Part XI - Papers - Internal Friction in 18 Pct Ni Maraging Steels

Internal-friction measurements were made during isothermal aging treatments of 18 pct Ni maraging-steel wires between 420° and 612°C. A sharp initial drop in the internal-friction level was interpreted in terms of a rapid dislocation recovery reaction. The rate of the recovery was found to be independent of temperature. Truncation of the recovery reaction was apparent in those systems that exhibited the rapid age-hardening characteristics of the maraging steels. It is proposed that this initial hardening response is the result of a low activation energy preprecipitation reaction involving molybdenum. A gradual rise in the internal-friction level at longer aging times was associated with the precipitation of a molybdenum-containing precipitate. CONSIDERABLE research effort has recently been devoted to the mechanisms responsible for the high strength and toughness of 18 pct Ni maraging steels. These bcc martensitic alloys are found to harden during aging at temperatures between 400° and 600°C. The aging response is very rapid with more than half the total hardness increase occurring within the first few minutes of aging, Fig. 1. Precipitate particles have been observed in the later stages of aging by a number of investigators.'-' While the identity of the precipitates remains the subject of some controversy, one or more of the intermetallic compounds, Ni3Mo, Ni3Ti, and Fe2Mo, are almost certainly involved. Heterogeneous nucleation of precipitates at dislocations has been noted8 and cobalt is believed to enhance the formation of fine, homogeneously distributed particles by lowering the solubility of the alloying elements in the martensitic matrix.3,7 Transmission electron microscopy studies of the initial hardening behavior have not been fruitful. Strengthening mechanisms based on atomic ordering have not been generally supported by X-ray and neutron-diffraction experiments.9 In the present investigation, the aging reaction was studied using isothermal-aging internal-friction measurements. The marked sensitivity of internal friction to short-range diffusion and precipitation processes has provided a convenient tool for the elucidation of the strengthening mechanisms operative in the maraging steels. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE An upright torsion pendulum was used to measure the internal friction of several maraging steels during isothermal aging. The pendulum was placed in an atmosphere of helium at a pressure slightly less than atmospheric. To permit measurement of internal friction during the first minutes of aging, the specimens were rapidly heated by passing a current through them in a manner similar to that described by Ang and Wert.10 Thermal gradients in the specimen were largely eliminated by using specially designed specimen grips11 which produced temperature variations of less than 1 pct over 90 pct of the specimen length and less than 3 pct over the entire length at aging temperatures up to 620°C. A proportioning strip-chart program controller was employed to maintain constant specimen temperature during treatments of up to 36 hr duration. A number of vacuum-melted laboratory heats having compositions near that of a typical commercial 18Ni-7Co-5Mo-0.4Ti alloy were investigated. The amount of cobalt was varied from 0 to 7 wt pct in five of the heats. Either molybdenum or titanium was omitted in the remaining two heats. The alloy desig-