Initial aging Phenomenon before the Precipitation of Laves Phase in Fe-10%Cr Alloys

The precipitation process of Laves phase during aging at 873K was investigated in Fe-10%Cr ferritic alloys containing 2 to 5%Mo and 0 to 2%Si.A small hardening peak at the early aging stage was observed before the considerable hardening due to the precipitation of the bulky Laves phase.By TEM (transmission electron microscope) observation, this small hardening peak is attributed to the precipitation of very small disk like precipitates which are formed on the {100} planes of matrix phase and have coherent strain to the matrix.