Internal friction and Mössbauer study of C-Cr associates in MANET steel

Internal friction and Moessbauer techniques have been used to investigate the structure of C{endash}Cr associates and the arrangement of Fe atoms near them in the Cr martensitic steel MANET subjected to different thermal treatments. After slow rate cooling from the austenitic field, the Moessbauer spectra exhibit, besides the complex magnetic pattern of martensite, a low intensity single attributed to the presence of a Cr-rich b.c.c. phase. In correspondence, the internal friction curves show, among others, a Snoek-type peak due to an elastic processes involving C{endash}Cr associates with 6 Cr atoms. To explain the experimental results a simple structure model is suggested. {copyright} {ital 1997 Materials Research Society.}