CARBIDE FORMATION IN AUSTEMPERED DUCTILE IRON ALLOYED WITH NICKEL AND COPPER

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Phase transformation theory: A powerful tool for the design of advanced steels

An innovative design procedure based on phase transformation theory alone has been successfully applied to design steels with a microstructure consisting of a mixture of bainitic ferrite, retained austenite, and some martensite. An increase in the amount of bainitic ferrite is needed in order to avoid the presence of large regions of untransformed austenite, which under stress decompose to brittle martensite. The design procedure addresses this diffi culty by adjusting the T′_o curve to greater carbon concentrations with the use of substitutional solutes such as manganese and chromium. The concepts of bainite transformation theory can be exploited even further to design steels with strength in excess of 2.5 GPa and considerable toughness.     

贝氏体-马氏体钢板的组织与性能

研究了贝氏体-马氏体耐磨钢板的组织及力学性能。结果表明，在低碳贝氏体钢基础上，通过加入一定量的硅元素，利用其在贝氏体组织转变过程中抑制碳化物析出的作用，得到由非等轴铁素体加马氏体和残留奥氏体(M-A)岛或由板条状铁素体及其板条间残留奥氏体(Ar)膜组成的贝氏体一马氏体组织，因此其性能既具有高强度、高硬度，又具有较高的低温冲击韧度。     

不同碳含量贝氏体合金钢等温淬火后的组织与性能

研究了3种碳含量(0.22C、0.34C、0.45C)的贝氏体钢在960℃奥氏体化+Ms点以上10～50℃等温淬火工艺下碳含量对贝氏体组织转变和力学性能的影响。结果表明,3种试验钢经过等温淬火处理后均获得由贝氏体铁素体和残留奥氏体相间分布组成的无碳化物贝氏体组织;随着碳含量的降低,贝氏体相变时间显著缩短,贝氏体铁素体板条变厚,硬度和抗拉强度呈下降趋势,但冲击性能显著提高,这主要是与低碳钢贝氏体转变温度更高,贝氏体铁素体板条粗大但高碳含量的大块状残留奥氏体减少有关。     

Effect of austempering time on mechanical properties of a low manganese austempered ductile iron

An investigation was carried out to examine the influence of austempering time on the resultant microstructure and the room-temperature mechanical properties of an unalloyed and low manganese ductile cast iron with initially ferritic as-cast structure. The effect of austempering time on the plane strain fracture toughness of this material was also studied. Compact tension and round cylindrical tensile specimens were prepared from unalloyed ductile cast iron with low manganese content and with a ferritic as-cast (solidified) structure. These specimens were then austempered in the upper (371 °C) and lower (260 °C) bainitic temperature ranges for different time periods, ranging from 30 min. to 4 h. Microstructural features such as type of bainite and the volume fraction of ferrite and austenite and its carbon content were evaluated by X-ray diffraction to examine the influence of microstructure on the mechanical properties and fracture toughness of this material. The results of the present investigation indicate that for this low manganese austempered ductile iron (ADI), upper ausferritic microstructures exhibit higher fracture toughness than lower ausferritic microstructures. Yield and tensile strength of the material was found to increase with an increase in austempering time in a lower bainitic temperature range, whereas in the upper bainitic temperature range, time has no significant effect on the mechanical properties. A retained austenite content between 30 to 35% was found to provide optimum fracture toughness. Fracture toughness was found to increase with the parameter (XγCγ/d)^1/2, where Xγ is the volume fraction of austenite, Cγ is the carbon content of the austenite, and d is the mean free path of dislocation motion in ferrite.     

等温淬火球铁组织与性能间的关系

本文研究了等温淬火球(ADI)的组织与性能之间的关系,热处理工艺对组织形态的影响。用贝氏体束间的残余奥氏体(A_(r-f))与大块的残余奥氏体(A_(r-b)的比值作为组织指标,发现当比值y=10左右时,等淬球铁有较佳的综合机械性能。降低等温温度可大大提高y值,使强度提高,但是由于残余奥氏体量也减少,从而对塑韧性不利,特别是残余奥氏体量小于25%,并出现下贝氏体后。块状残余奥氏体是非碳饱和的奥氏体,在一定条件下(温度、应力与应变),将发生非回火马氏体转变,导致脆性增加。等温淬火球铁在较佳的组织条件下,也有好的低温性能,残余奥氏体非常稳定。     

Study of the isothermal transformation of ductile iron with 0.5% Cu by electrical resistance measurement

A computer-controlled system for measuring electrical resistance has been developed and used to study the isothermal transformation of austenite in a ductile iron (3.31 % C, 3.12 % Si, 0.22 % Mn, 0.55 % Cu). The ability of the technique to follow the isothermal decomposition of austenite was established by measurements on an AISI4340 steel. The times at which the austenite decomposed to primary ferrite, pearlite, and bainite were accurately detected. In the ductile iron, the formation of pearlite and of bainite was easily detected, and an isothermal transformation diagram was constructed from the results. The temperature range for the formation of bainite is especially important in producing austempered ductile iron (ADI) and was mapped. An initial stage of decomposition of austenite to ferrite and high-carbon austenite is followed by a time delay; then the high-carbon austenite decomposes to bainite. The formation of ADI requires austempering to a structure of ferrite and high-carbon austenite, then quenching to retain this structure, thus avoiding the formation of bainite. This is achieved by isothermal transformation into the time-delay region. For the ductile iron studied here, this time region was about 2.6 h at 400 °C and increased to 277 h at 300 °C.     

Characteristics of the Transformation of Retained Austenite in Tempered Austempered Ductile Iron

Controlling the amount of retained austenite is a concern in austempered ductile iron formation. Retained austenite has a strong influence on austempered ductile iron properties, such as hardness and wear resistance. In this research, the characteristics of the transformation of retained austenite were investigated as a function of the number of tempering cycles. The hardness of the austempered ductile iron samples was measured, and the specific amount of retained austenite was analyzed by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Wear tests were conducted on a ball-on-flat sliding fixture. The tempering process was found to have no effect on the hardness of the austempered ductile iron samples. This may be due to retained austenite being partially converted into brittle quenched martensite during the tempering process. However, tougher tempered martensite was also formed from existing martensite. The two effects seemed to offset each other, and no significant differences occurred in overall hardness. XRD analysis showed that under the same austempering temperature and holding time, the amount of retained austenite decreased with additional tempering cycles. Also, with the same holding time and tempering cycles, less retained austenite was contained in the matrix at higher austempering temperatures. This was due to more high carbon content austenite and needle-like ferrite being present in the austempered ductile iron matrix. In addition, tempered austempered ductile iron exhibited significantly higher wear resistance as compared to traditionally treated ductile iron.     

预相变马氏体对超级贝氏体钢组织热稳定性的影响

为明确超级贝氏体组织失稳机制以及探索提高超级贝氏体钢中残余奥氏体热稳定性的方法,通过预相变马氏体工艺,即在等温贝氏体相变前引入预相变马氏体,制备了中碳超级贝氏体钢。对比分析了回火前后中碳超级贝氏体钢显微组织和力学性能的变化,研究了预相变马氏体对中碳超级贝氏体钢中贝氏体组织及残余奥氏体热稳定性的影响。结果表明:预相变马氏体的存在能够细化贝氏体铁素体板条,提高残余奥氏体含量和热稳定性。预相变马氏体的引入及其对超级贝氏体组织的细化作用使得试验钢的屈服强度超过1 000 MPa,伸长率大于20%;300~600 ℃回火1 h后,高碳薄膜状残余奥氏体首先发生分解,形成细小的碳化物,然后贝氏体铁素体板条发生回复和再结晶,形成沿原板条方向的铁素体晶粒;600 ℃回火后试验钢的屈服强度仍与回火前相当,主要是预相变马氏体周围的薄膜状残余奥氏体未发生明显分解,能够抑制相邻贝氏体铁素体板条的回复。     

奥氏体—贝氏体合金球铁磨球的研制与应用

研究了一种新型磨球材质———奥贝合金球铁，采用合金化和等温淬火处理，可以获得下贝氏体、残余奥氏体、少量马氏体基体组织的球铁。该材质的磨球在不同工况下装机考核。结果表明，其耐磨性明显优于低合金球铁和锻钢。它的推广应用具有显著的综合效益。     

等温处理工艺对等温淬火球铁显微组织和硬度的影响

上世纪70年代,通过奥氏体等温淬火开发出抗拉强度大于1000MPa、伸长率大于15％的高强度、高韧性等温淬火球铁。利用正交试验法,研究了等温淬火工艺参数对等温淬火球铁显微组织及硬度的影响。结果发现,在设计的试验工艺内全部可以得到以针状铁素体和富碳奥氏体为基体的等温淬火球铁组织;在等温淬火工艺中,等温淬火温度对试样硬度影响最为显著,其次是奥氏体化温度与奥氏体化时间,而等温淬火时间对于试样硬度的影响最小。     

Effect of Cu content on microstructures and mechanical properties of ADI treated by twostep austempering process

The effect of Cu content on the microstructures and mechanical properties(yield strength,ultimate tensile strength,impact energy,fracture toughness) of austempering ductile iron(ADI) treated by two-step austempering process were investigated. High Cu content in nodular cast irons leads to a significant volume fraction of retained austenite in the iron after austempering treatment,but the carbon content of austenite decreases with the increasing of Cu content. Moreover,austenitic stability reaches its maximum when the Cu content is 1.4% and then drops rapidly with further increase of Cu. The ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the ADI firstly increases and then decreases with increasing the Cu content. The elongation keeps constant at 6.5% as the Cu content increases from 0.2% to 1.4%,and then increases rapidly to 10.0% with further increase Cu content to 2.0%. Impact toughness is enhanced with Cu increasing at first,and reaches a maximum 122.9 J at 1.4% Cu,then decreases with the further increase of Cu. The fracture toughness of ADI shows a constant increase with the increase of Cu content. The influencing mechanism of Cu on austempered ductile iron(ADI) can be classified into two aspects. On the one hand,Cu dissolves into the matrix and functions as solid solution strengthening. On the other hand,Cu reduces solubility of C in austenite and contributes more stable retained austenite.     

Effect of Austempering–Partitioning on the Bainitic Transformation and Mechanical Properties of a High-Carbon Steel

The 1.1C–1.5Si–1.1Mn–1.4Cr–0.5Mo–0.6Al–0.6Co(in wt%) steel was treated, respectively, by isothermal austempering process and newly developed austempering–partitioning–tempering process(A–P–T). After austempering at250, 280 and 300 °C for 38, 20 and 10 h, respectively, the sample microstructures were composed of bainitic ferrite plates and film-like retained austenite with thicknesses between 60 and 150 nm. The highest tensile strength of 2003 MPa and hardness value of 53.9 HRC were obtained for the steel after austempering at 250 °C for 38 h, resulting from the combining effect of super-saturated martensite decarburization and stabilization of bainitic formation. After A–P–T treating(heated at 300 °C for 8 h following water cooling, and then heated at 300 °C for 2 h following air cooling),bamboo leaf-like martensite, primary and secondary bainites and retained austenite were observed. The thickness of the secondary bainitic ferrite plates formed during partitioning is much smaller than that of the primary bainite formed during300 °C austempering. Samples subjected to A–P–T treatment showed improvement in ductility compared to that subjected to austempering.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Austempered Medium-Carbon Spring Steel

Changes in microstructure and mechanical properties of medium-carbon spring steel during austempering were investigated. After austempering for 1 h at 290 °C or 330 °C, the bainite transformation stabilized austenite, and microstructure consisting of bainitic ferrite and austenite could be obtained after final cooling; the retained austenite fraction was smaller in the alloy austempered at 290 °C because carbon redistribution between bainitic ferrite and austenite slowed as the temperature decreased, and thereby gave persistent driving force for the bainite transformation. The products of tensile strength and reduction of area in the austempered alloy were much larger in the austempered steel than in quenched and tempered alloy, mainly because of significant increase in reduction of area in austempered alloy.     

Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of Bearing Steels Modified for Preparing Nanostructured Bainite

Mo containing high-C-Cr bearing steel was modified with Si (0.8–1.5 wt.%) and 0.8Si–1.0Al to prepare nanostructured bainite by low-temperature isothermal heat treatment. The modified steels were isothermal held at 220 to 240 °C after partial austenitization in an intercritical gamma+carbide region, and the resultant microstructure and mechanical properties were studied. Carbide-free nanostructured bainite with plate thickness below 100 nm and film retained austenite, as well as a small amount of undissolved carbide particles, was obtained in the modified steels except in 0.8Si steel, in which carbides precipitated in bainitic ferrite. As Si content increased, the mean thickness of bainitic ferrite plates modestly decreased, whereas the fraction of retained austenite markedly increased. The thickness of bainitic ferrite plate and the fraction of retained austenite in Si-Al-modified steel were smaller than those in Si-modified steels. The hardness and elongation of the Si-Al-modified steel were lower than those of Si-modified steels. The yield strength of Si-Al-modified steel was superior to that of Si-modified steels. Mid-level ultimate tensile strength and impact toughness were achieved in Si-Al-modified steel. For bearing applications, Si-modified steels could provide higher hardness and toughness but lower dimensional stability. Meanwhile, Si-Al-modified steel could offer higher dimensional stability but lower hardness and toughness.     

BAINITIC TRANSFOR MATION IN AUSTEM PERED DUCTILE IRON

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低温回火态新型贝氏体钢的组织性能

研究了回火工艺对新型低合金贝氏体钢组织和性能的影响,了解了该材料的回火特性.结果表明:正火和低于400℃回火后的组织由贝氏体、铁素体和残余奥氏体组成,具有较好的力学性能、回火抗性、良好的焊接性和机械加工性;在高于500℃回火后出现回火脆性,由新型贝氏体组织转变为典型贝氏体组织,其原因与回火过程中残余奥氏体和贝氏体铁素体的分解、碳化物析出有关.通过研究回火后的组织转变、残余奥氏体热稳定性、机械稳定性的变化,探讨了无碳贝氏体韧化及脆化机理,提出了适于该钢的最佳回火工艺.     

The Effect of Isothermal Heat Treatment Time on the Microstructure and Properties of 2.11% Al Austempered Ductile Iron

In this article, the bainitic transformation during austempering was studied for a 2.11% Al containing ductile iron under different isothermal holding times. The austenitizing time and temperature were selected to be 60 min and 920 °C, respectively, referring to previous studies. The isothermal austempering heat treatments were performed at 350 °C for different durations. Microstructures have been examined by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. Microstructural investigations revealed that austempering treatment at 350 °C for durations up to 100 min results in microstructures consisting of carbide-free bainitic ferrite with considerable amounts of retained austenite while the extension of isothermal transformation time leads to precipitation of carbides. Hardness measurements were also carried out the results of which were shown to be consistent with microstructural evolutions.     

Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of a Wear-Resistant As-Cast Alloyed Bainite Ductile Iron

An as-cast bainite ductile iron with excellent mechanical properties and wear resistance was fabricated by alloying and centrifugal casting method, and the alloyed chemical composition was optimized by using the thermodynamic software Thermo-Calc. By using optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction, the microstructure of the as-fabricated bainite ductile cast iron was characterized pertinent to the elements distribution in matrix and features of ferrite and retained austenite. The results of mechanical properties test show that the hardness and compressive strength of this alloyed ductile iron are 52 HRC and 2,200 MPa, respectively. The ascast bainite ductile iron possesses highly abrasive wear resistance and the reason can be ascribed to the solid solution of the elements Si, Ni, Cu, and Mn in the austenite and the formation of carbides of elements Cr and Mo. The strength of bainite ductile iron is increased by the acicular bainitic ferrite in the matrix.     

Austempering and austempered ductile iron microstructure in copper alloyed ductile iron

The variation in the austempered microstructure, the volume fraction of retained austenite, X_λ, the average carbon content of retained austenite, C_λ, their product X_λC_λ and the size of bainitic ferrite needles with austempering temperature for 0.6% Cu alloyed ductile iron have been investigated for three austempering temperatures of 270, 330, and 380 °C for 60 min at each temperature after austenitization at 850 °C for 120 min. The austempering temperature not only affects the morphology of bainitic ferrite but also that of retained austenite. There is an increase in the amount of retained austenite, its carbon content, and size of bainitic ferrite needles with the rise in austempering temperature. The influence of austempering time on the structure has been studied on the samples austempered at 330 °C. The increase in the austempering time increases the amount of retained austenite and its carbon content, which ultimately reaches a plateau.