The effect of interstitial elements on the ductile-brittle transition behavior of austenitic Fe-18Cr-10Mn-2Ni alloys with different nitrogen and carbon contents was investigated in this study. All the alloys exhibited ductile-brittle transition behavior because of unusual low-temperature brittle fracture, even though they have a faced-centered cubic structure. With the same interstitial content, the combined addition of nitrogen and carbon, compared to the sole addition of nitrogen, improved the low-temperature toughness and thus decreased the ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) because this combined addition effectively enhances the metallic component of the interatomic bonds and is accompanied by good plasticity and toughness due to the increased free electron concentration. The increase in carbon content or of the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, however, could increase the DBTT since either of these causes the occurrence of intergranular fracture that lead to the deterioration of the toughness at low temperatures. The secondary ion mass spectroscopy analysis results for the observation of carbon and nitrogen distributions confirms that the carbon and nitrogen atoms were significantly segregated to the austenite grain boundaries and then caused grain boundary embrittlement. In order to successfully develop austenitic Fe-Cr-Mn alloys for low-temperature application, therefore, more systematic study is required to determine the optimum content and ratio of carbon and nitrogen in terms of free electron concentration and grain boundary embrittlement.

The influence of Cu and Ni on the ductile-brittle transition behavior of metastable austenitic Fe-18Cr-10Mn-N alloys with N contents below 0.5 wt.% was investigated in terms of austenite stability and microstructure. All the metastable austenitic Fe-18Cr-10Mn-N alloys exhibited a ductile-brittle transition behavior by unusual low-temperature brittle fracture, irrespective of Cu and/or Ni addition, and deformation-induced martensitic transformation occasionally occurred during Charpy impact testing at lower temperatures due to reduced austenite stability resulting from insufficient N content. The formation of deformation-induced martensite substantially increased the ductile-brittle transition temperature(DBTT) by deteriorating low-temperature toughness because the martensite was more brittle than the parent austenite phase beyond the energy absorbed during transformation, and its volume fraction was too small. On the other hand, the Cu addition to the metastable austenitic Fe-18Cr-10Mn-N alloy increased DBTT because the presence of δ-ferrite had a negative effect on low-temperature toughness. However, the combined addition of Cu and Ni to the metastable austenitic Fe-18Cr-10Mn-N alloy decreased DBTT, compared to the sole addtion of Ni or Cu. This could be explained by the fact that the combined addition of Cu and Ni largely enhanced austenite stability, and suppressed the formation of deformation-induced martensite and δ-ferrite in conjunction with the beneficial effect of Cu which may increase stacking fault energy, so that it allows cross-slip to occur and thus reduces the planarity of the deformation mechanism.

Fe-Ni-Cr 합금의 용융염 부식거동을 650~850˚C 온도범위에서 조사하였다. 용융염 LiCl에서 Cr을 포함하지 않는 KSA(Kaeri Superalloy)-1 합금은 Fe의 내부산화가 발생하고, Cr을 포함한 KSA-4, Incoloy 800H와 KSA-5는 LiCrO2의 치밀한 보호막이 형성되었다. 혼합용융염 LiCl-LiO2O에서 KSA-1은 Fe의 내부산화, KSA-4는 Cr의 내부산화가 발생하였고, Cr 농도가 높은 Incoloy 800H와 KSA-5는 LiCrO2의 다공성 피 이 형성되었다. 혼합용융염 LiCl-Li2O 에서는 Cr 농도의 증가에 따라 부식속도가 증가하였으며, 부식속도는 시간의존선을 8%Cr 이하의 합금에서는 포물선법칙, 8%Cr 이상의 합금에서는 직선법칙을 나타내었다. 이러한 현상은 Li2O에 의한 보호성 산화물 Cr2O3의 염기성 용해기구로 설명할 수 있다.