Phase Transformation of a Cold Work Tool Steel during Tempering

The hardness and microstructure evolution of a 8% Cr cold work tool steel during tempering for 40 h were investigated. Transmission electron microscope examinations showed that M_3C carbides precipitated from supersaturated martensite after tempering at 350 ℃. When the tempering temperature was higher than 520 ℃,the M_（23）C_6 carbides precipitated to substitute for M_3C carbides. After ageing at the temperature of 520 ℃ for 40 h,it was observed that very fine and dense secondary Mo_2C precipitates were precipitated. Thus,it can be concluded that the early stage of Mo_2C-carbide precipitation is like to be Gunier-Preston（ G-P） zone formed by [Mo-C] segregation group which is responsible for the secondary hardening peak at 520 ℃. Overageing at 700 ℃ resulted in recovery of martensitic microstructure and precipitation of M_（23）C_6 carbides.When ageing at 700 ℃ for more than 20 h,recrystallization occurred,which resulted in a change of the matrix morphology from martensitic plates to equiaxed ferrite. It was noticed that the size of recrystallized grain / subgrain was very fine,which was attributed to the pinning effect of M_（23）C_6 precipitates.

Effects of Tempering Temperature and Mo/Ni on Microstructures and Properties of Lath Martensitic Wear-Resistant Steels

The tempering behavior was experimentally studied in lath martensitic wear-resistant steels with various Mo/Ni contents after tempering at different temperatures from 200to 600℃.It is shown that a good combination of hardness（HV）（420-450）and-20℃impact toughness（38-70J）can be obtained after quenching and tempering at 200-250 ℃.The microstructure at this temperature is lath structure with rod-like and/or flake-likeε-carbide with about 10nm in width and 100nm in length in the matrix,and the fracture mechanism is quasi-cleavage fracture combining with ductile fracture.Tempering at temperature from 300to 400℃results in the primary quasi-cleavagefracture due to the carbide transformation from resolved retained austenite and impurity segregation between laths or blocks.However,when the tempering temperature is higher than 500℃,the hardness（HV）is lower than 330 and the fracture mechanism changes to ductile fracture due to the spheroidization and coarsening of cementite.Additions of Mo and Ni have no significant effects on the carbides morphologies at low tempering temperatures,but improve the resistance to softening and embrittling for steels when tempered at above 350℃.

Comparison of microstructure and property of high chromium bearing steel with and without nitrogen addition

Microstructure and property of bearing steel with and without nitrogen addition were investigated by microstructural observation and hardness measurement after different heat treatment processing. Based on the microstructural observation of both 9Cr18 steel and X90N steel, it was found that nitrogen addition could effectively reduce the amount and size of coarse carbides and also refine the original austenite grain size. Due to addition of nitrogen, more austenite phase was found in X90N steel than in 9Cr18 steel. The retained austenite of X90N steel after quenching at 1050℃ could be reduced from about 60% to about 7 9% by cold treatment at -73℃ and subsequent tempering, and thus finally increased the hardness up to 60 HRC after low temperature tempering and to 63 HRC after high temperature tempering. Furthermore, both the wear and corrosion resistance of X90N steel were found much more superior than those of 9Cr18 steel, which was attributed to the addition of nitrogen. It was proposed at last that nitrogen alloying into the high chromium bearing steel was a promising way not only to refine the size of both carbides and austenite, but also to achieve high hardness, high wear property and improved corrosion resistance of the stainless bearing steel.