Coarsening of nanoscale (Ti,Mo)C precipitates in different ferritic matrixes

Coarsening of nanoscale (Ti,Mo)C precipitates within quasi-polygonal ferritic (QPF) matrix and polygonal ferritic (PF) matrix is studied via HRTEM and In-situ heating TEM. Influenced by different nucleation processes, inverse coarsening process showing dissolution of large clustered precipitates and growth of small interphase precipitates is directly observed in the PF matrix. However, due to the evolution of high-density subboundaries, coarsening of precipitates in QPF matrix is mainly characterized by the subboundary migration assisted coarsening process, during which arch-like coarsened precipitates form after the sweeping of subboundaries. Analysis of atomic structure clarify that “imposts” of the arch-like coarsened precipitates are established by the re-precipitation of solute atoms from movable subboundary to the close packed planes {111} of (Ti,Mo)C precipitates, and that the “key stones” are constructed due to the change of re-precipitation planes to {200}. Geometric phase analysis (GPA) illustrates that not only the change of re-precipitation direction during the formation of arch-like precipitates, but also the selective coarsening of clustered precipitates in PF matrix, is caused by the highly anisotropic strain field around (Ti,Mo)C precipitates.