Enhancement of Fatigue Life in St37 Steels by Carburizing Process

Abstract:

Carburizing is a heat treatment process, which used widely for surface hardening. In this process, the parts are placed in a concentrated atmosphere of Carbon atoms. The carbon atoms diffuse in the samples from the surface. In the present article, the effects of carburizing temperature on fatigue life will be studied. The St37 steel material is selected for study due to its wide range of usage in industry and little attention on the carburizing of this material. The samples are prepared by implementing the carburizing process at different temperatures (300, 400, 500, and 600 °C). The holding time is 1 hour for all samples. The two-point bending fatigue tests had been carried out on constant loading stresses. The results of the fatigue life test show that the fatigue life enhances the carburizing process. The fatigue life improved from about 45000 cycles to about 65000 cycles (about 44% increase) by increasing the temperature from 300°C to 600°C. Holding at higher temperatures leads to an increase in fatigue life smoothly due to the increase in the diffusivity coefficient. Also, the fracture surface demonstrates that the crack initiation starts from outer surfaces very slowly and failure happens as a brittle fracture in the samples.

• Periodical: Advances in Science and Technology (Volume 105)
• Pages: 59-67
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AST.105.59
• Online since: April 2021
• Authors: Jalal Joudaki*, Mehdi Safari
• Keywords: Carbon, Carburizing, Diffusion, Fatigue Life, Temperature

References

[1] E.J. Mittemeijer, M.A.J. Somers, Thermochemical Surface Engineering of Steels, first ed., Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, (2015).

[2] E. Conrado, C. Gorla, P. Davoli, M. Boniardi, A comparison of bending fatigue strength of carburized and nitrided gears for industrial applications, Eng. Fail. Anal. 78 (2017) 41–54.

DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2017.03.006

[3] Y. Shen, S. Mobasher Moghadam, F. Sadeghi, K. Paulson, R.W. Trice, Effect of retained austenite – compressive residual stresses on rolling contact fatigue life of carburized AISI 8620 steel, Int. J. Fatigue. 75, (2015) 135–144.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2015.02.017

[4] J. Grosch, Fatigue resistance of carburized and nitrided steels, in: E.J. Mittemeijer, M.A.J. Somers (Eds.), Thermochemical Surface Engineering of Steels, Woodhead Publishing, Oxford, 2015, p.209–240.

DOI: 10.1533/9780857096524.2.209

[5] S.Kh. Alias, B. Abdullah, A. Jaffar, S. Abdul Latip, S. Kasolang, M. Faizul Izham, M. Azimin Abd Ghani, Mechanical properties of paste carburized ASTM A516 steel, Procedia Engineer. 68 (2013) 525–530.

DOI: 10.1016/j.proeng.2013.12.216

[6] B. Jo, Sh. Sharifimehr, Y. Shim, A. Fatemi, Cyclic deformation and fatigue behavior of carburized automotive gear steel and predictions including multiaxial stress states, Int. J. Fatigue. 100 (2017) 454–465.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.12.023

[7] A. Nehila, W. Li, N. Gao, X. Xing, H. Zhao, P. Wang, T. Sakai, Very high cycle fatigue of surface carburized CrNi steel at variable stress ratio: Failure analysis and life prediction, Int. J. Fatigue. 111 (2018) 112–123.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2018.02.006

[8] S. Farfa´n, C. Rubio-Gonza´lez, T. Cervantes-Herna´ndez, G. Mesmacque, High cycle fatigue, low cycle fatigue and failure modes of a carburized steel, Int. J. Fatigue. 26 (2004) 673–678.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2003.08.022

[9] T.M. Loganathan, J. Purbolaksono, J.I. Inayat-Hussain, N. Wahab, Effects of carburization on expected fatigue life of alloys steel shafts, Mater. Design. 32 (2011) 3544–3547.

DOI: 10.1016/j.matdes.2011.02.004

[10] Y. Yang, M.F. Yan, S.D. Zhang, J.H. Guo, S.S. Jiang, D.Y. Li, Diffusion behavior of carbon and its hardening effect on plasma carburized M50NiL steel: Influences of treatment temperature and duration, Surf. Coat. Tech. 333 (2018) 96–103.

DOI: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2017.10.068

[11] N. Xiao, W. Hui, Y. Zhang, X. Zhao, Y. Chen, H. Dong, High cycle fatigue behavior of a low carbon alloy steel: The influence of vacuum carburizing treatment, Eng. Fail. Anal. 109 (2019) 104215,.

DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2019.104215

[12] W. Li, S. Deng, B. Liu, Experimental study on the influence of different carburized layer depth on gear contact fatigue strength, Eng. Fail. Anal. 107 (2019) 104225,.

DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2019.104225

[13] I. Čular, K. Vučković, D. Žeželj, S. Glodež, Analytical approach for low and high cycle bending fatigue life prediction of carburized gear steel specimens, Eng. Fail. Anal. 108 (2019) 104328,.

DOI: 10.1016/j.engfailanal.2019.104328

[14] M.Z. Hasan, A.A. Hussein, A.Sh. Hasan, O.M. Ali, Improvement of AISI 1018 Carbon Steel Gr 1018 mechanical properties by liquid carburizing in salt bath, Mater. Today Proc. 20 (2019) 512–516.

DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2019.09.179

[15] Y. Peng, Z. Liu, C. Chen, J. Gong, M.A.J. Somers, Effect of low-temperature surface hardening by carburization on the fatigue behavior of AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel, Mat. Sci. Eng. A-Struct. 769 (2020) 138524,.

DOI: 10.1016/j.msea.2019.138524

[16] Z. Liu, Y. Peng, C. Chen, J. Gong, Y. Jiang, Effect of surface nanocrystallization on low-temperature gas carburization for AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel, Int. J. Pres. Ves. Pip. 182 (2020) 104053,.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpvp.2020.104053

[17] M. Vamshi, S.K. Singh, N. Sateesh, D.S. Nagaraju, R. Subbiah, A review on influence of carburizing on ferritic stainless steel, Mater. Today Proc. 26 (2020) 937–943.

DOI: 10.1016/j.matpr.2020.01.151

[18] W.D. Callister, D.G. Rethwisch, Materials Science and Engineering, An Introduction, 9th edition, John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, (2014).

[19] G.L. Tibbetts, Diffusivity of carbon in iron and steels at high temperatures, J. Appl. Phys. 51 (1980) 4813–4816.

DOI: 10.1063/1.328314

[20] M.M.A. Bepari, Carburizing: a method of case hardening of steel, in: M.S.J. Hashmi, I.A. Choudhury (Eds.), Comprehensive Materials Finishing, Volume 1 Finish Machining and Net-Shape Forming, Elsevier, Oxford, 2017, p.71–107.

DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-803581-8.09187-6

[21] Metals Handbook, Vol. 4 Heat Treating, 8th ed.; American Society for Metals, Metals Park, Ohio, 1971, p.93–114.

[22] ASTM E468–18: Standard practice for presentation of constant amplitude fatigue test results for metallic materials, American Society for Testing and Materials: West Conshohocken, (2018).

[23] ASTM E466–15: Standard practice for conducting force controlled constant amplitude axial fatigue tests of metallic materials, American Society for Testing and Materials: West Conshohocken, (2012).

DOI: 10.1520/e0466-21

[24] R.G. Budynas, J.K. Nisbett, Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design, 10th Ed., McGraw-Hill Higher Education, New York, 2015, p.305–364.

[25] H. Mao, Q. Li, H. Mao, Z. Huang, W. Tang, H. Huang, X. Yi, G. Qing, X. Li, Nonlinear ultrasonic characterization of carburized case depth, NDT & E Int. 112 (2020) 102244,.

DOI: 10.1016/j.ndteint.2020.102244