the morphology and orientation of martensite and pearlite microstructures, and to reconstruct the parent austenite microstructures present during equivalent heating under varied magnetic field strengths (0-T, 2-T, 5-T, and 9-T). It was observed that the magnetic field has a negligible effect on martensite lath/block width, slightly decreases prior austenite grain size, and increases the fraction of austenite grains with annealing twins. Additionally, the magnetic field increases the phase fraction of proeutectoid ferrite but has a negligible effect on pearlite block size and the distribution of boundary misorientation angles. No preferred texture was induced by the magnetic field, regardless of the applied field direction, in the proeutectoid ferrite phase or the martensite and prior austenite microstructures. The observed results contradict previous literature, and the differences are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2862-2874 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | JOM |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 2025 |
Funding
This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization Office (IEDO) award number DE-EE0009131. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Department of Energy of the United States Government or any agency thereof. The initial construction of the TMP system and the associated facility at the University of Florida were supported by the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL or MagLab) funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) cooperative agreement DMR-1644779 and the State of Florida. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Michael Bates and Jared Lee for their essential role in constructing of the TMP system at the University of Florida. The authors would also like to thank Zhongwei Li and Ramon Padin-Monroig for their assistance with sample fabrication and UF TMP system operations. Finally, the authors acknowledge the use of the Major Analytical Instrumentation Center (MAIC) and Nanoscale Research Facility (NRF) at the University of Florida.