Application of Photons and Neutrons for the Characterization and Development of Advanced Steels

Abstract

Following the request of tailor-made high-performance properties, it is essential for the development of modern steels to gain detailed knowledge on all aspects of their intrinsic structure and the evolution of their microstructural constituents, especially precipitates, during processing and heat treatments. In this work, a short review is given on how synchrotron radiation and neutrons have been used by our group to study the microstructure of advanced steels in the last years. Special emphasis is laid on the measurement details, the employed equipment and the developments herein. Additionally, the drawn conclusions on the microstructural development of the investigated alloys are highlighted and possible ways to combine the described scattering techniques with complementary experimental methods are pointed out.