Quantitative analysis of martensite and bainite microstructures using electron backscatter diffraction

In the present work, ultra‐high‐strength steels with multiphase microstructures containing martensite and bainite were prepared by controlling the cooling rate. A new approach was proposed for quantitatively statistical phase analysis using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) based on the band contrast which correlates to the quality and intensity of the diffraction patterns. This approach takes advantage of the inherently greater lattice imperfections of martensite, such as dislocations and low‐angle grain boundaries, relative to that of bainite. These can reduce the intensity and quality of the EBSD patterns of martensite, which decrease the band contrast. Thus, combined with morphological observations, Gaussian two‐peak fitting was employed to analyze the band contrast profile and confirm the ranges of band contrast for the two phases. The volume fractions of bainite and martensite in different samples were determined successfully. In addition, the results show that increased cooling rates improve the proportion of martensite and the ratio of martensite to bainite. Microsc. Res. Tech. 79:814–819, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Effects of vanadium and carbon on microstructures and abrasive wear resistance of high speed steel

The effects of vanadium and carbon on microstructures and abrasive wear resistance of high speed steel were studied. The results show that the microstructures are characterized by VC, M₇C₃ and Mo₂C in the martensite and austenite matrix. Typical morphologies of vanadium carbides are found to be spherical, lumpy, strip, and short rod. On the other hand, the vanadium carbides have three kinds of distributions, i.e. grain boundary, chrysanthemum-like, and homogeneous distributions. The abrasive wear resistance of high speed steel depends on the hardness and microstructures. When the hardness is lower than HRC58, the abrasive wear resistance of the high speed steel mainly depends on its hardness. But when the hardness is higher than HRC58, it mainly depends on the amount, morphology and distribution of VC in the matrix. Many spherical or lumpy VC carbides are obtained when vanadium and carbon content is up to 8.15–10.20 and 2.70–3.15%. The excellent abrasive wear resistance would be obtained if such VC carbides disperse uniformly in the hardened matrix of high speed steel after quenched at 1050 °C and tempered at 550 °C.     

Refinement of tempered martensite structure and its effect on wear mechanism in SAE 8620

All mechanical components that undergo sliding or rolling contact are subjected to some degree of wear. Carburising treatment is important in improving wear characteristics of AISI 8620 gear steel. An experimental investigation was conducted on carburised AISI 8620 steel. Gas carburising of the specimens was carried out in sealed quenched furnace at 1198 K for 6 h followed by hardening at 1133 K, oil quenching at 393 K and followed by tempering at 453 K. Carburised cryotreated samples were cooled in a controlled manner soaked at 88 K for 16 h in a cryoprocessor subsequently followed by soft tempering at 373 K. Specimens were characterised by microhardness test, wear test and retained austenite content by XRD. 3D wear surface response and 2D contour map showed that wear rate decreased by 32% in the case of carburised cryotreated specimens as compared to only carburised specimens. It was concluded that there was an improvement in hardness and wear resistance of carburised cryotreated steel as compared to only carburised steel. Refinement and densification in martensitic structure resulted in shift in wear transition from severe wear regime to mild wear regime.     

Magnetic tests of hardness and structure of rail steel

The correlation between the coercive force on the one side, and the structure and hardness of the rail steel on the other has been studied. A technique for testing rails quenched in oil based on measurements of the coercive force has been developed. The technique can be used in acceptance tests of rails by stages of main rail-roads.     

Influence of abrasive hardness on the wear resistance of high chromium irons

The resistance to abrasive wear was determined for a series of alloyed white cast irons in a high stress abrasion test which utilizes a specimen in sliding contact with bonded abrasives. These were conducted on silicon carbide, alumina and two sizes of garnet abrasive.The results indicate that the hardness, or type, of abrasive used in the test significantly influenced the wear rate of white irons, i.e. the rate of wear increased with increasing hardness of the abrasive. Also, the results indicate that the type of abrasive used in the test was a significant factor in ranking white irons for resistance to high stress abrasion. When tested on silicon carbide or alumina abrasive, as-cast austenitic irons exhibited lower rates of wear than heat treated martensitic irons; when tested on garnet, an abrasive of lower hardness, those irons with martensitic matrix microstructures exhibited the same or less wear than irons with austenitic matrix microstructures. It was also evident that heat treated irons with martensitic matrix microstructures exhibited varying degrees of resistance to abrasive wear depending on cooling rates and alloy content.     

Abrasive wear resistance of starch consolidated and sintered high speed steel

The abrasive wear resistance of starch consolidated (SC) and super solidus liquid phase sintered (SLPS) M3/2 high speed steel (HSS) samples have been evaluated by a two-body micro-abrasion test (low stress abrasion), using 6 μm diamond abrasive particles, and a three-body abrasion test (high stress abrasion), using significantly larger abrasive particles of blast furnace slag (600 HV) and silicon carbide (2400 HV), respectively. In the tests a commercial powder metallurgical (PM) HSS was used as a reference material.The results show that the microstructure of the SC and SLPS HSS samples is strongly dependent on the sintering temperature used. With increasing temperature the microstructure ranges from a porous (5% porosity) relatively fine grained low temperature sintered microstructure to a fully dense relatively coarse grained high temperature sintered microstructure with eutectic carbides/carbide networks. However, despite the pronounced microstructural differences displayed by the as-sintered HSS microstructures these show a relatively high abrasive wear resistance, comparable with that of a HIPed HSS reference, both under low and high stress abrasion contact conditions. The characteristic features of the low and high temperature sintered microstructures, i.e. the pores and coarse eutectic carbides/carbide networks, only show a limited impact on the wear rate and the wear mode (dominant wear mechanism). The results obtained imply that near net shaped components manufactured by starch consolidation and super solidus liquid phase sintering might be of interest in tribological applications.     

The relationship between the abrasive wear resistance,hardness and microstructure of ferritic materials

The relationship between the abrasive wear resistance and bulk hardness of ferritic materials in the pearlitic and martensitic conditions has been investigated. For pearlitic materials the abrasive wear resistance and bulk hardness are dependent on the pearlite content and for martensitic materials the abrasive wear resistance and bulk hardness are dependent on the square root of the carbon content. Thus for each structure there is a linear relationship between abrasive wear resistance and bulk hardness, but it is suggested that the material microstructure has a greater influence on wear resistance than the bulk hardness.     

Study on relative wear resistance and wear stability of high-speed steel with high vanadium content

In this work, a new concept of wear stability was put forward by authors, and it was quantitatively expressed by factor of wear stability. Different hardness, impact toughness and retained austenite content high-speed steel with high vanadium content samples were obtained by varying heat treatment conditions. The effects of hardness, impact toughness and retained austenite content on relatively wear resistance and wear stability were studied under abrasive wear condition. Results show that relative wear resistance increases with increasing hardness or decreasing impact toughness, whereas the wear stability rises with the increasing of hardness or impact toughness. The analyzing results reveal that mechanical behaviors are only apparent factors to influence wear behaviors. Relative wear resistance substantially depends on retained austenite content (Ar). At retained austenite content of about 30 vol.%, the relative wear resistance is optimal. However, wear stability is scarcely influenced by retained austenite content, which depends on the maximum changing amount of retained austenite under certain condition (ΔAr) in essence. With increasing ΔAr, wear stability linearly decreases.     

The influence of hardness on the resistance to wear by paper

Abrasive wear data for a wide range of materials sliding against paper are compared to establish a general dependence on hardness of the abraded material. Three regions for the hardness dependence are identified. In all three regions, the wear rate depends on (hardness)^?n. In the region for which the hardness of the abrasive is larger than that of the abraded material, n ≈ 1; in the region where the hardnesses are similar, n ≈ 10; in the region where the abraded material is harder, n ≈ 5.     

The effect of rolling direction reversal on the wear rate and wear mechanism of pearlitic rail steel

The effect of different single and multiple rolling direction reversal (RDR) regimes on wear rate and mechanism is studied in this paper. Changes in structure deformation morphology and accumulated plastic strain are also analysed. Evidence that unidirectional rolling sliding contact can result in directional mechanical properties of the deformed layer is given. Results obtained under the test conditions used show that RDR has a beneficial effect on the wear rate of pearlitic rail steel. Multiple short RDR resulted in the lowest wear rate, less than half the unidirectional value.     

The dry wear resistance of a carbonitrided steel

Rolling-sliding tests on a low alloy carbonitrided steel were carried out in order to study its dry wear behaviour. The influence of different retained austenite contents was evaluated. Subsurface fatigue is considered to be the basic wear mechanism. The similar wear resistances shown in specimens with small and large amounts of retained austenite are attributed to the balancing effect on their mechanical properties of softening by dynamical recovery and hardening by plastic strain respectively.     

Development and characterization of a wear resistant bainite/martensite ductile iron by combination of alloying and a controlled cooling heat-treatment

In this paper, a bainite/martensite (B/M) dual-phase ductile iron was fabricated by combining alloying and a controlled cooling heat-treatment. The microstructure, the mechanical properties and the wear performance were investigated and discussed. The ductile iron containing 3.2–3.8 wt.% carbon was alloyed with 2.5–3.0 wt.% manganese and 2.5–3.0 wt.% silicon. In general, manganese is no more than 0.7 wt.% and silicon <2.5 wt.% in commercial grade lower-bainite ductile irons. So, manganese contained in the ductile iron in this work is several times higher, and silicon slightly higher. In order to control the phase transition in the ductile iron during the heat-treatment, its continuous cooling transformation (CCT) curve was determined. The controlled cooling heat-treatment process was determined according to the CCT curve, which included three stages. The first stage was water quenching of the sample rapidly from the austenization temperature to a temperature below 350°C in a few minutes. The second stage was heat preservation of the sample from the spraying end temperature to 200°C in 2 h. The last stage was air cooling of the sample from 200°C to RT. According to the analysis using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and the X-ray diffraction (XRD), the matrix of the ductile iron had a microstructure of bainite, martensite and a little retained austenite. The hardness and impact toughness of the heat-treated ductile iron were HRC 51.5 and 21.7 J/cm², respectively. The high values of the hardness and toughness were attributed to (1) the refined structure, (2) the presence of B/M dual-phase and (3) the presence of retained austenite. The impact abrasive wear resistance of the B/M ductile iron was observed to be comparable with that of a high chrome cast iron, and twice that of Mn13 steel.     

The steady state wear behaviour of pearlitic rail steel under dry rolling-sliding contact conditions

The present study is aimed at studying the onset of steady state wear behaviour of pearlitic rail steel. Wheel-rail contact is simulated by a rolling-sliding line contact. The results show that steady state wear rate prevails after a certain number of rolling-sliding cycles. The effect of strain hardening and uni-directional plastic strain accumulation on the wear behaviour has also been studied. It has been shown that the start of the steady state wear rate coincides with the cessation of plastic strain accumulation and additional strain hardening. The ratchetting failure mechanism has been employed to explain this coincidence.     

The wear of high density polyethylene sliding against steel surfaces

The wear of high density polyethylene sliding against steel surfaces was studied with a pin-on-disc machine. The disc surfaces were finished by a turning operation on a lathe, changing the cutting conditions and tool geometries so as to provide varying surface finishes and different numbers of asperity peaks per unit distance. Optical and scanning electron microscopy were used to study the wear particles and the transfer films. It is found that a polymer film composed of layers about 500–1000 Å thick is formed on the metallic surfaces with sharp asperities. The size of the polymer wear particles decreases with increasing number of asperity peaks per unit distance and with decreasing asperity angle. The steady state wear rate increases rapidly with increasing polymer wear particle size. The wear for polymermetal sliding occurs by the mechanism of abrasion.     

Eddy-current testing of the hardness,wear resistance,and thickness of coatings prepared by gas-powder laser cladding

The possibility of applying the eddy-current method to estimate the composition, hardness, abrasive wear-resistance, and wear resistance under sliding friction conditions of chromium-nickel and chromium-nickel-cobalt coatings prepared by gas-powder laser cladding was studied. Variations in the readings of an eddy-current instrument along the depth of the surface cladding layer and with changing thickness of coatings, which are due to the distribution of structural components in coatings and large differences between the electromagnetic characteristics of cladding layers and the ferromagnetic steel base of specimens, were determined. A technique of the eddy-current testing of the thickness of Cr-Ni and Cr-Ni-Co cladding coatings on a ferromagnetic steel base is proposed. It allows one to estimate the quality of the strengthening laser cladding and subsequent grinding, monitor the state of coatings under service conditions, and forecast the residual life of cladding elements subjected to intense wear.     

Investigations of microstructures and defect structures in wear affected region created on Nimonic 80A during high temperature wear

The microstructures of a wear induced surface glazed layers formed during sliding wear of Nimonic 80A against Stellite 6 at 20–750 °C using a speed of 0.314 m s^-1 under a load of 7 N have been investigated using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in combination with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis. The defects formed in the glazed layers were measured by positron lifetime spectroscopy. The results indicate the formation of a wear resistant nanostructured glazed layer. Positron lifetime and Doppler-broadening measurements demonstrated that the defects (mainly dislocations) existed in the glazed layers at low temperatures which increasing wear test temperature led to decrease in defects density. Positron measurements also suggested that, at the annealing temperature (1200 °C), the presence of dislocations might lead to the formation of ordered or partially ordered regions in Nimonic 80A.     

Performance and failure of high speed steel drills related to wear

Three high speed steel grades, representing low, medium and high contents of alloying elements, were investigated in a comparative drill performance test using two different work materials. The results are discussed with reference to the observed wear mechanisms. Since drill performance is usually expressed as number of holes to failure, relationships between gradual wear and final failure of the drills are emphasized.The performance tests resulted in chisel edge, crater, flank and margin wear. The corresponding wear mechanisms were studied with the aid of scanning electron and light optical microscopy. The most important mechanisms are (1) abrasive wear for drilling in a plain carbon steel and (2) adhesive wear for drilling in a quenched and tempered steel.     

Initiation and propagation of surface cracks in rolling fatigue of high hardness steel

Surface cracks initiating flaking failure observed by Sugino in rolling fatigue were further studied.Surface crack initiation was influenced by either running or material conditions, affecting the residual tensile stress just below the rolling contact surface. The fatigue crack is thought to initiate very near the surface by the stress cycle of small tensile residual stress and large compressive contact stress. The amount and direction of the tensile residual stress due to rolling contact varies with the contact geometry, which probably determines the direction of the surface crack and the appearance of flaking. The transition from the surface crack to flaking failure or complete section fracture is material and running condition dependent and is explained by a fracture mechanics concept.