回火时间对马氏体钢氢脆敏感性的影响

采用慢应变速率拉伸及氢渗透试验研究了回火热处理时间对一种马氏体钢氢脆敏感性的影响。试验结果表明：随着回火时间的延长,试样的氢脆敏感性先降低后增加,当回火时间为4 h时,材料的氢脆敏感性指数达到最低值。其主要原因是当回火时间小于4 h时,大量碳化物的析出有效捕获了氢原子,使有效氢扩散系数及氢脆敏感性均降低;但当回火时间大于4 h时,碳化物粗化长大,其对氢原子的捕获作用减弱,导致有效氢扩散系数增加,氢脆敏感性增强。     

钢中回火马氏体碳化物析出形态

使用透射电镜系统地研究了低，中，高碳合金钢中马氏体回火时碳化物的析出形态。结果表明，低，中碳回火马氏体中碳化物主要以交叉（多重变态），分布为主，但也有单一排列的碳化物，高碳回火马氏体中既可看到交叉碳化物分布组态，也可看到单一方向分布组态。大部分单一排列组态的碳化物与马氏体孪晶并无直接关系。     

回火对超高强度马氏体钢力学性能的影响

马氏体钢是汽车用先进高强钢的重要品种,主要组织为马氏体,突出特点为合金含量低、强度高。随着强度的提高,马氏体钢组织逐步接近全马氏体,并且马氏体的含碳量也进一步增加,导致弯曲性能和韧性降低。以冷轧C-Si-Mn钢板为研究对象,研究了回火对淬火态超高强度马氏体钢板的弯曲性能和冲击韧性的影响,发现与淬火态相比,回火处理对试验用钢的弯曲性能和冲击韧性有明显改善,但回火温度过高会造成弯曲性能和冲击韧性的下降。     

新型超高强度低氢脆敏感性扭杆弹簧用钢

 通过SEM、TEM、XRD、化学相分析等方法对比研究新型扭杆弹簧用40Si2Ni2CrMoV钢（代号N1）和现有45CrNiMoVA钢微观组织及其对力学性能的影响,并利用慢应变速率拉伸方法对比研究两种不同扭杆弹簧用钢的氢脆敏感性。结果发现,N1钢由于添加硅、钼等抗回火软化元素,使得N1钢在较高的300 ℃温度回火时还能保持一定的抗拉强度,N1钢有大量细小的ε-碳化物析出,使得屈服强度增加,屈强比在0.80以上,45CrNiMoVA钢经180 ℃低温回火后屈服强度在1 550 MPa左右,屈强比只有0.72;经相同条件充氢后,N1钢的慢拉伸强度下降幅度较小,其试样断口中也没有观察到沿晶断裂特征,N1钢的氢脆敏感性明显低于45CrNiMoVA钢。     

水淬终止温度对自回火马氏体钢组织和性能的影响

研究了热轧后水淬终止温度对自回火马氏体钢微观组织和力学性能的影响。结果表明，微观组织形态取决于水淬终止温度，当水淬终止温度低于Ｍｓ点时，钢的自回火程度最大，呈出现韧性峰值；低于或高于此温度终止水淬都将导致韧性下降，随着水淬终止温度降低，强度不断提高，自回火马氏体析条束对裂纹扩展起障碍作用，冲击试样断裂表面的解理小平较细小，从而表现出较高的韧性。     

马氏体时效钢的研究现状与发展

马氏体时效钢是指以无碳或微碳的铁镍马氏体为基体,时效时能产生金属间化合物以进行沉淀硬化的超高强度钢。回顾了马氏体时效钢的发展历程,通过论述马氏体时效钢中各合金元素的作用讨论了其合金化的特点,结合马氏体时效钢的性能特点,介绍了其应用现状。此外,重点阐述了马氏体时效钢的氢脆敏感性问题,并对其未来的发展提出展望。     

马氏体时效钢和低碳马氏体钢的组织及其机械性能

当今，采用节约合金的03Cr11Ni10Mo2Ti（з-П678型）的马氏体时效钢（MCC）制造大型的零件和强度达1000—1400MPa重要用途的结构。为保证这样高的强度，规定该钢种（MCC）的回火温度（500～560℃）要比具有最大强度时的回火温度高40～60℃。在回火状态该钢种（MCC）的组织是无碳的马氏体团和Ni，Ti、Fe2Mo等金属间化合物的弥散析出物组成。这种组织在规定的强度水平下能保证高的冲击韧性值和高的抗裂性。     

45钢活塞杆矫直断裂原因分析

通过光学金相及扫描电镜等分析手段,对45钢油缸活塞杆在矫直过程中发生断裂的原因进行了分析。结果表明,断裂主要原因是中频回火时回火不充分,圆钢的表面淬硬层形成了硬且脆的回火马氏体组织。     

Method of Evaluating Hydrogen Embrittlement Susceptibility of Tempered Martensitic Steel Showing Intergranular Fracture

A stress application method in delayed fracture susceptibility tests was investigated using 1450 MPa class tempered martensitic steel. Its fracture mode under hydrogen charging was mainly intergranular because of its relatively small Si content of 0.21 mass pct. The conditions for consistency in fracture strength between tensile tests and constant load tests (CLTs) were clarified: first, to conduct hydrogen precharging before stress application; and second, to choose a sufficiently low crosshead speed in tensile tests. When hydrogen precharging was not conducted before CLTs, the fracture strength was higher than the values in CLTs with hydrogen charging and in tensile tests. If the crosshead speed was too high, the fracture strength obtained was higher than the values in CLTs. The dependence of the fracture strength on crosshead speed was seen for both notched and smooth bar specimens. These results suggested that plastic deformation, i.e., dislocation motion, was related to intergranular fracture with a tear pattern as well as to quasi-cleavage fracture. In addition, cathodic electrolysis in an alkaline solution containing NaOH should be used as the hydrogen charging method to avoid the effects of corrosion.     

Method of Evaluating Delayed Fracture Susceptibility of Tempered Martensitic Steel Showing Quasi-Cleavage Fracture

The difference in the hydrogen charging methods, immersion in a NH₄SCN aqueous solution, and cathodic electrolysis in a NaOH aqueous solution, did not affect the hydrogen state present in the steel, but it did affect the surface state of the specimens through corrosion, causing fracture strength to fluctuate in tensile testes. As for stress application method, the fracture strength at lower crosshead speeds in tensile tests was consistent with that found for hydrogen precharging prior to stress application in CLTs as long as hydrogen charging was conducted by cathodic electrolysis. However, the fracture strength obtained with concurrent hydrogen charging without precharging prior to stress application in CLTs was higher than that with hydrogen precharging prior to stress application in CLTs regardless of the same hydrogen content. In other words, delayed fracture susceptibility was affected by the order of hydrogen charging and stress application for quasi-cleavage fracture associated with local plastic deformation, i.e., dislocation motion. Therefore, by taking into account the cathodic electrolysis in the NaOH solution, the low crosshead speed and the order of hydrogen charging and stress application, the fracture strength in CLTs, and tensile tests coincided with respect to quasi-cleavage fracture even though the stress application methods were different.     

Hydrogen Diffusion and Trapping in Low-Alloy Tempered Martensitic Steels

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A - Structural characterization of ten low-alloy tempered martensitic steels of varied composition (C, Cr, Mo, Mn, and V contents) and tempering temperature...     

Stress Induce Martensitic Transformations in Hydrogen Embrittlement of Austenitic Stainless Steels

In austenitic type stainless steels, hydrogen concentration gradients formed during electrochemical charging and followed by hydrogen loss during aging, at room temperature, surface stresses, and martensitic phases α′-BCC and ε-HCP developed. The basic relationship between the X-ray diffraction peak broadening and the hydrogen gradients, formed during charging and aging at room temperature in such austenitic stainless steels, were analyzed. The results demonstrate that the impact of stresses must be considered in the discussion of phase transformations due to hydrogenation. Austenitic stainless steels based on iron-nickel-chromium, have relatively low stacking fault energy γ_SFE and undergo: quenching to low temperatures, plastic deformation, sensitization heat treatments, high pressure (≥3–5 × 10⁹ Pa) by hydrogen or other gases, electrochemical charging (when the sample is cathode) and when is irradiation by various ions the samples in vacuum. All the above mentioned induce formation of ε and α′ in the face-centered cubic (FCC) austenite γ matrix. The highest stresses cause formation of mainly α′ phase and ε-martensite, and both are involved in plastic deformation processes and promoting crack propagation at the surface. In 310 steel, the crack propagation is based on deformation processes following ε-martensitic formation only. Formations of ε- and α′-martensites were noted along the fracture surfaces and ahead of the crack tip. The cracks propagated through the ε-martensitic plates, which formed along the active slip planes, while α′ phase was always found in the high-stress region on the ends of the ligaments from both sides of the crack surfaces undergoing propagation.     

Retained Austenite and Tempered Martensite Embrittlement in Medium Carbon Steels

Electron microscopy, diffraction and microanalysis, X-ray diffraction, and auger spectroscopy have been used to study quenched and quenched and tempered 0.3 pct carbon low alloy steels. Some in situ fracture studies were also carried out in a high voltage electron microscope. Tempered martensite embrittlement (TME) is shown to arise primarily as a microstructural constraint associated with decomposition of interlath retained austenite into M₃C films upon tempering in the range of 250 °C to 400 °C. In addition, intralath Widmanstätten Fe₃C forms from epsilon carbide. The fracture is transgranular with respect to prior austenite. The situation is analogous to that in upper bainite. This TME failure is different from temper embrittlement (TE) which occurs at higher tempering temperatures (approximately 500 °C), and is not a microstructural effect but rather due to impurity segregation (principally sulfur in the present work) to prior austenite grain boundaries leading to intergranular fracture along those boundaries. Both failures can occur in the same steels, depending on the tempering conditions.     

Hydrogen Embrittlement of Automotive Advanced High-Strength Steels

Advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) have a better combination between strength and ductility than conventional HSS, and higher crash resistances are obtained in concomitance with weight reduction of car structural components. These steels have been developed in the last few decades, and their use is rapidly increasing. Notwithstanding, some of their important features have to be still understood and studied in order to completely characterize their service behavior. In particular, the high mechanical resistance of AHSS makes hydrogen-related problems a great concern for this steel grade. This article investigates the hydrogen embrittlement (HE) of four AHSS steels. The behavior of one transformation induced plasticity (TRIP), two martensitic with different strength levels, and one hot-stamping steels has been studied using slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) tests on electrochemically hydrogenated notched samples. The embrittlement susceptibility of these AHSS steels has been correlated mainly to their strength level and to their microstructural features. Finally, the hydrogen critical concentrations for HE, established by SSRT tests, have been compared to hydrogen contents absorbed during the painting process of a body in white (BIW) structure, experimentally determined during a real cycle in an industrial plant.     

Role of Nonmetallic Inclusions in Hydrogen Embrittlement of High-Strength Carbon Steels with Different Microalloying

High-strength carbon steels of 1200 MPa strength level with different microalloying were tensile tested at constant extension rate and constant load under continuous electrochemical hydrogen charging. The results show that hydrogen markedly reduces elongation and time to fracture of all the studied steels. Fractography of the steels shows that nonmetallic inclusions (NMIs) play the major role in crack initiation in hydrogen-charged specimens. The role of NMIs in the hydrogen-induced fracture of steels is discussed.