“…It is a strong Lavesphase former [23] and in combined alloying with tungsten, for improved solid solution strengthening, and silicon to accelerate nucleation [24][25][26][27][28], forms a thermodynamically stable (Fe,Cr,Si)2(Nb,W)-Laves phase [16,29,30]. With Nb being a strong carbonitride former it is necessary to restrict C and N to a minimum (< 0.01 wt.-%), because even small contents of these species may decrease the amount of Nb available [28,[31][32][33] for Laves phase precipitation. Furthermore, primary TiN particles may act as nucleation sites of niobium consuming Nb(C, N) [34,35], which may additionally affect the formation and stability of the desired Laves phase particles in a negative way.…”