FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF CARBURIZED STEEL BEFORE CRACK INITIATION

The fatigue behavior of quenched plus tempered carburized steel before crack initiation has been observed in tension-tension fatigue tests.It was found that fatigue softening and fatigue hardening coexist in this steel.A transition region near the ease depth of the steel divides the cross section of a round speeimen into two parts:the softened part outwards and the hardened part inwards.The degree of fatigue softening in the case and fatigue hardening in the core is increased with the maximum applied cyclic stress and the number of cycles.

One Approach to Eddy Current Testing of Carburized Parts

Through DOE(design of experiment),ЕТ(eddy current testing)is included and proven as a quality indicator of carburizing,quenching and tempering of hydraulic motor parts.A method is suggested for calibrating NDT(non-destructive testing)by means of combined representation of regression models in the field of the technological factors of heat treatment and contour control charts.A method is presented here for choosing the working frequency for ET.It is also suggested that experimental design be considered a basic building element in the methodology of carburized parts ET.This article also presents a methodology for conducting eddy current testing in industrial settings.

Observation and Analysis of the Microstructure in CarburizedSurface Layer of Steel 20Cr2Ni4A Treated with ConventionalAnd Rare Earth Carburizing Processes

Observation and analysis with TEM show that the fine granular dispersed carbides in hypereutectoid zone of steel 20Cr2Ni4A are distributed in the matrix of large number of lath martensite after rare earth carburizing. But while treating by conventional carburization and double quench hardening the retained carbides are finer and more dispersive, and its matrix is perfectly twin martersite. The different micrcotructures of matrix around carbide are formed with different kinds of carburization processes.

Effect of Valence Electron Structure on Temper Process and Hardness of the Supersaturated Carburized Layer

By measuring the hardness of carburized layer of a new type supersaturated carburizing steel （35Cr3SiMnMoV） at different temper temperature for 2 h, the relationship curve between the carburized layer hardness and the temper temperature is established. The result indicates that the hardness goes down firstly, then up and down, just like a wave consistent with the temperature increase. A secondary hardening peak appears at 570 ℃ or so. Based on Empirical Election Theory （EET） of Solids and Molecules, the valence electron structures （VESs） containing α-Fe-C, α-Fe-C-Me segregation structure units and carbide are calculated. The laws of temper process and hardness change with the temper temperature are explained, and the fact that reconstruction of θ-Fe3C is prior to that of special carbide at high tempering is analyzed with the phase structure formation factor, S, being taken into consideration. Therefore, the laws of temper process and hardness change of supersaturated carburized layer at different temper temperature can be traced back to valence electron structure （VES） level of alloy phase.

Transformation Plasticity─The Effect on Metallo-Thermo-Mechanical Simulation of Carburized Quenching Process

Theory of metallo-thermo-mechamics and the developed CAE code offer a powerful tool to simulate residual stresses and distortion during heat treatment processes, in which the transformation plasticity is one of factors to be considered being coupled with stress/strain and metallic structure. It is pointed out in this paper that, especially in the case of carburized quenching, transformation plasticity plays very important role on the distortion, which is verified by axisymmetric finite element, employing heat treatment simulation code "HEARTS". Simulated results with the careful consideration on the effect of transformation plasticity reveal to improve remarkably the accuracy of prediction of the displacement and the mode of distortion, compensating the discrepancy between experimental and calculated results. Attention is also paid on the difference in transformation plasticity and conventional plasticity in simulating the volume fraction, stress and strain in ring-shaped specimen during quenching. Moreover some discussions are made on practical use of the effect, and recent experimental results on the coefficient of transformation plasticity are presented.

Stress Field Analysis of Carburized Specimen and Its Numerical Simulation

Residual stress field of carburized specimens was determined experimentally and simulated by using a finite element method (FEM). The experimental results show that the compressive residual stress is formed in carburized layer of the specimen. The peak value of compressive stress appears inside of carburized layer. The calculated results are tallied with the measured ones quite well, which proves the FEM model used for simulation is correct. According to this model, the stress field of carburized specimen during quenching process was also analyzed in this paper.

A Study on Wear Resistance, Hardness and Impact Behaviour of Carburized Fe-Based Powder Metallurgy Parts for Automotive Applications

In order to study the mechanical and triboloical properties of powder metallurgy (PM) parts under different process parameters, the specimens were used in pack carburizing processes. These specimens made from industrial test pieces were carburized in a powder pack for about two to five hours at a temperature of about 850?C - 950?C. The effects of austenitization and quenching are investigated on some specimens. Also the wear tests are performed by means of a pin-on-disc tribotester using roll bearing steel as the counterface material. The results indicate that by appropriate selection of process parameters, it is possible to obtain high wear resistance along with moderate toughness. It is concluded that surface treatments increases the wear resistance and performance of PM parts in service conditions. By increasing the role of PM in industry which resulted from their ability to produce the complex shapes, high production rate, and dimension accuracy of final products, they need to be heat treated. Carburizing method was selected as a surface hardening method for PM parts. Results of wear and hardness show considerable enhancement in mechanical properties of PM parts.

INTERGRANULAR EMBRITTLEMENT IN PLASMA CARBURIZED LAYER

This paper deals with the cause of intergranular fracture occurred in the retained austenitic region in plasma carburized layer.The results show that the presence of retained austenite, which has a good effect on the impact toughness,has no relation to this embrittlement.Analy- sis by Auger electron spectroscopy shows that the impurities S and P segregate at the grain boundaries is the main reason of the intergranular embrittlement in carburized layer. However,the segregation of P and S can be removed by reheating and quenching treatment.

Wear and mechanical properties of carburized AISI 8620 steel produced by powder metallurgy

The effect of carburization on the tensile strength and wear resistance of AISI 8620 steel produced via powder metallurgy was investigated.Alloys 1 and 2(with 0.2wt%C and 0.25wt%C,respectively)were first pressed at 700 MPa and then sintered at 1300,1400,or 1500℃for 1 h.The ideal sintering temperature of 1400℃was determined.Afterward,Alloys 1 and 2 sintered at 1400℃were carburized at 925℃for 4 h.The microstructure characterization of alloys was performed via optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy.The mechanical and wear behavior of carburized and noncarburized alloys were investigated via hardness,tensile,and wear tests.After carburization,the ultimate tensile strength of Alloys 1 and 2 increased to 134.4%and 138.1%,respectively.However,the elongation rate of Alloys 1 and 2 decreased to 62.6%and 64.7%,respectively.The wear depth values of Alloy 2 under noncarburized and carburized conditions and a load of 30 N were 231.2 and 100.1μm,respectively.Oxidative wear changed to abrasive wear when the load transitioned from 15 to 30 N.

Experimental investigation of the relation between the surface integrity and bending fatigue strength of carburized gears

Bending fatigue is an essential parameter that needs to be considered in the improvement process of the power density and reliability of gear drives. Quantitative relations among the manufacturing parameters, surface integrities, and fatigue performance are not clear, which seriously limits the effectiveness of an anti-fatigue design. For this work, tooth-bending fatigue tests of carburized gears with different surface integrities were performed using a pulsator. The effects of the manufacturing parameters and surface integrities on the gear fatigue, such as surface hardness and residual stress, were investigated. The experimental results revealed that due to the improvement of surface integrities after shot peening, the nominal bending stress number(fatigue limit) increased by 6.3%–31.1%, with an amplitude range of 39–143 MPa. A supervised learning algorithm of a random forest was implemented to determine the contribution of the surface hardness and surface residual stress to the nominal stress number. An empirical formula was proposed to predict the nominal stress number considering the surface integrities. The prediction error was less than 7.53%, as verified by several gear-bending fatigue tests. This provided theoretical support for the modern, anti-fatigue design of the gears.

Microstructures in a carburized steel after isothermal pearlitic treatment

The influence of carbon concentration variations on pearlite formation(20 h at 600℃)in a case-carburized steel is investigated.The resultant microstructure shows three distinct regions:carburized case,a transition region,and the original core.The microstructural transition from the case to the core regions is observed to be relatively sharp.The investigated region of the carburized case(0.9 wt.%C)con-tains two types of pearlite:ferrite+cementite and ferrite+M_(23)C_(6),where the pearlitic aggregate with M_(23)C_(6)shows faster formation kinetics.The kinetics of pearlite formation in the transition region(0.3 wt.%C)is very slow and is observed with only M_(23)C_(6)carbide.Only around 40%austenite decomposes into pearlite in the transition region,which,in comparison to the carburized case region of 0.9 wt.%C is a fraction that is lower by a factor of two.Pearlite is absent in the investigated core region(0.16 wt.%C).The microstructure in this region is predominantly martensite and pro-eutectoid ferrite,with a fraction of ferrite well below the equilibrium fraction.Ferrite formation in this region is limited by the redistribution of mainly Ni,Mn,and Cr,and their resulting solute drag effect on the austenite/ferrite interface.A ther-modynamic and kinetic argumentation of these observations is provided with the help of thermodynamic data,precipitation simulations,and a general mixed-mode Gibbs energy balance model.

Evaluation of contact fatigue risk of a carburized gear considering gradients of mechanical properties

Carburized gears are widely used in geared machines such as wind turbines.Contact fatigue problems occur in engineering practice,reducing reliabilities of machines.Contact fatigue failures are related to many factors,such as gradients of mechanical properties of the hardening layer.In this work,an elastic-plastic contact model of a carburized gear is developed based on the finite element method to evaluate contact fatigue failure risk,considering variations in hardness and strength.The Dang Van multiaxial equivalent stress is calculated via Python coding within the Abaqus framework.The gradient of yield strength along the depth from case to core is considered.The concept of local material fatigue failure risk is defined to evaluate the probability of pitting failure.The effects of design factors,such as the case hardening depth(CHD),surface hardness,and contact pressure on fatigue failure risk,are studied.As the CHD increases or the surface hardness decreases,the risk of deep spalling failure reduces.The increase in surface hardness leads to a decreased risk of pitting failure,while the variation in CHD hardly affects the pitting failure risk.

Research on Heredity of Coarse Ferrite Grains

The changes in austenite grain size of the specimens with coarse ferrite grains under different heat treatment process were investigated.The focus was on studying the effect of annealing on refining coarse ferrite grains,as well as the influence of the ferrite grain size on the main technical indicators of gas carburizing.The results show that coarse ferrite grains may not necessarily cause the coarse austenite grains,but may result in mixed austenite grains.After annealing treatment,the coarse ferrite grains can be significantly refined and homogenized.Moreover,the coarse ferrite grains have no significant effects on hardnessand intergranular oxidationof gas carburizing.

Effect of Deep Cryogenic Heat Treatment on the Wear Behavior of Carburized DIN 1.7131 Grade Steel

The effects of the deep cryogenic heat treatment on the microstructural changes,wear resistance,and hardness of carburized DIN 1.7131 grade steel were investigated.Results show that cryogenic heat treatment reduced the retained austenite and increased the carbide amount.In addition,after the cryogenic heat treatment,carbide shows a more uniform distribution,as compared to the conventionally treated ones.It was also clarified that the hardness of the cryogenically treated samples was improved,but the relative improvement decreases with the distance as the surface increases.It has been shown that the wear resistance improves due to the cryogenic heat treatment,and the predominant wear mechanism is a combination of the adhesive and tribo-chemical wear.

Evolution of carbides on surface of carburized MSONiL bearing steel

The dissolution and precipitation behaviors of the carbides in carburized M50NiL steel were derived from different solution and tempering treatments.Totally four kinds of carbides of (V,Cr)-rich MC,(Mo,Fe)-rich M2C,Fe-rich M3C and (Fe,Cr)-rich M7C3 were obtained from the carburized M50NiL steel after different heat treatments.The key carbides of carbufized M50NiL steel were proved to be tough V-rich MC and Cr-rich M7C3.The highest hardness (634 HV)and the optimal surface structure with 1.0% volume fraction of uniformly distributed MC carbides were obtained after the carbufized M50NiL steel was solution-treated at 1150 ℃ and tempered at 500 ℃.The quantitative statistics show that 63%of the MC carbides were less than 200 nm under that heat treatment.The variety of carbides changed with solution and tempering conditions.When the solution temperature increased from 1050 to 1150 ℃,the undissolved carbides were proved to be Fe-rich M7C3,Mo-fich MC and (Mo,Fe)-fich M2C.Besides,the equivalent content of V-rich MC was found increased when the tempering temperature changed from 500 to 550 ℃.The combination of high-temperature solution and low-temperature tempering is recommendable heat treatment for the high hardness as well as the tiny and uniformly distributed carbides.

Microstructure and tribological properties of carburized 95W–3.5Ni–1.0Fe–0.5Co heavy alloy

Tungsten heavy alloys(WHAs) produced by powder technology are widely used for the mechanical manufacturing, electronic and defense components, etc.Tribological properties of these alloys need to be improved to meet the severe service conditions demanded. Carburization is a promising way to resolve this problem. In this work, microstructure and tribological properties of the carburized 95W–3.5Ni–1.0Fe–0.5Co heavy alloy were investigated in comparison with those of the untreated alloy. Results show that the carburized layer consists of a porous, outer WC layer and a modified W grain layer surrounded by Fe_6W_6C and Co_6W_6C at 970℃, regardless of the carburizing time. The depth of the carburized layer linearly increases in a relatively short time and slightly increases during the subsequent period. Surface roughness increases with carburizing time. Carburization can stabilize friction coefficient and effectively improve the wear resistance of the tungsten heavy alloy due to its significantly increased hardness and non-deformability, but the porous structure in the WC layer has a negative influence on its wear resistance. The carburized layer is damaged in the porous WC layer in the form of the spalling of WC particles where there are some microcracks and micropores, accompanied with peeling due to the solid tribofilm being pushed away.

Effect of manganese on the catalytic performance of an iron-manganese bimetallic catalyst for light olefin synthesis

A systematic study was carried out to investigate the promotion effect of manganese on the performance of a coprecipitated iron-manganese bimetallic catalyst for the light olefins synthesis from syngas. The catalyst samples were characterized by N2 physisorption, transmis- sion electron microscopy （TEM）, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy （XPS）, powder X-ray diffraction （XRD）, Mossbauer spectroscopy, H2- differential thermogravimetric analysis （H2-DTG）, CO temperature-programmed reduction （CO-TPR） and CO2 temperature-programmed des- orption （CO2-TPD）. The Fischer-Tropsch synthesis （FTS） performance of the catalyst was measured at 1.5 MPa, 250 ℃ and syngas with H2/CO ratio of 2.0. The characterization results indicated that the addition of manganese decreases the catalyst crystallite size, and improves the catalyst BET surface area and pore volume. The presence of manganese suppresses the catalyst reduction and carburization in H2, CO and syngas, respectively. The addition of manganese improves the catalytic activity of water-gas shift reaction and suppresses the oxidation of iron carbides in the FTS reaction. The incorporation of manganese improves the catalyst surface basicity and results in a significant improvement in the selectivities to light olefins and heavy hydrocarbons （C5＋）, and furthermore an inhibition of methane formation in FTS. The pure iron catalyst （Mn-00） has the highest initial FTS catalytic activity （65%） and the lowest selectivity （17.35 wt%） to light olefins （C2=-C4=）. The addition of an appropriate amount of manganese can improve the catalyst FTS activity.

Microstructure of Surface Layer Formed at Low Temperature and High Carbon Concentration Carburizing with Rare Earth Element

A suitable carburized microstructure with fine granular dispersed carbides in hypereutectoid zone,ultra fine martensite in matrix and recrystallized austenite to be refined to the grain size of 12～14 has been obtained by a new process,which is a high carbon concentration carburizing with rare earth element at low temperature(860～880℃)in a discontinuous gas carburization furnace.There was not much difference for the microstructure in eutectic zone between this and conventional process.Forming mechanism of granular carbides has been also studied in this paper.

Effect of Rare Earths on Diffusion Coefficient and Transfer Coefficient of Carbon during Carburizing

The diffusion coefficient of carbon in surface layer of steel-20 rare earth carburixed at 880 degreesC and 900 degreesC for 8 h was calculated by substituting the measured layer depths into the diffusion equation. The mathematical model of the transfer coefficient of carbon was deduced based on the kinetics of weight gain during gas carburizing. The calculated results show that the main reason why the gas carburizing process is accelerated is due to the obvious increase in the diffusion coefficient and transfer coefficient of carbon resulted from the addition of RE.

Numerical Simulation on Carburizing and Quenching of Gear Ring

The carburizing process of the gear ring was simulated by taking into account the practical carburizing and quenching techniques of the gear ring and by solving the diffusion equation. The carbon content distribution in the carburized layer was obtained. Based on the results, the quenching process of the gear ring was then simulated using the metallic thermodynamics and FEM： it was found that the carburization remarkably affects the quenching process. Microstructures and stress distributions of the gear ring in the quenching process were simulated, and the results are confirmed by experiments.