Rhenium in carbon steel. Non heat environ. 1

[Greenleader]

Would you benefit from the addition of rhenium in medium carbon steel, other than the obvious high heat environs?

Rhenium is a very interesting transition metal, with some very good qualities. Thanks.

 

[CoryPad]

I don't see it being very useful. It does not form carbides, so it wouldn't help with hardness like tungsten or molybdenum. It does have twice the elastic modulus of iron, but it dissolves in iron (no phase diagram in ASM Handbook) so the elastic modulus effect would only be useful if it were a separate phase, which would require large concentration, which would increase mass density of the alloy. Probably a dead end.

Regards,

Cory

Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[metengr]

FYI;
You might want to review the article below;

Titre du document / Document title
The existence of intragranular ferrite plates and nucleating inclusions in the heat affected zone of X-60 pipe steel
Auteur(s) / Author(s)
GUO CHANG JIANG (1) ; YU RU ZHU (1) ; SHU QIANG GUO (1) ; XU J. (1) ; YUE QIANG WANG (2) ; LI YING PAN (2) ; DI WEI YU (2) ;
Affiliation(s) du ou des auteurs / Author(s) Affiliation(s)
(1) Shanghai Enhanced Laboratory of Ferrometallurgy, Shanghai University, CHINE
(2) Bao Shan Iron & Steel Corporation, CHINE

Résumé / Abstract
In order to improve the heat affected zone (HAZ) toughness of X-60 pipe steel, we have applied intragranular ferrite plate (IFP) technology. The characteristic of IFP is the appearance of fine ferrite plates inside the original austenite grains. By means of suitable Re, Zr and Ti additions at high initial oxygen potentials, and good control of the peak temperature and the cooling rate during welding simulation, one can obtain IFP contents over 50 vol% with a resultant increase in the toughness from 55-160 J. It was found that the inclusions that were most effective in nucleating the IFP were deformable complex silicates which either entrap Re, Zr and Ti oxides or contain these elements. The greater the number of the evenly distributed and effectively nucleating inclusions, the greater the IFP content, and the finer the microstructure of the HAZ, and the greater the relevant toughness. Generally, these silicates behave as fine spheres along a line. The present authors show that these fine spheres result from the remelting of the shuttle-like silicates due to heating in the process of welding simulation. These silicates contain a high sulfur capacity and thus MnS deposits are often observed on the periphery of the silicates. The IFP was shown to be directly rooted in the Mn depletion zone which is located beside the MnS deposits.
Revue / Journal Title
Journal of materials science (J. mater. sci.) ISSN 0022-2461 CODEN JMTSAS
Source / Source
1997, vol. 32, no11, pp. 2985-2989 (5 ref.)

 

[Greenleader]

Thanks for the paper.
I had in mind columbium, (niobium), as grain refiner to make the most of the Re. Thoughts?? Thanks, Arvel.