Kateřina Rubešová

Mini-Thixoforming of High-Alloyed CPM REX 121 Steel

Thixo-forming is an unconventional semi-solid forming process, by which complex-shaped products can be manufactured using a single forming operation. It can even be applied to difficult-to-form materials, including those which are impossible to process by conventional methods. Today, commercial semi-solid processing is used for low-melting materials, primarily aluminium and magnesium alloys. Due to its technological complexity, thixo-forming of high-melting alloys is still under development. For this reason, the present experimental programme was focused on the tool steel CPM REX 121 with a melting point above 1200 °C produced by powder metallurgy. The total content of alloying elements in this steel is 37.5 %. Owing to the high levels of alloying elements, namely Co, Mo, W, V and Cr, this material cannot be formed by conventional methods. The purpose of the present experiment was to explore its potential for forming in semi-solid state and to find suitable processing parameters. Experimental forming took place in a mini-thixoforming die, a tool specially-developed for this thixo-forming variant intended for producing very small parts. The resulting microstructures were examined by means of optical and electron microscopy. It was found that semi-solid processing leads to the development of microstructure with austenitic grains, martensite, chromium and V-W-Mo complex carbides and also a eutectic formed by partial melting of carbides.

Semi-solid processing of high-chromium tool steel to obtain microstructures without carbide network

Treatment of high-alloy tool steels that involves transition to the semi-solid state can transform the sharp-edged primary carbides which usually form during solidification. These carbides severely impair toughness and are virtually impossible to eliminate by conventional treatment routes. Upon classical semi-solid processing which dissolves these carbides, the resulting microstructure consists of polyhedral and super-saturated austenite embedded in lamellar austenite-carbide network. This type of microstructure reflects in the mechanical properties, predominantly in material behaviour under tensile loading. Such a network, however, can be removed by appropriate thermomechanical treatment. In the present experiment, various procedures involving heating to the semi-solid state were tested on X210Cr12 tool steel. The feedstock was heated to the temperature range of 1220 – 1280 °C. The heating was followed by procedures involving either water quenching to the forming temperature, room temperature or temperature from the range from 500 °C to 1000 °C followed by reheating to the forming temperature. It was found that the development of the lamellar network strongly depends on the temperature of heating to semi-solid state. Thermomechanical treatment produced microstructures in which the matrix consisted of a mixture of polyhedral austenite grains and the M-A constituent. In addition, the initial lamellar eutectic network was partially or even completely melted and substituted with a mixture of very fine recrystallized austenite grains and precipitates of chromium carbides. Some fine M7C3 carbides were present in the austenitic-martensitic matrix as well. When appropriate processing parameters were chosen, very good mechanical properties were obtained, among them a hardness of 860 HV10.

Evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties during Q&P processing of medium-carbon steels with different silicon levels

Evolution of microstructure during heat treatment plays a fundamental role in the resulting mechanical properties of steel. Today, mechanical properties in conjunction with technological properties, such as weldability, formability, and machinability, and their optimum combinations, are widely discussed in a number of mechanical engineering disciplines. In this manner, requirements arise for developing steels which could offer high strength and good formability, and which could be used for making parts with high resistance to failure and with a long life. One present-day example of such steels involves Q&P-processed martensitic steels. Their properties are dictated by their treatment, as well as their alloying, particularly by the silicon content. Silicon fundamentally affects microstructure evolution during Q&P processing and, as a result, mechanical properties. With this way it is possible to receive microstructures consinsting of martensite and retained austenite with an ultimate tensile stress of more than 1600 MPa and a uniform elongation of more than 12 %.

Development of Unconventional Processing of Steels in Semi-Solid State

This paper describes selected capabilities of unconventional processing of steels in semi-solid state under various process conditions and with the use of various steel chemistries for obtaining unusual structures formed by rapid solidification in combination with other procedures. This investigation involves the use of severe plastic deformation techniques (SPD) and in-situ observation of the transformation of microstructure from solid state to semi-solid state at temperatures above 1200°C using a high-temperature microscope.

Semi-solid processing and its as yet unexplored potential

Thanks to the available advanced control technology, manufacturing processes which have been described in the past but their hidden potential remained untapped are now continuing to be developed. As a result, even conventional materials which have been around for years can be manipulated to obtain unusual microstructures with specific mechanical and physical properties. Semi-solid processing belongs to the above-described group: it had been studied in the past but, due to complicated process control, it gradually lost its appeal. However, advanced techniques of temperature field control enable engineers to control this complex process accurately. One of the innovative methods of semi-solid processing is mini- thixoforming. As it focuses on very small-size products, it offers very steep heating curves and extremely high solidification and cooling rates, when compared to conventional thixoforming. The capabilities of this process were tested on X210Cr12 ledeburitic tool steel. After the optimum processing conditions were found, additional materials were tried, ranging from low- carbon microalloyed steels through medium-alloy steels to high-alloy tool steels. The microstructure evolution upon the mini-thixoforming process is an issue of its own. The final microstructure of X210Cr12 consisted of more than 90% of austenite and chromium carbides. Semi-solid processing of a steel with a high vanadium content led to a microstructure comprising MA matrix and globular vanadium carbides. In a low-alloy steel, martensitic microstructure was obtained.

Development of microstructure in high-alloy steel K390 using semi-solid forming

Semi-solid processing of light alloys, namely aluminium and magnesium alloys, is a widely known and well-established process. By contrast, processing of powder steels which have high levels of alloying elements is a rather new subject of research. Thixoforming of high-alloy steels entails a number of technical difficulties. If these are overcome, the method can offer a variety of benefits. First of all, the final product shape and the desired mechanical properties can be obtained using a single forming operation. Semi-solid forming can produce unusual powder steel microstructures unattainable by any other route. Generally, the microstructures, which are normally found in thixoformed steels, consist of large fractions of globular or polygonal particles of metastable austenite embedded in a carbide network. An example is the X210Cr12 steel which is often used for semi-solid processing experiments. A disadvantage of the normal microstructure configuration is the brittleness of the carbide network, in which cracks initiate and propagate, causing low energy fractures. However, there is a newly-developed mini-thixoforming route which produces microstructures with an inverted configuration. Here, the material chosen for this purpose was K390 steel, in which the content of alloying elements is up to 24%. Its microstructure which was obtained by mini- thixoforming did not contain polyhedral austenite grains but hard carbides embedded in a ductile austenitic matrix. This provided the material with improved toughness. The spaces between the austenite grains were filled with a eutectic in which chromium, molybdenum and cobalt were distributed uniformly. After the processing parameters were optimized, complexshaped demonstration products were manufactured by this route. These products showed an extraordinary compressive strength and high wear resistance, thanks to the hardness of their microstructure constituents, predominantly the carbides.

Steels with High Temperature Carbides - New Possibilities for Semi-solid State Processing

Semi-solid processing of steels is typically studied using high-alloy steels with higher carbon levels, as those offer a long freezing range which is favourable for conducting the process. The drawback to their application is their microstructure which typically consists of austenite grains embedded in ledeburitic network. This type of microstructure typically fails in brittle manner by fracturing along the interface of the hard network and ductile austenite grains. This is why a way was sought to altering or even inverting the configuration of the microstructure. Eventually, suitable steel chemistries were found which allow the inverted microstructure to be obtained. With regard to the high content of alloy additions, these steels have to be made by powder metallurgy methods. Five different steels of this kind were selected for the experimental programme. All contained high amounts of alloying elements and a large fraction of carbides. Their carbon content was taken into account as well, ranging from 0.55 to 3.4 %. Differences between the steels consisted in the levels of major alloying elements, namely chromium, vanadium, molybdenum, tungsten and cobalt. After suitable process parameters were found, semi-solid processing was used to prepare demonstration products. The transition through semi-solid state transformed the ferritic matrix to austenitic-martensitic one, in which the high-stability carbides were retained. The resulting microstructures were of unconventional nature where carbide particles were embedded in tough metal matrix. Their configuration was thus inverted in contrast to the ones typically obtained by semi-solid processing of tool steels.

Semi-Solid Processing of Powder Steels in Cryogenically-Cooled Die

By processing steels in the semi-solid state it is possible to achieve unconventional structures even with commonly used steels. This can be demonstrated on X210Cr12 tool steel. After semi-solid state processing, 96% of the microstructure can consist of metastable austenite. In the microstructure, there are polyhedral grains embedded in a ledeburitic network. A combination of semi-solid state processing and rapid solidification is a new method for modifying the microstructure more substantially. In the present experiment, two tool steels, CPM 15V and CPM S30V, were processed by an unconventional method. Since the steels are made by powder metallurgy, their initial structure contains globular carbides in ferritic matrix. Both materials have high levels of carbon and alloying elements, namely vanadium and chromium. The unconventional processing was carried out by mini-thixoforming which enables the use of a small amount of metal. After heating into the semi-solid region, the material was rapidly forced by lateral extrusion into a cavity of a metal die where rapid solidification and rapid cooling took place. Two cooling schedules were employed. In the first case, the die was at room temperature, whereas in the second one it was pre-cooled to-196°C using liquid nitrogen. Since the test sample was cooled from both sides and its thickness was 3 mm, immensely high cooling rates were achieved. The influence of the cooling rate was also noticeable in the microstructures containing high fractions of metastable austenite, martensite and carbides.