Esa Vuorinen

Evaluation of potential of high Si high C steel nanostructured bainite for wear and fatigue applications

Abstract The present study is concerned with the potential of high carbon, high silicon steel grades isothermally transformed to bainite at low temperature (<300°C). The first part gives an overview of the design principles, allowing very high strength and ductility to be achieved while minimising transformation duration. Wear and fatigue properties are then investigated for over 10 variants of such materials, manufactured in the laboratory or industrially. The results are discussed against published data. Tensile strengths above 2 GPa are routinely achieved, with, in one case, an exceptional and unprecedented total elongation of over 20%. Bainite plate thickness and retained austenite content are shown to be important factors in controlling the yield strength, though additional, non-negligible parameters remain to be quantified. Rolling–sliding wear performances are found to be exceptional, with as little as 1% of the specific wear rate of conventional 100Cr6 isothermally transformed to bainite. It is suggested that this results from the decomposition of retained austenite in the worn layer, which considerably increases hardness and presumably introduces compressive residual stresses. Fatigue performance was slightly improved over 100Cr6 for one of the two industrially produced materials but significantly lower otherwise. Factors controlling fatigue resistance require further investigations.

Nanostructured steel industrialisation: plausible reality

Abstract It is not the first time that a consortium of steel makers, end users and scientists end up with unique approaches and developments in the physical metallurgy of steels. The present paper reveals the scientific and technological developments of a consortium sharing a common intrigue and interest for a unique microstructure, nanostructured bainite. Also known as low temperature bainite, its unique properties rely solely on the scale of the miscrostructure obtained by heat treatment at low temperature (150–350°C). Careful design based on phase transformation theory, some well known metallurgy facts and the necessary industrial experience were the ingredients for a further step towards the industrialisation of these microstructures.

Wear Characteristic of Surface Hardened Ausferritic Si-Steel

Abstract High strength steels can be produced by austempering of Si-containing steels. It is possible to achieve high toughness and good wear resistance in these steels. Surface hardening of this group of steels can further increase the surface hardness and wear resistance and in combination with high strength in the bulk, also the fatigue strength. Surface hardening by laser-hardening has been performed on steel 55Si7 after austempering of the steel in order to create a ferritic-austenitic carbide free microstructure. Tempering effects and hardness values have been studied. Optical as well as scanning electron microscopy has been used together with x-ray diffractometry in the characterization of the micro-structural changes. Wear resistance testing of austempered and laser hardened samples respectively of the Si-alloyed steel have been reported and also compared with that of the conventional Cr-alloyed steel. The results of the specific phase transformation from austenite to martensite during wear process will be reported.

Erosive-abrasive wear behavior of carbide-free bainitic and boron steels compared in simulated field conditions

The wear resistance of carbide-free bainitic microstructures have recently shown to be excellent in sliding, sliding-rolling, and erosive-abrasive wear. Boron steels are often an economically favorable alternative for similar applications. In this study, the erosive-abrasive wear performance of the carbide-free bainitic and boron steels with different heat treatments was studied in mining-related conditions. The aim was to compare these steels and to study the microstructural features affecting wear rates. The mining-related condition was simulated with an application oriented wear test method utilizing dry abrasive bed of 8–10 mm granite particles. Different wear mechanisms were found; in boron steels, micro-cutting and micro-ploughing were dominating mechanisms, while in the carbide-free bainitic steels, also impact craters with thin platelets were observed. Moreover, the carbide-free bainitic steels had better wear performance, which can be explained by the different microstructure. The carbide-free bainitic steels had fine ferritic-austenitic microstructure, whereas in boron steels microstructure was martensitic. The level of retained austenite was quite high in the carbide-free bainitic steels and that was one of the factors improving the wear performance of these steels. The hardness gradients with orientation of the deformation zone on the wear surfaces were one of the main affecting factors as well. Smoother work hardened hardness profiles were considered beneficial in these erosive-abrasive wear conditions.

Microstructure analysis and mechanical properties of Low alloy High strength Quenched and Partitioned Steel

Gleeble study of the quenching and partitioning (Q&P) process has been performed on Domex 960 steel (Fe, 0.08 %C, 1.79 %Mn, 0.23 %Si, 0.184 %Ti, and 0.038 %Al). The effect of different Q&P conditions on microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. The aim of the process is to produce a fine grained microstructure for better ductility and controlled amounts of different micro-constituents to increase the strength and toughness simultaneously. Three different quenching temperatures, three partitioning temperatures and three partitioning times have been selected to process the 27 specimens by Gleeble® 1500. The specimens were characterized by means of OM, SEM, XRD, hardness and impact tests. It was found that, fine lath martensite with retained austenite is achievable without high amount of Si or Al in the composition although lack of these elements may cause the formation of carbides and decrease the available amount of carbon for partitioning into the austenite. The hardness increases as the quenching temperature is decreased, however, at highest partitioning temperature (640◦C) the hardness increases sharply due to extensive precipitate formation.

Powder Metallurgically Produced Carbide Free Bainite

Steels with carbide free bainitic (CFB) microstructures show excellent strength, toughness and wear resistance. Cast or wrought products produced by conventional metallurgy have become gradually introduced in manufacturing of numerous machine components. The required silicon addition of more than 1.5wt% in CFB-steels limits the possibilities to produce components of these steels by P/M methods. The aim of this work has been to investigate the possibilites to produce CFB-steels by pressing and sintering. Four different powder mixtures based on Distaloy DC powder have been pressed to a relative density of 90 % and sintered in a N2-H2 atmosphere at 1150 °C. The sintered components were then austenitized followed by austempering at a temperature above the martensite start temperature. Tensile and impact testing together with microhardness measurements have been performed. The microstructures were studied by optical microscopy as well as SEM and XRD-methods. The tensile strength values achieved varied from 313 to 737 MPa, the elongation after fracture were between 0.1 and 0.2%. The impact toughness values varied between 4 and 11 J. The hardness of the bainite after short sintering time varied between 630 and 710 HV and the hardness of the CFB was 350 HV after short sintering time but reached 573 after prolonged sintering. The microstructure consisted mainly of bainite, small amount of CFB mixed with austenite but also of ferrite and retained austenite after short sintering time. A longer sintering time created a structure consiting of mainly CFB with bainite and a small amount of ferrite. The most interesting applications for P/M produced CFB-containing steels should be components subjected to sliding or rolling-sliding wear loads, as gears. The hardness and strenght values achieved in the present work indicate that P/M produced CFB-steels can prove superior to conventional P/M steels in many applications.

In Situ High Temperature X-Ray Studies on Bainitic Transformation of Austempered Silicon Alloyed Steels

The in-situ X-ray diffraction observations of the bainitic transformation of silicon alloyed steels were performed using the high temperature X-ray diffraction technique. The experimental results have shown that the volume fraction and carbon content of austenite remains a constant value which indicate that the transformation is almost finished after the early stages of austempering transformation. Asymmetry diffraction peaks are obtained for samples at the early stage of transformation due to a heterogeneous distribution of carbon in different regions of austenite and thus exists two types of austenite: low-carbon austenite (γLC) and the high-carbon austenite (γHC). The experimental results supports that the bainite growth is by a non-diffusive mechanism when austempering temperature is in the lower bainite transformation temperature.

Effect of Tempering on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Laser Welded and Post-Weld Treated AHSS Specimens

An advanced high strength steel (0.08 %C, 1.79 %Mn, 0.23 %Si) was subjected to different post-weld heat treatments by quenching & tempering treatments (Q&T) after laser welding to reduce the risk of martensite formation in a few seconds based on an idea of quench and partitioning (Q&P), mechanism. The thermal stability of retained austenite, microstructure development and mechanical properties have been studied at 2 tempering temperatures of 440°C (Ms) and 636°C (Bs), both for 15 minutes, by means of electron microscopy, dilatometry, hardness profile and tensile tests. Dilatometer study unveiled that redistribution of carbon atoms and precipitation of transition carbides occur around 150°C and austenite decomposition occur at 600°C. Tempering at 636°C resulted in notable effect on the mechanical properties, while no significant difference was detected at 440°C, except a slight hardness drop. The strength increased up to 12% for the different specimens without significant loss in ductility for all specimens tempered at 636°C, which may be caused by precipitation hardening and recrystallization of martensite lath boundaries during tempering around 600°C.

Standing Contact Fatigue Analyse of Steels with Different Microstructures

A Standing Contact Fatigue (SCF) test set up has been developed in order to facilitate quick testing of contact fatigue resistance of material surfaces. In this method the sample is pressed against a hard ball rapidly and the resulting crack formation is studied in order to evaluate the SCF resistance. Induction hardened surfaces of cam-ring steel and steels with pearlitic, martensitic, bainitic, ausferritic and quench and tempered microstructures have been studied. Characterization was performed by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and hardness measurements. Ring-cone cracks were found at the edge of the indentations but inside the indent in the surface hardened cam-ring steel samples. Sectional views revealed that these cracks also grow underneath the indentation. Radial cracks were found in non-surface hardened samples. The test of the SCF resistance of steels with different microstructures showed that the ausferritic microstructures tested shoved better SCF resistance than the quench and tempered samples with similar hardness. A comparison between different tempering temperatures of surface hardened steels showed that samples tempered at the higher temperature 240 °C resulted in better SCF resistance.