THE INFLUENCE OF MO ON THE FORMATION OF THE SIGMA-PHASE IN FE-CR ALLOYS

The presence of the sigma-phase in Fe-Cr alloys (eg. Stainless steel) is important in industrial applications and from an academic point of view. The presence of the sigma-phase in these alloys drastically affe cts their mechanical properties and their resistance to various corros ive media In the present investigation Fe-Cr alloys containing differe nt amounts of Mo were prepared and the transformation to the sigma-pha se was carried out by isothermally annealing the samples for various p eriods in an argon atmosphere. It will be shown that the presence of M o has a dramatic accelerating effect on the rate of the sigma-phase fo rmation in these alloys.