Precipitating Strengthening, Heat Treatment and Deep Cryogenic Treatment of Steel

A special issue of Metals (ISSN 2075-4701). This special issue belongs to the section "Metal Casting, Forming and Heat Treatment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 8299

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
COMTES FHT a.s., 334 41 Dobrany, Czech Republic
Interests: quenching and tempering; annealing; formation of particles; nucleation; activation energy; dislocation movement; diffusion

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Guest Editor Assistant
COMTES FHT a.s., 334 41 Dobrany, Czech Republic
Interests: quenching and tempering; annealing; formation of particles; nucleation; activation energy; dislocation movement; diffusion

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Univerzitni 2732/8, 301 00 Plzen, Czech Republic
Interests: the relationship between processing parameter microstructures and the mechanical properties of metals; microstructure analysis of metals with light and scanning electron microscopy; additively manufactured metals; advanced high-strength steels; in situ testing
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Precipitation strengthening is one of several mechanisms leading to higher strength in metals. This powerful phase transformation is used in many steels to control their properties. These include structural steels, corrosion-resistant steels, heat-resistant steels, as well as tool steels. Precipitation strengthening is normally induced by heat treatment where diverse thermal processes can be applied. Isothermal annealing and quenching with subsequent tempering are the most common heat treatment processes for steels, in which precipitation takes place. Thermomechanical processing is used less often. In special cases, thermal processes are facilitated by physical forces or fields, e.g., the magnetic field.

The chapter on heat treatment deals with deep cryogenic treatment, which benefits mainly steel materials after quenching and tempering. Increases in wear resistance, corrosion resistance, lifetime, and other key properties of steels have been reported in many works.

Despite abundant literature data and available knowledge, research into the above topics remains an enormous challenge for scientists. Refinement of the kinetic description of precipitation, identification of effects of microstructural features, and environmental impacts on precipitation kinetics, the effect of precipitate morphology on the activation energy of defect nucleation, and confirmation of theories of structural changes during deep cryogenic treatment are just a handful of themes to be addressed.

In this Special Issue, we aim to contribute to the entire theory of precipitation in steels to advance the knowledge of heat treatment and deep cryogenic treatment processes. The comprehensive view of the relationships among the treatment process, characterization of fine microstructure, and the final properties of the workpiece should provide another piece in the puzzle.

Dr. Zbyšek Nový
Mr. Jaromir Dlouhy
Prof. Dr. Ludmila Kučerová
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Quenching and tempering
  • Annealing
  • Formation of particles
  • Nucleation
  • Activation energy
  • Dislocation movement
  • Diffusion

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6834 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Long-Term Ageing at 475 °C on Microstructure and Properties of a Precipitation Hardening MartensiticStainless Steel
by Vlastimil Vodárek, Gabriela Rožnovská, Zdeněk Kuboň, Anastasia Volodarskaja and Renáta Palupčíková
Metals 2022, 12(10), 1643; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12101643 - 30 Sep 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2813
Abstract
The effect of long-term ageing (1000, 2000, and 3000 h) at 475 °C on mechanical properties, microstructure, and substructure of CUSTOM 465® maraging stainless steel was studied. The additional precipitation of nanometric particles of η-Ni3Ti phase in partly recovered lath [...] Read more.
The effect of long-term ageing (1000, 2000, and 3000 h) at 475 °C on mechanical properties, microstructure, and substructure of CUSTOM 465® maraging stainless steel was studied. The additional precipitation of nanometric particles of η-Ni3Ti phase in partly recovered lath martensite and decomposition of the BCC solid solution accompanied by the formation of nanometric Cr-rich α’particles were identified. The fraction of reverted austenite in the final microstructure gradually increased with time of ageing at 475 °C. Ageing resulted in a gradual slight decline (up to 10%) in yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and hardness. On the other hand, for all ageing, dwells ductility and impact energy values remained almost unchanged. The reason for this phenomenon lies in the gradual increase in the fraction of reverted austenite during long-term ageing at 475 °C and at the same time in the sluggish kinetics of microstructural changes in lath martensite. No susceptibility to 475 °C embrittlement was proved. Full article
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17 pages, 4260 KiB  
Article
Research on the Bending Fatigue Property of Quenched Crankshaft Based on the Multi-Physics Coupling Numerical Simulation Approaches and the KBM Model
by Songsong Sun, Xiaolin Gong and Xiaomei Xu
Metals 2022, 12(6), 1007; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12061007 - 14 Jun 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2205
Abstract
In modern engineering, electromagnetic induction quenching is usually adopted in improving the fatigue performance of steel engine parts such as crankshafts. In order to provide the theoretical basis for the design of the process, correct evaluation of the strengthening effect of this technique [...] Read more.
In modern engineering, electromagnetic induction quenching is usually adopted in improving the fatigue performance of steel engine parts such as crankshafts. In order to provide the theoretical basis for the design of the process, correct evaluation of the strengthening effect of this technique is necessary. In this paper, the research aim is the strengthening effect of this technique on a given type of steel crankshaft. First the magnetic-thermal coupling process was simulated by a 3D finite element model to obtain information on the temperature field during the heating and cooling stages. Then the residual stress field after cooling was simulated based on the same model. At last, the fatigue property of this crankshaft was predicted based on the combination of three parameters: the KBM (Kandil–Brown–Miller) multi-axial fatigue model, the residual stress field and the fatigue strength of the material. The experimental results showed that this method can achieve a much more reasonable prediction than the traditional strengthening factor, and thus can be applied in guiding the design of the quenching process. Full article
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16 pages, 3756 KiB  
Article
Study of Quenched Crankshaft High-Cycle Bending Fatigue Based on a Local Sub Model and the Theory of Multi-Axial Fatigue
by Songsong Sun, Xingzhe Zhang, Maosong Wan, Xiaolin Gong and Xiaomei Xu
Metals 2022, 12(6), 913; https://doi.org/10.3390/met12060913 - 26 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2417
Abstract
For critical steel engine parts, such as crankshafts, the fatigue strength under the critical working condition is usually improved by the electromagnetic induction quenching technique. In a previous study, the strengthening effect of this approach was always evaluated by a constant, which may [...] Read more.
For critical steel engine parts, such as crankshafts, the fatigue strength under the critical working condition is usually improved by the electromagnetic induction quenching technique. In a previous study, the strengthening effect of this approach was always evaluated by a constant, which may result in some errors with the change of the technological parameters. In this paper, a type of steel crankshaft is selected to study the strengthening effect of this approach; first a local sub model composed of the crankpin is built to simulate the magnetic–thermal coupling process, then, the residual stress field is determined by simulating the whole course of fabrication. Finally, the prediction of the fatigue limit load is proposed based on the residual stress and the strength parameters of the material. The experimental verification shows that, when compared to the general means of modification models, the modified McDiarmid multi-axial fatigue model is more suitable to be applied to analyze the fatigue property of this quenched crankshaft due to the markedly higher accuracy. Based on this study, a new fatigue-limit load-prediction approach of this kind of crankshaft can be proposed for engineering applications. Full article
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