Effect of aging treatment on the mechanical properties of C-250 maraging steel by flow forming

The technique of forward flow forming has been used to produce a long, thin walled tube made of C-250 maraging steel. The forward flow forming can save raw material, increase strength, and reduce the production process time. Because the work hardening effect on solution-treated C-250 using flow forming is minimal, the flow-formed tube requires an additional heat treatment to obtain higher hardness and strength. With the direct aging treatment, low elongation values are obtained, making this treatment unsuitable for the engineering design. It was found that the 540 °C/6 h/AC over-aging treatment results in better strength and elongation values. The strengthening phase of the flow-formed C-250 maraging steel was found to be the intermetallic compound of Fe₃Mo.