[pt] A presente tese tem como objetivo estudar as reações descontínuas que ocorreram nos contornos de grão (CG) sob condições de envelhecimento a altas temperaturas e identificar as fases que precipitam em função do tempo em uma liga de alto teor de Cr e Ni – Liga 33, tendo em vista o efeito destas transformações nas potenciais aplicações em indústrias de alto desempenho. Amostras na condição como recebida foram submetidas a tratamentos isotérmicos de envelhecimento a 700 graus C, 800 graus C e 900 graus C. Ênfase foi dada ao estudo do envelhecimento a 800 graus C em intervalos de tempo entre 10 minutos e 100 horas com o objetivo de promover fenômenos de precipitação nos modos convencional e descontínua. A caracterização microestrutural foi realizada por microscopia óptica (MO), microscopia eletrônica de varredura (MEV) analítica por espectroscopia por dispersão de energia de raios-X (XEDS), difração de elétrons retroespalhados (EBSD) e microscopia eletrônica de transmissão (MET) no modo convencional, utilizando contraste de difração, e no modo analítico (STEM/XEDS). Resultados obtidos por STEM/XEDS e difração de elétrons mostraram que a transformação descontínua, pela partição de solutos, gera colônias de precipitação descontínua (PD) concomitante à migração do CG e resulta na precipitação de cinco diferentes fases dentro de uma mesma colônia de PD: (1) carbeto-M(23)C(6) rico em Cr com estrutura CFC; (2) fase-eta enriquecida em Si com estrutura cúbica-diamante; (3) fase alfa rica em Cr com estrutura CCC; (4) fase intermetálica sigma com estrutura tetragonal e (5) nitreto-M(2)N rico em Cr com estrutura hexagonal. Em geral, as colônias de PD na Liga 33 evoluem no envelhecimento seguindo a sequência, a saber: nos estágios iniciais do processo ocorre precipitação intergranular (carbeto-M(23)C(6) e fase-eta) no CG original; com o aumento no tempo de envelhecimento, os contornos migraram alimentados pela difusão de soluto num processo conhecido como DIGM (diffusion-induced grain boundary migration), enquanto precipitados da fase alfa-Cr nuclearam adjacente ao CG e cresceram com morfologia lamelar acompanhando a migração do contorno, desenvolvendo, assim, as colônias de PD. Eventualmente, a fase-eta também precipita no interior da colônia e na frente de reação. Nos estágios finais do processo de crescimento das colônias de PD ocorre a formação da fase-sigma na frente de reação da PD e, posteriormente, a formação do nitreto-M(2)N na frente de reação e dentro da colônia. Foi verificado que a reação de PD é controlada, primeiramente, pela difusão de CG do Cr e, com o tempo de reação pela difusão de volume do Cr, o que resultou em um crescimento no estado não-estacionário da reação. Além da ocorrência de cinco fases precipitadas dentro da mesma colônia, outra característica marcante da reação de PD na Liga 33 refere-se à consistente evidência que a fase inicialmente precipitada nos CG (carbeto-M(23)C(6) é diferente da fase precipitado com morfologia lamelar (fase alfa-Cr) dentro da colônia. Tal observação constitui a primeira evidência para o fenômeno de PD envolvendo colônias multi-fases em materiais multicomponentes estruturais. / [en] This thesis aims at study the discontinuous reactions taking place at grain boundaries (GB) under high-temperature aging conditions and to identify the precipitated phases as a function of the time in a Cr-Fe-Ni alloy - Alloy 33, in view of the deleterious effect of these transformations on potential applications of this alloy in high-performance industries. Samples in the as-received condition were submitted to isothermal aging treatments at 700 C degrees, 800 C degrees and 900 C degrees. Emphasis was given to the study of aging at 800 C degrees in time intervals between 10 minutes and 100 hours in order to promote precipitation phenomena in the conventional and discontinuous modes. The microstructural characterization was carried out by light optical microscopy (LOM), analytical scanning electron microscopy (SEM) by X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) under conventional mode using diffraction contrast and analytical mode (STEM/XEDS). Results obtained by STEM/XEDS and electron diffraction revealed that the discontinuous transformation, by solutes partitioning, generates discontinuous precipitation (DP) colonies concomitant with GB migration and results in the precipitation of five different phases within a single DP colony: (1) Cr-rich M(23)C(6)-carbide with FCC structure, (2) Si-enriched eta-phase with diamond-cubic structure, (3) Cr-rich alpha-phase with BCC structure, (4) intermetallic sigma-phase with tetragonal structure, and (5) Cr-rich M(2)N-nitride with hexagonal structure. In summary, DP colonies in Alloy 33 upon aging at 800 C degrees evolve according the following the sequence: in the initial stages of the process intergranular precipitation (M(23)C(6)-carbide and n-phase) occurs at original GB; with the increase in aging time, the boundaries migrated fed by solute atoms in a process known as diffusion-induced grain boundary migration (DIGM), whereas alpha-Cr phase precipitates have nucleated adjacent to the GB and grew with lamellar morphology accompanying the migration of the boundary thereby developing the DP colonies. Eventually, the n-phase also precipitates both within the colony and at the DP reaction-front. Over the final stages of the DP colonies growth process occurs the nucleation and growth of the sigma-phase at the GB reaction-front and, later, M(2)N-nitride precipitates also at the reaction-front and within the DP colony. It was verified that the DP reaction growth is controlled, initially by GB diffusion of Cr and, with the progress of reaction time by the volume diffusion of the Cr, which resulted in a non-steady state growth process. In addition to the occurrence of five precipitated phases within the same colony, another striking feature of the DP reaction in Alloy 33 refers to the consistent evidence that the phase initially precipitated at original GB position (M(23)C(6)-carbide) is different from the precipitated phase with lamellar morphology (alpha-Cr phase) within the colony. This observation constitutes the first evidence for the DP phenomenon resulting in multi-phase DP colonies in multicomponent structural materials.

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La corrosion sous contrainte (CSC) des alliages à base nickel est un des principaux phénomènes de dégradation des composants du circuit primaire des Réacteurs à Eau Pressurisée (REP). La compréhension de ce mécanisme de fissuration est un élément essentiel pour la prolongation de la durée d’exploitation des réacteurs.Des études antérieures ont permis d’établir un modèle de propagation de la CSC basé sur une oxydation sélective et dissymétrique du joint de grains en pointe de fissure qui s’accompagne d’une zone appauvrie en chrome. La cinétique de diffusion du chrome étant plus lente que celle de l’oxygène, il est supposé que la diffusion du chrome est une étape limitante de la propagation de la fissure. Si ces observations ont été validées dans la littérature, les hypothèses proposées sur l’origine de l’appauvrissement en chrome dans le grain sont encore sujettes à discussion. Comme la diffusion du chrome en volume dans les alliages base nickel à 350°C ne permet pas d’expliquer les ordres de grandeur des appauvrissements en chrome mesurés dans la littérature, il est supposé qu’il existerait un élément accélérateur de la diffusion du chrome dans l’alliage en pointe de fissure. Ainsi, deux hypothèses sont proposées dans ces travaux : la diffusion du chrome accélérée sous l’effet de la plasticité et la migration des joints de grains induite par la diffusion.L’objectif principal de la thèse a été de confronter les deux hypothèses énoncées au moyen d’essais expérimentaux et de modélisation afin de déterminer le mécanisme de formation de la zone appauvrie en chrome et d’identifier les paramètres favorisant cet appauvrissement.A cet effet, des essais de diffusion sous charge ont été réalisés dans le but d’étudier l’effet de la déformation plastique sur la diffusion du chrome. Les résultats ont permis d’établir une relation entre le coefficient de diffusion et la vitesse de déformation. Ainsi, une accélération de la diffusion en volume de l’ordre de 106 est observée à 350°C sous l’effet de plasticité. De même, des traitements thermiques visant à mettre en évidence la migration des joints de grains induite par la diffusion (DIGM) sont présentés dans ces travaux. Les caractérisations chimiques et microstructurales montrent que la DIGM est bien associée à la formation d’une zone appauvrie en chrome observée dans le sillage du joint de grains migrant. Pour finir, une discussion est proposée afin de relier ces hypothèses au modèle de propagation de la CSC. / Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) of nickel base alloys is one of the major degradation phenomena in the primary circuit of Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). Understanding the SCC mechanism is a key issue for the extension of reactor lifetime.A SCC model based on a selective and asymmetrical oxidation of the grain boundary ahead of the crack tip has been proposed in previous studies. Adjacent to this oxide, a chromium-depleted area is observed exclusively in one of the two grains adjacent to the grain boundary. As oxygen transport is found to be faster than chromium diffusion in the alloy, the latter is assumed to be the rate-limiting step of crack propagation. Nevertheless, the mechanism responsible for chromium depletion is still under debate. Indeed, the lattice and the grain boundary diffusion coefficients of chromium in nickel-based alloys at 350°C are not high enough to explain the chromium depletion magnitudes measured in the literature. Accordingly, factors accelerating chromium diffusion in the alloy ahead of the SCC crack tip should exist. Thus, two assumptions have been proposed in this work: plasticity-enhanced chromium diffusion and diffusion-induced grain boundary migration (DIGM).The aim of this study is to confront these two assumptions by combining both experiments and modeling in order to explain chromium depleted areas observed at the SCC crack tip.Thus, diffusion tests under loading were performed in order to study the effect of plastic deformation on chromium diffusion. Plasticity-enhanced diffusion is evidenced. A relationship between the diffusion coefficient and strain rate has been established leading to a 106-fold increase of the diffusion coefficient at 350°C. In addition, thermal treatments and oxidation tests have shown that diffusion-induced grain boundary migration occurs in Ni-Cr alloys. DIGM leads to dissymmetric Cr-depleted areas, observed in the wake of the moving grain boundary.