APPLICATION OF RARE EARTH IN SURFACE HEAT TREATMENT OF HOT-WORKING DIE STEELS

This paper studies a compound treatment. i. e. liquid S , N,C co-diffusing with rare earth (RE) and then oxidization , for hot-working die steels , and the effect of RE on thermal fatigue behavior of the diffused layer. XRD and SEM energy spectrum prove that trace RE element actually penetrates into the surface layer of steels. The result shows that RE can reduce the gradient of change of hardness in diffused layer, improve the morphology and distribution of compounds , and reduce the degree of surface alligator crack for thermal fatigue. The behavior of thermal fatigue of hot-working die steels is raised by 70% or so after the application of RE. The effect of RE is analysed according to the theory.

CYCLIC SOFTENING IN HOT-WORKING DIE STEELS DURING LOW-CYCLE FATIGUE

The characteristics and microstructural changes of cyclic softening in hot-working die steels 5CrNiMo and 5Cr2NiMoVSi were studied under strain controlled low-cycle fatigue.The re- sults show that the cyclic softening is featured in both steels hardened in different conditions under the strain controlled amplitude range of Δε_t/2=0.6-1.8×10^(-2).The softening effect mainly occurs in some initial cycles and the stress amplitude varies slightly in the sequential cycles,i.e.the softening effect is minified.No obvious stress saturation phenomenon was ob- served during the whole cyclic deformation.The TEM analysis shows that the cyclic softening is related to heterogenity of plastic deformation.The softening of the tested steels is caused by the formation of the dislocation cell structure with low density and low internal stress,and by the fragmentation and redissolution of fine carbides into matrix.

Effect of Rare Earth Composite Modification on Microstructure and Properties of a New Cast Hot-Work Die Steel

The effects of RE modification on structure and the properties of a new cast hot work die (CHD) steel were investigated. The grains of the CHD steel are refined by RE modification. With the increase of RE addition, both grain size and inclusion amount are reduced. Appropriate amount of RE results in decrease in inclusion amount and formation of spheroidal inclusions uniformly-distributed in steel, so that the morphology and distribution of inclusions are improved. RE composite modification favors the formation of bainite, austenite and fine lath martensite with dense dislocation. When the residual RE content reaches 0.02%, no obvious changes in strength and hardness are found, while fracture toughness and threshold of fatigue crack growth are increased. The impact toughness, elongation and reduction of cross sectional area are increased by a factor of two, and thermal fatigue resistance is also improved.

Calculation and Analysis of Valence Electron Structure of Mo_2C and V_4C_3 in Hot Working Die Steel

Taking the hot working die steel （HWDS） 4Cr3Mo2NbVNi as an example, the phase electron structures （PES） and the biphase interface electron structures （BIES） of Mo2C and V4 C3 , which are two kinds of important carbides precipitated during tempering in steel were calculated, on the basis of the empirical electron theory of solids and molecules and the improved TFD theory. The influence of Mo2 C and V4 C3 on the mechanical properties of HWDS has been analyzed at electron structure level, and the fundamental reason that the characteristic of the PES and the BIES of carbides decides the behavior of them has been revealed.

Microstructure and Properties of Hot Working Die Steel H13MOD

Compared with H13 steel, the influences of different heat treatment process on the microstructure and properties of the new type of hot working die steel H13MOD were studied. The results show that the complete aus tenitizing temperature of H13MOD is around 1030 ℃ and the quenching hardness achieves the maximum value at this temperature. While for H13, the complete austenitizing temperature is above 1100 ℃ and the quenching hardness rise constantly with the quenching temperature increasing. In quenching process, the undissolved MC carbides can prevent the coarsening of grain in both steels. With the rise of quenching temperature, when MC carbides dissolve completely, the grain grows quickly. The hardness and strength of H13MOD at higher tempering temperature （above 570 ℃） are nearly the same as those of H13, but its toughness is higher than that of H13. Mo2C carbide is the main strengthening phase in H13MOD, which is attributed to the higher content of Mo. The quantity of VC eutectic car- bides is reduced because of lower content of V in H13MOD, which plays an important role in enhancing the impact toughness of H13MOD. Under a certain strength condition, H13MOD steel can be used in the environment that higher toughness is required and the service life of die casting mold can be improved.

Influence of Chemical Composition on Phase Transformation Temperature and Thermal Expansion Coefficient of Hot Work Die Steel

On the basis of the uniform design method, six kinds of martensitic hot work die steels were designed. The phase transformation temperatures including Ac1 , Ac3 , and Ms were measured by DIL805A quenching dilatometer. The influences of the main elements on phase transformation temperatures were analyzed by quadratic stepwise regression analysis, and three corresponding equations were obtained. These equations, in which the interactions of the elements were considered, showed more effectiveness than the traditional ones. In addition, the thermal expansion coefficients of these steels in annealed state and quenched state were also obtained during the tests. The influences of chemical composition and temperature on the thermal expansion coefficient were analyzed; the equations obtained were verified by using several kinds of steels. The predicted values were in accordance with the results of the experiments.

Inclusion Variations of Hot Working Die Steel H13 in Refining Process

Inclusion variations of die steel H13, including changes of species, morphologies, compositions, amounts and sizes, in the production of EAF-LF--VD-ingot casting-electro slag refining （ESR） procedure, were investi- gated by systematic sampling, and analyzed with scanning electron microscope （SEM）, energy dispersive spectrum （EDS） , and metallographic microscope. The variation mechanism was studied by comprehensive analysis of total oxygen, nitrogen, and acid soluble aluminum as well as chemical test of refining slag. Based on the investigations, technical measures for cleanness improvement were discussed. The resuhs show that oxide inclusions in H13 steel change from irregular Al2O3- near globular CaO-MgO-Al2O3 and CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 complex inclusions-finer CaO- Al2O3-SiO2 inclusions with higher CaO content-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 inclusions with higher Al2O3 content and irregular MgO-AI203 inclusions--fine irregular MgO-Al2O3-CaS inclusions in various steps of the production; the variations are related with changes of acid soluble aluminum content, reactions between slag and steel, re-oxidation of liquid steel during casting, and refining of ESR. It is also found that Al2O3 inclusions are modified by refining slag in LF and VD refining~ and ESR plays a good role in inclusion removal, especially in controlling the large linear VC-CrC- MoC inclusions distributed in grain boundaries. It is suggested that casting protection should be improved, and the basicity of refining slag and acid soluble aluminum content in steel should be raised.

Optimization of friction and wear characteristics of varied cryogenically treated hot die steel grade AISI-H13 under dry condition

Cryogenic treatment (CT) is a relatively new field,which has emerged during the last three decades of the twentieth century.However,its impact on material shaping and making tool life,and enhancement of their mechanical properties are quite remarkable.The selection of appropriate process parameters for CT is essential for cost reduction and optimum productivity.This study focuses on the influence of key parameters of CT cycles (i.e.,soaking temperature and duration) on the friction and wear behavior of AISI H13 hot die steel under dry sliding conditions against hardened and tempered AISI D3 cold work tool steel (counter face) at varying sliding speeds and loads.Mathematical models have been developed for wear rate,the average coefficient of friction,and maximum contact temperature using the Box-Cox methodology.The developed mathematical models have been validated by comparing with the experimental results.Moreover,the optimum values of the process parameter have been employed to maximize the output and validate the same by confirmation of the experiments.To the best of our knowledge,this is the first study that demonstrates the modeling and optimization of sliding friction and wear characteristics of AISI H13 under varied CT cycles.

Modeling effects of alloying elements and heat treatment parameters on mechanical properties of hot die steel with back-propagation artificial neural network

Materials data deep-excavation is very important in materials genome exploration.In order to carry out materials data deep-excavation in hot die steels and obtain the relationships among alloying elements,heat treatment parameters and materials properties,a 11×12×12×4 back-propagation（BP）artificial neural network（ANN）was set up.Alloying element contents,quenching and tempering temperatures were selected as input;hardness,tensile and yield strength were set as output parameters.The ANN shows a high fitting precision.The effects of alloying elements and heat treatment parameters on the properties of hot die steel were studied using this model.The results indicate that high temperature hardness increases with increasing alloying element content of C,Si,Mo,W,Ni,V and Cr to a maximum value and decreases with further increase in alloying element content.The ANN also predicts that the high temperature hardness will decrease with increasing quenching temperature,and possess an optimal value with increasing tempering temperature.This model provides a new tool for novel hot die steel design.