Murano heating stage used in the characterization of advanced high strength steel

Gatan instruments 

The Murano™ heating stage, a compact stage specifically designed for use with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), allows high-resolution in-situ observation of dynamic changes within a sample. The experiment utilized the Nordlys detector from Oxford Instruments.

Background

Automotive industries are always seeking to develop materials that offer the combined advantages of being lightweight, having a high strength, and extended ductility. Advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) present one of the most promising group of materials that allow a high volume, low-cost production of sheet steel with an ultra-high strength that is unmatched by other engineering materials. A limitation during development is that AHSS have a relatively high yield strength due to the precipitation of nano-sized carbides or carbon nitride (V, Nb, Ti) during the austenite to ferrite transformation, and therefore offer only moderate formability. The addition of Mo can refine these precipitates, although characterization of the transformation kinetics is complete. The Murano heating stage was used to better understand the role of Mo during the steel forming process.