9:00 AM - 9:20 AM
[16F-T12-07] Mechanical Performance of Heat-Treated Lean Cr-Alloyed PM Steel and Predicting Its Hardenability Requirements Using Simulations
Keywords:Lean Cr-alloy, Hardenability, Heat treatment, Simulation, Sustainable PM Steel
A lean Cr-alloy with 0.85 wt.% Cr and 0.15 wt.% Mo was recently introduced as a sustainable alternative to Fe-Cu-C PM Steels. In high-performance applications, the material’s hardenability and the heat treatment process must be selected to meet the required specifications. Low-pressure carburising (LPC) combined with gas quenching is preferred for carburising Cr materials, as it prevents oxidation and provides better control over case depth. However, the nature of the gas quenching process requires more alloying to achieve better hardenability compared to oil quenching. In this study, to enhance the hardenability of lean-Cr alloy, both Ni and graphite were varied between 0 and 2 wt.% and 0.25-0.45 wt.%, respectively for the samples. LPC was performed after sintering, and the mechanical performance and hardenability were evaluated. Furthermore, using simulations, geometry aspects necessary to fulfil the hardenability requirement for high performances were explored to optimise the alloying content for a given application.