We present a novel alloy design strategy for cost-efficient high modulus steels with an increased stiffness / mass density ratio. The concept is based on the liquid metallurgy synthesis of Fe – Cr – B based alloys, straightforward processability, and well tuneable mechanical properties via plain heat treatments. The base alloy Fe – 18 Cr – 1.6 B (wt%) contained 14–17 vol% of (Cr,Fe)₂B particles of ellipsoidal morphology in a ferritic matrix. Hot rolled materials revealed a specific modulus of 32.8 GPa g⁻¹ cm³, exceeding that of conventional Fe-Cr steels by almost 30%. Mechanical properties obtained are comparable to TiB₂ based high modulus steels. Addition of 1 wt% Cu to the base alloy did not interact with the formation, fraction, size and morphology of (Cr,Fe)₂B particles, and allowed to mildly increase the strength values by ageing treatments, however at the price of a reduction of the specific modulus. C additions of 0.2 wt% did not affect the (Cr,Fe)₂B particle microstructure greatly, but free C dissolved in the matrix enables for the first time to utilize the wide range of microstructures and mechanical properties of established C-containing high strength steels also in high modulus steels.

我们提出了一种具有成本效益的高模量钢，具有增加的刚度/质量密度比的新型合金设计策略。该概念基于Fe-Cr-B基合金的液相冶金合成，直接的可加工性以及通过普通热处理而具有良好可调节的机械性能。基本合金Fe – 18 Cr – 1.6 B（wt％）在铁素体基体中包含14–17 vol％的椭圆形的（Cr，Fe）₂ B颗粒。热轧材料的比模量为32.8 GPa g ^-1 cm ³，比传统的Fe-Cr钢高约30％。获得的机械性能与TiB ₂相当基高模量钢。向基础合金中添加1 wt％的Cu不会与（Cr，Fe）₂ B颗粒的形成，分数，尺寸和形态发生相互作用，并且允许通过时效处理温和地提高强度值，但是价格是1％。降低比模量。添加0.2 wt％的C不会显着影响（Cr，Fe）₂ B颗粒的微观结构，但是溶解在基质中的游离C能够首次利用广泛的微观结构和已建立的含C高强度的机械性能。高模量钢中也使用这种钢。