Fretting Wear Behavior of Medium Carbon Steel Modified by Low Temperature Gas Multi-component Thermo-chemical Treatment

The introduction of surface engineering is expected to be an effective strategy against fretting damage. A large number of studies show that the low gas multi-component （such as carbon, nitrogen, sulphur and oxygen, etc） thermo-chemical treatment（LTGMTT） can overcome the brittleness of nitriding process, and upgrade the surface hardness and improve the wear resistance and fatigue properties of the work-pieces significantly. However, there are few reports on the anti-fretting properties of the LTGMTT modified layer up to now, which limits the applications of fretting. So this paper discusses the fretting wear behavior of modified layer on the surface of LZ50 （0.48%C） steel prepared by low temperature gas multi-component thermo-chemical treatment （LTGMTT） technology. The fretting wear tests of the modified layer flat specimens and its substrate （LZ50 steel） against 52100 steel balls with diameter of 40 mm are carried out under normal load of 150 N and displacement amplitudes varied from 2 μm to 40 μm. Characterization of the modified layer and dynamic analyses in combination with microscopic examinations were performed through the means of scanning electron microscope（SEM）, optical microscope（OM）, X-ray diffraction（XRD） and surface profilometer. The experimental results showed that the modified layer with a total thickness of 60 μm was consisted of three parts, i.e., loose layer, compound layer and diffusion layer. Compared with the substrate, the range of the mixed fretting regime（MFR） of the LTGMTT modified layer diminished, and the slip regime（SR） of the modified layer shifted to the direction of smaller displacement amplitude. The coefficient of friction（COF） of the modified layer was lower than that of the substrate in the initial stage. For the modified layer, the damage in partial slip regime（PSR） was very slight. The fretting wear mechanism of the modified layer both in MFR and SR was abrasive wear and delamination. The modified layer presented better wear resistance than the substrate in PSR and MFR; however, in SR, the wear resistance of the modified layer decreased with the increase of the displacement amplitudes. The experimental results can provide some experimental bases for promoting industrial application of LTGMTT modified layer in anti-fretting wear.

INVESTIGATION OF FRACTURE DESIGN FOR MEDIUM CARBON STEEL UNDER EXTRA-LOW CYCLIC FATIGUE IN AXIAL LOADING

The extra-low cyclic fracture problem of medium carbon steel under axial fatigue loading was investigated. Several problems, such as the relations of the cycle times to the depth and tip radius of the notch, loading frequency, loading range and the parameters of fracture design for medium carbon steel on condition of extra-low axial fatigue loading were discussed based on the experiments. Experimental results indicated that the tension-pressure fatigue loading mode was suitable for extra-low cyclic fatigue fracture design of medium carbon steel and it resulted in low energy consumption, fracture surface with high quality, low cycle times, and high efficiency. The appropriate parameters were as follows： loading frequency 3-5 Hz, notch tip radius r = （0.2-0.3） mm, opening angle α = 60°, and notch depth t = （0.14-0.17）D.

The Study on the Corrosion Behaviour of Welded and Unwelded Medium Carbon Steel in Sodium Chloride(Nacl)Solutions

The research work was based on the study of the corrosion behaviour of the welded and un-welded medium carbon steel in sodium chloride solutions.The Sodium chloride solutions used are 1ml,2ml,3ml and 4ml for both welded and un-welded medium carbon steel in NaCl.The experiments were conducted in two ways,the weight loss analyses of measurements and using the electrochemical analyzer workstation to determine the potential dynamic of the samples.The samples for the weight loss measurements were prepared from rolled products obtained at the foundry shop.Two medium carbon steel materials were sourced with different chemical compositions as sample A and B.The materials were prepared to accommodate the experiments for the determination of welded and un-welded medium carbon steel.A total of sixty-eight(68)samples were produced,prepared and used for the weight loss measurements/analyses the experiments.Thirty-four of the samples each were prepared for both the welded and un-welded experiments.All the samples were produced and prepared through the use of various machining processes with the use of a lathe machine for planning,milling.Thirty-four(34)of the sample preparation were further welded in readiness of the experiments.Sixty-eight breakers were sourced for and used.Ten(10)other samples were used for the determination with the use of the electrochemical analyzer.The chemical compositions of the medium carbon steel were determined with the use of SPECTRO Analytical Instruments.A metallurgical inverted optical microscope was used to determine the microstructures of the materials.The Scanning Electron Microscopy with EDS was used to determine the morphologies of the materials.The thirty-four of the samples were welded this process was performed to determine the effects of welding on the material surrounding the weldments.These materials were made into sizes with the use of power hacksaw(i.e.2cm by 2cm).Other materials were prepared to 1cm x 1cm thickness from the same materials.The Tafel plot experiments and that of the open Circuit Potential Time(OCPT)were carried out with the use of Electrochemical Analyzer/Workstation.The Medium carbon steel materials were exposed for fifty-four(54)days,with an interval of 3days.The corrosion rates analyses were determined and the graphs of the corrosion rates(mm/yr.)and other parameters were used plotted against No of days exposed.

Texture of Rotary-Friction-Welded from Dissimilar Medium Carbon Steels

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the texture in dissimilar medium carbon steels welded by rotary friction technique. The Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD) technique was the main technique used to investigate the effect of welding on grain size and grain crystallographic orientation in the welded joint. Moreover, the effect of isothermal heat treatment at 600°C on welded joint has been studied knowing that this annealing allows to decrease the residual stresses. EBSD results revealed different subzones in welded joint. The texture in the weld is essentially composed of three components: Goss {110} <001>, Rotated Cube {100} <110>, and Rotated Goss {110} <110> orientation. The heat treatments applied on welded material had a slight effect on texture and grain size.

Ductile Fracture Characterization for Medium Carbon Steel Using Continuum Damage Mechanics

This paper presents the ductility characterization for a medium carbon steel, for two microstructural conditions, that has been evaluated using the continuum damage mechanics theory, as proposed by Kachanov and developed by Lemaitre. Tensile tests were carried out using loading-unloading cycles in order to capture the gradual deterioration of the elastic modulus, which may be linked to the ductile damage increase with increasing plastic strain. The mechanical parameters for the isotropic damage evolution equation were obtained and then used as inputs for a plasticity-damage coupled nu- merical algorithm, validated through numerical simulations of the experimental tensile tests. A comparison between the SAE 1050 steels studied and two carbon steel alloys (obtained from the literature), provided some basic understanding of the influence of the carbon level on the evolution of the damage parameters. An empiric relationship for this set of parameters, which can provide useful data for preliminary studies envisaging prediction of ductile failure in carbon steels, is also presented.

Corrosion Behaviour of Heat Treated Rolled Medium Carbon Steel in Marine Environment

Investigation were carried out to study the corrosion behaviour of heat treated rolled medium carbon steel and as-rolled medium carbon steel in sodium chloride medium. The as-rolled medium carbon steel was heated to a temperature of 830℃ to completely austenize it and water quenched;it was reheated to the ferrite-austenite dual phase region at a temperature of 745℃ below the effective Ac3 point. The steel was then rapidly quenched in water and tempered at a temperature of 480℃. The corrosion behaviour of the steel in marine medium (NaCl) was studied by weight loss measurement. The weight loss is between 0.02g-0.11g for the as-rolled steel and 0.01g – 0.013g for the heat treated steel. The results obtained showed that the as-rolled medium carbon steel is more susceptible to corrosion than the heat treated rolled medium carbon steel.

Cold extrusion deformation behavior of medium carbon steel after quenching and tempering

By taking 40Cr as a specific object, cold extrusion deformation behavior of medium carbon steel after quenching and tempering was studied by experimental works. The influence of deformation extent (10%-50%), cone angle of die (90 °-120 °), hardness after quenching and tempering (HRC21-29) and lubricated condition on the forming load was analyzed. The results show that there is no central bursting and micro crack in the inner of the extruded specimen, and the forming quality is good. The double-peak phenomenon takes place at the front-end of the specimen; the double-peak index increases with deformation extent, and larger deformation can avoid the double-peak phenomenon. The deformation extent is the most important influencing factor, and the lubricated condition almost has no influence, which means that the phosphate coating plus soap process is still a proper lubrication method for cold extrusion of medium carbon steel after quenching and tempering. By investigating the microscopic structure before and after deformation, the initial equiaxed grain is elongated in the extrusion direction, and this feature is more significant at the front-end of specimen.

Effect of Heat Treatment Processes on the Mechanical Properties of Medium Carbon Steel

The importance of various form of heat treatment operations on medium carbon steel in order to forester the problem that may arise in making a wrong choice of these steel materials or faulty heat treatment operations which may give rise to serious disruption in terms of human safety, higher cost and untimely failure of the machine components is of great concern. The mechanical properties such as ductility, toughness, strength, hardness and tensile strength can easily be modified by heat treating the medium carbon steel to suit a particular design purpose. Tensile specimens were produced from medium carbon steel and were subjected to various forms of heat treatment processes like annealing, normalizing, hardening and tempering. The stiffness, ductility, ultimate tensile strength, yield strength and hardness of the heat treated samples were observed from their stress-strain curve. The value of the yield strength (σy) was observed to be higher for the tempered specimen possibly as a result of the grain re-arrangement, followed by the hardened, normalized and annealed specimens. The value of the ultimate tensile strength (σu) were also observed to be in the order;hardened> tempered>normalized>annealed.

Evaluation of Mechanical Properties of Medium Carbon Steel Quenched in Water and Oil

Samples of medium carbon steel were examined after heating between 900℃ - 980℃ and soaked for 45 minutes in a muffle furnace before quenching in palm oil and water separately. The mechanical behavior of the samples was investigated using universal tensile testing machine for tensile test and Vickers pyramid method for hardness testing. The microstructure of the quenched samples was studied using optical microscope. The tensile strength and hardness values of the quenched samples were relatively higher than those of the ascast samples, suggesting improved mechanical properties. However, samples quenched in palm oil displayed better properties compared with that of water-quenched samples. This behavior was traced to the fact that the carbon particles in palm oil quenched samples were more uniform and evenly distributed, indicating the formation of more pearlite structure, than those quenched in water and the as-received samples.

Effects of cooling rate and Al on MnS formation in medium-carbon non-quenched and tempered steels

The effect of Al on the morphology of MnS in medium-carbon non-quenched and tempered steel was investigated at three different cooling rates of 0.24, 0.43, and 200°C·s^-1. The formation mechanisms of three types of MnS were elucidated based on phase diagram information combined with crystal growth models. The morphology of MnS is governed by the precipitation mode and the growth conditions. A monotectic reaction and subsequent fast solidification lead to globular Type I MnS. Type II MnS inclusions with different morphological characteristics form as a result of a eutectic reaction followed by the growth in the Fe matrix. Type III MnS presents a divorced eutectic morphology. At the cooling rate of 0.24°C·s^-1, the precipitation of dispersed Type III MnS is significantly enhanced by the addition of 0.044wt% acid-soluble Al（Als）, while Type II MnS clusters prefer to form in steels with either 0.034wt% or 0.052wt% Als. At the relatively higher cooling rates of 200°C·s^-1 and 0.43°C·s^-1, the formation of Type I and Type II MnS inclusions is promoted, and the influence of Al is negligible. The results of this work are expected to be employed in practice to improve the mechanical properties of non-quenched and tempered steels.

Effect of Cyclic Annealing on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Medium Carbon Steel

The microstructure and mechanical properties of medium carbon steel after cyclic heat treatment were in- vestigated. The effects of cyclic numbers and long time annealing on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the experimental steel were compared. A short duration （5 min） holding at 1023 K （above A1 temperature） and a short-duration （3 min） holding at 893 K are adopted in each cyclic heat treatment. The spheroidization is accelerated during cyclic heat treatment, and the spheroidizing ratio grows with cyclic numbers. After 12-cycle heat treatments, there are few incompletely spheroidized regions in the specimens, and cementite lamellae mostly change into cement- ite particles. The morphological character of cementite for 12 cycles is similar to that undergoing annealing for 10 h at 973 K. The strength of the experimental steel after 5-cycle heat treatment is the lowest in the following cyclic heat treatment, but it is still higher than that of specimens with subcritical annealing over a long period （10 h）. After 12- cycle heat treatment, the strength of the experimental steel is close to that of the normalized steel, and the plasticity is the best in all heat treated specimens.

Improvement of Hole-Expansion Property for Medium Carbon Steels by Ultra Fast Cooling After Hot Strip Rolling

The improvement of hole-expansion properties for medium carbon steels by ultra fast cooling （UFC） after hot strip rolling was investigated.It was found that finely dispersed spherical cementite could be formed after ultra fast cooling , coiling and annealing treatment.Tensile strength of the steel after annealing was measured to be about 440MPa.During hole-expansion test , cracks were observed in the edge region around the punched hole because necking or cracking took place when tangential elongation exceeded the forming limit.Cracks were mainly formed by the coalescence of micro-voids.Fine and homogeneous microstructure comprised of ferrite and spheroidized cementite could increase elongation values of the tested sheets by suppressing the combination of the adjacent micro-voids , resulting in the improved hole-expansion property.

Influence of Vanadium on Fracture Splitting Property of Medium Carbon Steel

The fracture splitting property of medium carbon steel 37MnSiS microalloyed with V up to 0. 45% was investigated by using simulated fracture splitting test,for the development of new crackable medium carbon steel to manufacture high performance connecting rod. Conventional high carbon steel C70S6 was used for comparison. The results show that the volume fraction of both ferrite and V-rich M（ C,N） particles increases,and the pearlite interlamellar spacing decreases with increasing V content,which in turn results in gradual increase of strength and decrease of ductility and impact energy. The fracture splitting property of the tested steel could be improved significantly due to the increase of V content mainly through the precipitation hardening mechanism of fine M（ C,N） precipitates. The fraction of brittle cleavage fracture in the crack initiation area increases noticeably with increasing V content and full brittle cleavage fracture surface could be obtained when V content was increased to 0. 45%. It is concluded that medium carbon steel with V content higher than about 0. 28% possesses not only comparable or even higher mechanical properties with those of conventional steel C70S6,but also excellent fracture splitting property,and therefore,is more suitable to fabricate high performance fracture splitting connecting rod.

Influence of soaking time in deep cryogenic treatment on the microstructure and mechanical properties of low-alloy medium-carbon HY-TUF steel

The influence of soaking time in deep cryogenic treatment on the tensile and impact properties of low-alloy medium-carbon HY-TUF steel was investigated in this study. Microstructural studies based on phase distribution mapping by electron backscatter diffraction show that the deep cryogenic process causes a decrease in the content of retained austenite and an increase in the volume fraction of η-carbide with increasing soaking time up to 48 h. The decrease in the content of retained austenite from ~1.23vol% to 0.48vol% suggests an isothermal martensitic transformation at 77 K. The η-type precipitates formed in deep cryogenic-treated martensite over 48 h have the Hirotsu and Nagakura orientation relation with the martensitic matrix. Furthermore, a high coherency between η-carbide and the martensitic matrix is observed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. The variations in macrohardness, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and ductility with soaking time in the deep cryogenic process show a peak/plateau trend.

Biomimetic coupling effect of non-smooth mechanical property and microstructural features on thermal fatigue behavior of medium carbon steel

Some kinds of particular functions possessed by natural organisms are often formed by coupling up the multiple typical features on their body surfaces. Inspired by the coupling phenomenon in biological system, the medium carbon steel specimens with the coupling effect of non-smooth mechanical property and microstructural features were fabricated by laser processing. Thermal fatigue behavior of specimens with biomimetic coupling surface was investigated and compared. The results confirmed that such a biomimetic method has the beneficial effect on improving the thermal fatigue property of medium carbon steel specimens. The related mechanisms behind the biomimetic coupling effect for explaining the enhanced thermal fatigue resistance were discussed preliminarily.

Influence of Cr, Mn and Mo Addition on Structure and Properties of V Microalloyed Medium Carbon Steels

The effect of austenitizing temperature and Cr, Mo and Mn addition on microstructure and mechanical properties of V microalloyed medium carbon steel has been studied by means of metallography and mechanical testing. The addition of Cr, Mn and Mo leads to a decrease in yield strength （YS） by approximate 100 MPa in comparison to the base steel. It is assumed that Mn and Mo increase hardenability by promoting the formation of bainitic sheaves （BS）, i.e. by suppressing the formation of ferrite-pearlite and acicular ferrite （FP-AF）. Cr at the level used in this work is not that effective. Presence and packet size of bainitic sheaves decrease the Charpy V-notch impact energy at 20 ℃ （CVN20） in comparison to ferrite-pearlite and acicular ferrite microstructures.

Microstructure and strength in ultrastrong cold-drawn medium carbon steel

Via traditional wire drawing,the medium carbon ferrite-pearlite(MCFP)steel wires can achieve the ultrahigh strength beyond 4 GPa normally for high-carbon pearlitic steel wires,but have a 30-60%lower production cost.The microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of medium carbon ferrite-pearlite steel wires have been investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy,transmission electron microscopy and tensile testing.The tensile strength of medium carbon ferrite-pearlite steel wires increases from 750 MPa up to 4120 MPa when the drawing strain increases up toε=6.4,which represents the highest strength reported so far-to our knowledge for a carbon steel with such low carbon content.At low and medium strains(ε≤1.95),the proeutectoid ferrite forms dense dislocation walls(DDWs)via dislocation activities,including sliding,accumulation,interaction,and tangling.With the drawing strain increase,the reorientation of DDWs to the drawing direction forms the coarse proeutectoid ferrite lamellae.Finally,the proeutectoid ferrite deformed to high strains is characterized by a lamellar morphology and the average lamellar spacing of proeutectoid ferrite is about 55 nm atε=6.4.The interlamellar spacing of pearlite and thickness of cementite decreases with the drawing strain increases.The dislocation density in ferrite lamellae increases with the drawing strain increases,and the dislocation density in ferrite lamellae is 7.8×10^(15)m^(2)atε=4.19.A higher dislocation density of 3.1×10^(16)m^(2)can be obtained atε=6.4 by means of extrapolation and TEM investigations.The stress contributions of proeutectoid ferrite and pearlite to the flow stress are estimated based on quantified structural parameters.Based on the assumption that the stress contributions from different strengthening mechanisms are linearly additive and the general rule of mixtures,a good agreement between the measured and estimated flow stresses has been found in a large range of flow stress.The good application of the general rule of mixture to the medium carbon ferrite-pearlite steel wires indicates the importance of quantitative characterization of microstructural evolution and parameters with the strain.

Effect of RE-Modifier on Microstructure and Mechanical Property of High-Carbon Medium-Manganese Steel

The effect of RE-modifier on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high carbon-medium manganese steel has been investigated in present work.The results showed that the RE-modifier can refine the crystalline grain of high-carbon medium-manganese steel.The shape and distribution of carbides are improved and the columnar grains and phosphide in grain boundary are eliminated.Consequently,the impact toughness of the steel is increased by more than one time,compared with no addition of RE-modifier.

Effect of Boron on Delayed Fracture Resistance of Medium-Carbon High Strength Spring Steel

The delayed fracture behavior of medium carbon high strength spring steel containing different amounts of boron （0. 000 5%, 0. 001 6 %） was studied using sustained load delayed fracture test. The results show that delayed fracture resistance of boron containing steels is higher than that of conventional steel 60Si2MnA at the same strength level and it increases with the increase of boron eontent from 0. 000 5% to 0. 001 6%. The delayed fracture mode is mainly intergranular in the boron containing steels tempered at 350℃, which indicates that the addition of boron does not change the fracture character. However, the increase of boron content enlarges the size of the crack initia tion area. Further study of phase analysis indicates that most boron is in solid solution, and only a very small quantity of boron is in the M3 （C, B） phase.