Influence of retained austenite on short fatigue crack growth and wear resistance of case carburized steel

The influence of the amount of retained austenite on short fatigue crack growth and wear resistance in carburized SAE 8620 steel was studied in this article. Different amounts of retained austenite in the microstructure of the carburized case were obtained through different heat treatment routes applied after the carburizing process. The wear tests were carried out using pin on disk equipment. After every 200 turns the weight loss was registered. Four point bend fatigue tests were carried out at room temperature, using three different levels of stress and R=0.1. Crack length versus number of cycles and crack growth rate versus mean crack length curves were analyzed. In both tests the results showed that the test pieces with higher levels of retained austenite in the carburized case exhibited longer fatigue life and better wear resistance.