Evaluation of the structure and properties of steel 35KhN2MFA under static and dynamic loading

We investigated the effect of the structure of heat-treated steel 35KhN2MFA on the mechanical properties under static and dynamic loading; the conditions of heat treatment were: hardening from 740–1100°C, isothermal quenching from 360°C, tempering at 300–550°C, heat cycling. It was established that a higher hardening temperature entails greater endurance: from 5700 cycles (T_h=740°C) to 10,100 cycles (T_h=1100°C), yet the required strength (_u=1740 MPa) is retained, and ductility and impact toughness are somewhat reduced. Isothermally quenched and high-tempered specimens have high endurance (N=12,000–13,500 cycles) but a low level of strength (_u=1330 MPa). Specimens subjected to heat cycling under the conditions hardening from 860°C and tempering at 650°C have the best complex of mechanical properties under static and cyclic loading.Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 1, pp. 17–20, January, 1992.     

An investigation on the microstructure and mechanical properties of direct-quenched and tempered AISI 4140 steel

Direct quenching (DQ) process is an appropriate method in steels heat treatment field. This method enhances production rate, reduces energy consumption and decreases environment contamination. In this study hot-rolled AISI 4140 steel billets with different diameters (75, 80, 85, 100, 105 and 115 mm) and 20 m length were quenched directly in a water tank. Also some samples with similar size and composition were provided by conventional reheating, quenching and tempering (RQ) heat treatment process. The quenched samples were tempered at the temperature of 630 °C for 2 h. Mechanical properties of heat treated samples including tensile strength, yield strength, elongation, hardness and impact toughness were measured. Also, the microstructure and harden-ability of this steel were investigated under various conditions and the results were compared to RQ heat treated products. The results showed that direct quenching and tempering processes (DQ–T) is due to enhance of mechanical properties such as tensile strength and harden-ability of AISI 4140 and it is affected by various parameters such as steel temperature before quenching, water temperature, quenching time and also billet size.     

亚温淬火对硼镍添加含铌低合金高强度H型钢组织性能的影响

将硼镍添加的含铌低合金高强度H型钢进行亚温淬火及完全淬火,对淬火以及淬火并高温回火后的试样进行了力学性能和微观组织的研究。结果表明:亚温淬火并回火后,这一新钢种的屈服强度达到512MPa,抗拉强度达到595MPa,伸长率达到27%,韧脆转变温度达到-88℃,具有优异的综合力学性能。近似等轴的铁素体及其上弥散分布的细小碳化物,使得回火时塑性大幅提高而强度下降不多;回火碳化物钉扎晶界,抑制了晶粒的长大,起到了细化晶粒的效果;不连续的细小碳化物分布在晶界上,没有对材料的韧性造成破坏。     

Effect of cooling rate on the high strain rate properties of boron steel

In this work, the effect of cooling rate on the high strain rate behavior of hardened boron steel was investigated. A furnace was used to austenize boron sheet metal blanks which were then quenched in various media. The four measured cooling rates during the solid state transformation were: 25 (compressed air quench), 45 (compressed air quench), 250 (oil quench) and 2200 °C/s (water quench). Micro-hardness measurements and optical microscopy verified the expected as-quenched microstructure for the various cooling rates. Miniature dog-bone specimens were machined from the quenched blanks and tested in tension at a quasi-static rate, 0.003 s⁻¹ (Instron) and a high rate, 960 s⁻¹ (split Hopkinson tensile bar). The resulting stress vs. strain curves showed that the UTS increased from 1270 MPa to 1430 MPa as strain rate increased for the specimens cooled at 25 °C/s, while the UTS increased from 1615 MPa to 1635 MPa for the specimens cooled at 2200 °C/s. The high rate tests showed increased ductility for the 25, 45 and 250 °C/s specimens, while the specimens cooled at 2200 °C/s showed a slight decrease. The Hollomon hardening curve was fit to the true stress vs. true strain curves and showed that the mechanical response of the high rate tests exhibited a greater rate of hardening prior to fracture than the quasi-static tests. The hardening rate also increased for the specimens quenched at higher cooling rates. Optical micrographs of the fractured specimens showed that the failure mechanism transformed from a ductile-shear mode at the lower cooling rates to a shear mode at the high cooling rates.     

Effect of heat treatment on microstructure and mechanical properties of Cr–Ni–Mo–Nb steel

Abstract

The microstructure and mechanical properties of a medium carbon Cr–Ni–Mo–Nb steel in quenched and tempered conditions were investigated using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray analysis, and tensile and impact tests. Results showed that increasing austenitisation temperature gave rise to an increase in the tensile strength due to more complete dissolution of primary carbides during austenitisation at high temperatures. The austenite grains were fine when the austenitisation temperature was <1373 K owing to the pinning effect of undissolved Nb(C,N) particles. A tensile strength of 1600 MPa was kept at tempering temperatures up to 848 K, while the peak impact toughness was attained at 913 K tempering, as a result of the replacement of coarse Fe rich M₃C carbides by fine Mo rich M₂C carbides. Austenitisation at 1323 K followed by 913 K tempering could result in a combination of high strength and good toughness for the Cr–Ni–Mo–Nb steel.     

Filter cake forming and hot isostatic pressing for TZP-dispersed hydroxyapatite composite

The combination of a filter cake forming process and hot isostatic pressing was applied to prepare hydroxyapatite composites containing dispersed tetragonal zirconia polycrystal (TZP) with high strength and toughness. Fine TZP powder was dispersed into as-synthesized hydroxyapatite slurry, formed with the filter cake process and hot isostatically pressed at 800–1150 °C at 100 MPa for 2 h. The temperature needed for densification increased with increasing TZP content; 1100 °C was needed to fully densify the composite with 26.8 wt% TZP. No phase change was found in TZP nor in the hydroxyapatite phase up to the maximum temperature examined in hot isostatic pressing. Significant phase change was found in specimens annealed in air at 1200 °C. The strength and toughness achieved were respectively 190 MPa and 2.3 MPa m^1/2. These values were approximately 20% and 100% higher than the corresponding values for hydroxyapatite ceramics without TZP particle dispersion.     

Effect of controlled rolling/controlled cooling parameters on microstructure and mechanical properties of the novel pipeline steel

The study of controlled rolling/controlled cooling process parameters which affect the microstructure and mechanical properties of a novel pipeline steel has been optimized by the orthogonal experiment with four factors and three levels in this paper.However,the parameters of thermo-mechanical control process(TMCP)optimized by the Gleeble-3500 hot simulator could not satisfy performance requirements of the X100 pipeline steel.In order to improve the performance of this steel,the influence of finish cooling temperature(FCT) on the microstructure and property is studied in detail.It is found that,as this steel is thermo-mechanically treated by this set of parameters(the start heating temperature,finish rolling temperature(FRT),FCT and cooling rate of 1,180℃,810℃,350℃ and 35℃/s,respectively),the microstructures are mainly composed of granular bainite(GB)and acicular ferrite(AF).The effective grain sizes are below 20μm;the steel reaches the optimal balance between the strength and the toughness;the yield strength is 695 MPa;the tensile strength is 768 MPa;the elongation is 16.6%;the impact energy is 262 J at room temperature.All indexes could meet the requirements of X100 pipeline steel.     

The effects of heat treatment variables on the microstructure and properties of ultra-high strength steels differing in titanium content

The influences of different austenitizing and tempering temperatures on the microstructure and properties of three experimental ultra-high strength steels (UHS) have been investigated. The steels had different Ti content and were subjected to austenitizing treatment at 900, 1000, 1100 and 1200°C followed by oil quench and tempering at 200, 300, 450 and 600 °C. It has been found that the high temperature (1100 and 1200 °C) austenitizing treatments, alter both microstructure and properties, and depending on the subsequent tempering temperature, may have a beneficial or detrimental influence upon the mechanical properties. Addition of up to 0.011 wt% Ti to the steel composition improves hardness, toughness and tensile strength. This improvement in mechanical properties is obtainable with any subsequent heat treatment. For higher Ti content (0.089 wt%), although some further improvement in hardness and tensile strength was obtained, significant degradation in toughness was achieved, particularly when the steel was subjected to high temperature austenitizing and tempering treatment.     

The tempering behavior of granular structure in a Mn-series low carbon steel

The granular structure in a Mn-series low carbon steel composed of ferrite matrix and martensite-austenite islands does not exhibit temper brittleness which is quite different from common microstructures in steels. This characteristic facilitates the performance optimization through adjusting tempering temperature. A good combination of tensile strength (750-1000 MPa) and impact toughness (Aku, 138-154 J) can be obtained after quenching and tempering at 400 °C for a round billet with 250 mm in diameter.     

热处理对激光选区熔化成型高速钢组织和力学性能的影响EI北大核心CSCD

基于激光选区熔化(selective laser melting,SLM)技术,采用加热打印基板和低功率慢扫描的打印策略,制备了近全致密、低缺陷的高速钢样品;对比分析了固溶淬火及1~4次高温回火等热处理工艺对高速钢显微组织及力学性能的影响。结果表明:SLM极高的熔融/冷却速率产生了细晶奥氏体组织,解决了高速钢中常见的粗大莱氏体组织和网状碳化物问题。固溶淬火处理后高速钢组织由马氏体和残余奥氏体组成。随后在数次高温回火过程中,高速钢逐渐向回火马氏体转变,并析出大量微米级和纳米级MC型碳化物。在马氏体相变强化和MC型碳化物沉淀强化作用下,固溶淬火+3次回火的Tempered-Ⅲ样品硬度60HRC,抗弯强度3621 MPa,弯曲断裂应变为10.1%,获得硬度、强度和韧性匹配较佳的综合性能。继续增加回火次数则导致部分碳化物长大,使得高速钢弯曲断裂应变有所降低。通过SLM技术结合固溶淬火+高温回火,能够充分发挥细晶强化、相变强化和沉淀强化效果,为高强高韧复杂形状高速钢零件的快速制备提供了新途径。     

Evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties during quenching and tempering of ultrahigh strength 0.3C Si–Mn–Cr–Mo low alloy steel

Effects of quenching and tempering treatments on the development of microstructure and mechanical properties of ultrahigh strength 0.3C Si–Mn–Cr–Mo low alloy steel were investigated. Samples were austenitized at 1123–1323 K for 2400 s and oil quenched (OQ) to produce mixed microstructures. Tempering was carried out at 473–773 K for 2–3 h. Phase transformation temperatures were measured using dilatometer. The microstructures were characterized using optical and scanning electron microscope. SEM–EDS analysis was carried out to determine the type and size of non-metallic inclusions. Volume percent of retained austenite was measured by X-ray diffraction technique. Hardness, tensile properties, and impact energies were also determined for all heat treated conditions. Fractography of impact specimens were done using stereomicroscope and SEM. The results showed that newly developed steel exhibited peak hardness, yield strength, and tensile strength of about 600 HV, 1760 MPa, and 1900 MPa, respectively, when OQ from 1203 K and tempered in between 473 and 573 K, combined with adequate ductility and impact toughness. Decrease in hardness and strength was observed with increasing tempering temperature whereas the impact energy was stable up to 623 K, however, impact energy was found to decrease above 632 K due to temper martensite embrittlement.     

回火方式对调质高强度钢组织和性能的影响

为改善高强度钢的塑性和韧性,对同一种低合金高强度钢进行两种不同回火方式的调质处理,淬火+缓慢加热回火的传统调质与淬火+感应加热回火的新调质工艺,分析该工艺对钢的组织与性能的影响.利用扫描电镜和透射电镜观察组织及析出物的变化,采用X射线衍射仪分析了钢中残余奥氏体体积分数.结果表明:两种工艺下,钢的组织均为板条宽300～500 nm左右的马氏体组织,感应加热回火调质工艺处理后,板条组织明显,析出物大多约为20 nm,比传统调质处理后的细小;两种不同热处理工艺均能提高钢的屈服强度.感应加热至500℃回火后试验钢具有16%以上的延伸率,-40℃冲击功达到32 J,优于传统调质工艺处理钢板的综合性能.感应加热回火能获得更多小尺寸析出物和更多的残余奥氏体,有利于改善钢的塑性和韧性.     

Effects of Re-B modification on the strength and toughness of 30CrMn2Si cast steel

The effects of multi-modification on the strength and toughness of 30CrMn2Si cast steel were investigated. The mechanical properties tested include tensile strength; Charpy impact toughness from room temperature to –60 °C; hardness and fracture toughness. Microanalyses were carried out by optical microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction, and included the microstructure and submicrostructure of martensites, residual austenites, the size and distribution of non-metallic inclusions, and the original austenite grain size. It was concluded that, with the hardness unchanged, the fracture toughness of the modified steel was raised to 95 MPa m^1/2, 34% more than that of the un-modified steel, and the impact toughnesses at normal and low temperatures raised to 62 and 61.2 J cm^-2, respectively, 67 and 75% more than those of the un-modified steel. Furthermore, the fracture strength and yield strength of the steel were increased by over 200 MPa.     

Phase transformation and mechanical behavior of thermomechanically controlled processed high strength ordnance steel

A new low carbon titanium and niobium microalloyed steel has been thermomechanically processed in a pilot plant unit. Phase transformation phenomenon of the above steel during continuous cooling has been assessed. Evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties has also been studied at different finish rolling temperatures. A mixture of intragranular ferrite with granular bainite and bainitic ferrite along with inter-lath and intra-lath precipitation of (Ti, Nb)CN particles are the characteristic microstructural feature of air cooled steel. However, mixture of lower bainite and lath martensitic structure along with similar type (Ti, Nb)CN precipitate is observed in water quenched steel. High yield strength (896–948 MPa) with high tensile strength (974–1013 MPa) has been achieved with moderate ductility (16–17%) for the selected range of finish rolling temperature for air cooled steel. However, the water quenched steel yields higher yield strength (1240–1260 MPa) as well as higher tensile strength (1270–1285 MPa) but with lower ductility (13–14%) for the selected range of finish rolling temperature. Fairly good impact toughness values in the range of 50–89 J are obtained for the air cooled steel which are marginally higher than those of water quenched steel (42–81 J).     

Influence of martensite volume fraction and tempering time on tensile properties of partially austenitized in the (α + γ) temperature range and quenched + tempered ferritic ductile iron

In the present study, the effect of martensite volume fraction and tempering time on the tensile properties of ferritic ductile iron with dual matrix structure was investigated. For this purpose, specimens were intercritically annealed (partially austenitized) in the two phase region (α + γ) at various temperatures of 795 and 815° C for 20 min and then quenched into oil held at 100° C to obtain different martensite volume fractions. Some specimens were also conventionally heat treated (austenitized at 900° C and then quenched + tempered) for a comparison reason. The results showed that a structure having proeutectoid ferrite plus martensite has been developed and volume fraction of proeutectoid ferrite and martensite can be controlled to influence the strength and ductility. Specimens quenched from the (α + γ) temperature range exhibited much greater ductility than conventionally heat treated specimens. The tensile strength increased and ductility decreased with increasing martensite content. By increasing the tempering time, the yield and UTS decreased and ductility increased. The specimens tempered for 3 h and having 62% martensite volume fraction (MVF) exhibited the best combination of high strength and ductility. The tensile and proof stress of this material is much higher than pearlitic grades and ductility is lower than ferritic grades. The specimen tempered for 3 h and having ∼ 25% MVF exhibited the best combination of high strength and ductility compared to ferritic grades. However its strength is slightly lower but the ductility is almost three times higher than pearlitic grades.     

低碳微合金直接淬火钢的组织与力学性能

为了提高低碳直接淬火钢的强韧性能,对一种低碳Nb-V微合金钢进行了轧后直接淬火(DQ)和再加热淬火(RQ)热处理实验,分析了低碳直接淬火钢的的强韧化机理.采用光学显微镜、透射电子显微镜、硬度计、拉伸试验机以及冲击试验机研究了轧后热处理工艺对低碳Nb-V微合金钢组织和力学性能的影响.结果表明,DQ工艺钢马氏体板条间距细小,含有较多的位错亚结构,因此具有较高的强度和韧性.DQ工艺钢马氏体中的大量位错,促进了碳化物弥散析出,产生了显著的二次硬化效果.由于基体中固溶的Nb、V等元素推迟淬火马氏体在回火过程中的各种转变,以及回火时析出的细小弥散碳化物抑制马氏体铁素体回复、再结晶过程,DQ工艺钢表现出较高的回火稳定性.     

低焊接裂纹敏感性钢回火组织及力学性能研究

为优高强度低焊接裂纹敏感性钢的力学性能,对其热轧态钢板进行了不同温度的回火实验.通过光学显微镜、扫描电镜和透射电镜观察了回火显微组织的演变特征,并结合相应的力学性能检测手段分析了不同回火温度下显微组织与力学性能的关系.结果表明,550℃回火后屈服强度和抗拉强度较热轧态强度分别提高了115和30 MPa,平均冲击功提高了...     

Enhancement of mechanical properties and failure mechanism of electron beam welded 300M ultrahigh strength steel joints

In this study, four post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) schedules were selected to enhance the mechanical properties of electron beam welded 300M ultrahigh strength steel joints. The microstructure, mechanical properties and fractography of specimens under the four post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) conditions were investigated and also compared with the base metal (BM) specimens treated by conventional quenching and tempering (QT). Results of macro and microstructures indicate that all of the four PWHT procedures did not eliminate the coarse columnar dendritic grains in weld metal (WM). Whereas, the morphology of the weld centerline and the boundaries of the columnar dendritic grains in WM of weld joint specimens subjected to the PWHT procedure of normalizing at 970 °C for 1 h followed by conventional quenching and tempering (W-N2QT) are indistinct. The width of martensite lath in WM of W-N2QT is narrower than that of specimens subjected to other PWHT procedures. Experimental results indicate that the ductility and toughness of conventional quenched and tempered joints are very low compared with the BM specimens treated by conventional QT. However, the strength and impact toughness of the W-N2QT specimens are superior to those of the BM specimen treated by conventional QT, and the ductility is only slightly inferior to that of the latter.     

Review Mechanical properties of ice and snow

The mechanical properties of ice and snow are reviewed. The tensile strength of ice varies from 0.7–3.1 MPa and the compressive strength varies from 5–25 MPa over the temperature range –10°C to –20°C. The ice compressive strength increases with decreasing temperature and increasing strain rate, but ice tensile strength is relatively insensitive to these variables. The tensile strength of ice decreases with increasing ice grain size. The strength of ice decreases with increasing volume, and the estimated Weibull modulus is 5. The fracture toughness of ice is in the range of 50–150 kPa m^1/2 and the fracture-initiating flaw size is similar to the grain size. Ice-soil composite mixtures are both stronger and tougher than ice alone. Snow is a open cellular form of ice. Both the strength and fracture toughness of snow are substantially lower than those of ice. Fracture-initiating flaw sizes in snow appear to correlate to the snow cell size.     

Evolution of precipitated phases during prolonged tempering in a 9%Cr1%MoVNb ferritic-martensitic steel: Influence on creep performance

Ferritic-martensitic steels of the 9%Cr1%Mo type have been extensively used in power plant components, heat exchangers, piping and tubing, etc., due to an excellent combination of properties such as creep resistance, toughness and resistance to oxidation at high temperatures. In these steels the stabilizing role of MX carbonitrides (M = Nb, V; X = C, N) is one of the main factors responsible for the resistance under creep conditions. The control of precipitation and coarsening of MX phases during prolonged, high temperature tempering or post-weld heat treatment is then a key point to obtain the desirable microstructure and hence, to achieve high temperature resistance under service conditions.In the present contribution we report the evolution of the precipitated phases during heat treatment at 780 °C for increasing times in the range 40 min to 7 h for an ASTM A213 T91 steel. The Nb and V contents in solid solution were determined as a function of the time of treatment and maxima were observed for 5 and 5.66 h, respectively. Creep tests to rupture were also conducted at 600 °C - 190 MPa for as-treated specimens. A maximum creep rate was observed to occur in coincidence with the maximum values of Nb and V contents in solid solution. We suggest possible relationships between the observed second phase evolution and the creep resistance behavior.