Internal friction evidence for the carbides-formation in the high Co–Ni martensite steel during heat treatment

Xian Yu Li; Gang Ling Hao; Tao Li Gao; Wei Guo Wang; Dan Wang; Zhao Hui Zhang; Xing Wang Cheng; Le Wang

doi:10.1038/s41598-025-93709-8

Internal friction evidence for the carbides-formation in the high Co–Ni martensite steel during heat treatment

Xian Yu Li^*, Gang Ling Hao, Tao Li Gao, Wei Guo Wang, Dan Wang, Zhao Hui Zhang, Xing Wang Cheng, Le Wang^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Material Science and Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The internal friction (IF) behaviors, combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD), dilatometry, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the cryogenic treated and tempered M54 steel were systematically investigated. In IF-temperature curves, the peak P₁ was proved to be a Snoek-Ke-Koester (SKK) relaxation peak associated with interstitial carbon atoms in martensite matrix according to its activation energy. The peak P₂ and P₃ were attributed to reverse martensite transformation and martensite transformation, respectively, during the thermal cycle. Based on the analysis results of IF, XRD and TEM, M₂C precipitation indeed occurred during tempering, leading to final ultra-high strength and hardness of the aged M54 steel.

Original language	English
Article number	9616
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	15
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93709-8
Publication status	Published - Dec 2025

Keywords

Internal friction
M54 steel
MC carbides
Microstructure
Phase transformation

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10.1038/s41598-025-93709-8

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title = "Internal friction evidence for the carbides-formation in the high Co–Ni martensite steel during heat treatment",

abstract = "The internal friction (IF) behaviors, combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD), dilatometry, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the cryogenic treated and tempered M54 steel were systematically investigated. In IF-temperature curves, the peak P1 was proved to be a Snoek-Ke-Koester (SKK) relaxation peak associated with interstitial carbon atoms in martensite matrix according to its activation energy. The peak P2 and P3 were attributed to reverse martensite transformation and martensite transformation, respectively, during the thermal cycle. Based on the analysis results of IF, XRD and TEM, M2C precipitation indeed occurred during tempering, leading to final ultra-high strength and hardness of the aged M54 steel.",

keywords = "Internal friction, M54 steel, MC carbides, Microstructure, Phase transformation",

author = "Li, {Xian Yu} and Hao, {Gang Ling} and Gao, {Tao Li} and Wang, {Wei Guo} and Dan Wang and Zhang, {Zhao Hui} and Cheng, {Xing Wang} and Le Wang",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1038/s41598-025-93709-8",

language = "English",

volume = "15",

journal = "Scientific Reports",

issn = "2045-2322",

publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Internal friction evidence for the carbides-formation in the high Co–Ni martensite steel during heat treatment

AU - Li, Xian Yu

AU - Hao, Gang Ling

AU - Gao, Tao Li

AU - Wang, Wei Guo

AU - Wang, Dan

AU - Zhang, Zhao Hui

AU - Cheng, Xing Wang

AU - Wang, Le

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - The internal friction (IF) behaviors, combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD), dilatometry, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the cryogenic treated and tempered M54 steel were systematically investigated. In IF-temperature curves, the peak P1 was proved to be a Snoek-Ke-Koester (SKK) relaxation peak associated with interstitial carbon atoms in martensite matrix according to its activation energy. The peak P2 and P3 were attributed to reverse martensite transformation and martensite transformation, respectively, during the thermal cycle. Based on the analysis results of IF, XRD and TEM, M2C precipitation indeed occurred during tempering, leading to final ultra-high strength and hardness of the aged M54 steel.

AB - The internal friction (IF) behaviors, combined with X-ray diffraction (XRD), dilatometry, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis of the cryogenic treated and tempered M54 steel were systematically investigated. In IF-temperature curves, the peak P1 was proved to be a Snoek-Ke-Koester (SKK) relaxation peak associated with interstitial carbon atoms in martensite matrix according to its activation energy. The peak P2 and P3 were attributed to reverse martensite transformation and martensite transformation, respectively, during the thermal cycle. Based on the analysis results of IF, XRD and TEM, M2C precipitation indeed occurred during tempering, leading to final ultra-high strength and hardness of the aged M54 steel.

KW - Internal friction

KW - M54 steel

KW - MC carbides

KW - Microstructure

KW - Phase transformation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105000521812&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-025-93709-8

DO - 10.1038/s41598-025-93709-8

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105000521812

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 15

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

IS - 1

M1 - 9616

ER -

Internal friction evidence for the carbides-formation in the high Co–Ni martensite steel during heat treatment

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Keywords

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