The Study of Nanosized Cu-Mn Precipitates Contribution to Hardening in Bcc Fe Matrix

In order to study the contribution of Mn atoms in Cu precipitates to hardening in bcc Fe matrix, the interactions of a (111){110} edge dislocations with nanosized Cu and Cu-Mn precipitates in bcc Fe have been investigated by using of molecular dynamics. The results indicate that the critical resolved shear stresses (τ_c) of the Cu-Mn precipitates are larger than that of Cu precipitates. Meanwhile, τ_c of the Cu-Mn precipitates show a much more significant dependence on temperature and size, compared to Cu precipitates. Mn atoms exhibit strong attractive interaction with <111> crowdion and improve the fraction of transformed atoms from body centred cubic (bcc) phase to face centred cubic (fcc) phase for big size precipitates. Those all lead to the higher resistance to the dislocation glide. The increasing temperature can assist the Cu atoms rearrange back towards a bcc structure, resulting in the rapid decline of τ_c. Similar to Cu precipitate, Cu-Mn precipitate with equator planes on the dislocation glide plane is proved to be the strongest obstacle. Eventually, these features are confirmed that the appearance of Mn atoms in Cu precipitates greatly facilitates the hardening in bcc Fe matrix.