Effect of Ni and Mn on the formation of Cu precipitates in α-Fe

Decomposition in bcc Fe-Cu-Ni and Fe-Cu-Mn alloys is studied using statistical thermodynamics simulations with ab initio effective interactions. It is demonstrated that magnetic state strongly affects the effective interactions in these systems, substantially increasing phase separation tendency with magnetization. Simulations show that Ni is promoting precipitation of Cu by segregating to the precipitate matrix interface, while Mn produces almost no effect distributing more homogeneously in the system. The obtained distributions of Ni and Mn are in good agreement with experimental data. (C) 2015 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.