Furnace for in situ and simultaneous studies of nano-precipitates and phase transformations in steels by SANS and neutron diffraction.

Interphase precipitation occurring during solid-state phase transformations in micro-alloyed steels is generally studied through transmission electron microscopy, atom probe tomography, and ex situ measurements of Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS). The advantage of SANS over the other two characterization techniques is that SANS allows for the quantitative determination of size distribution, volume fraction, and number density of a statistically significant number of precipitates within the resulting matrix at room temperature. However, the performance of ex situ SANS measurements alone does not provide information regarding the probable correlation between interphase precipitation and phase transformations.