Increasing Hardenability and Hardness of Quenching and Tempering Alloys by Substituting Chromium with Manganese

Abstract:

This study investigates the influence of the substitution of chromium (-0.8 wt.−%) by manganese (+1.3 wt.−%) in a standard quench and tempering steel and the predictability of property changes through simple simulations, only dependent on the chemical composition. The substitution of chromium by manganese leads to an increased hardness (+50 HV10) and a reduction of the critical cooling speed from 19 K s−1 for the reference alloys to 9 K s−1 for the new alloy and a nearly constant hardness of (600 HV10) after Jominy-test. The commercial software JMATPRO is used to simulate and predict key properties for the industrial production. It is shown that a successful simulation of phase transformation temperatures and the general directions of change can be predicted, but more complex properties like critical cooling rates or hardenability need more sophisticated methods.

• Periodical: Materials Science Forum (Volume 1016)
• Pages: 493-498
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/MSF.1016.493
• Online since: January 2021
• Authors: Alexander Gramlich*, Fabian Pape, Götz Heßling, Wolfgang Bleck
• Keywords: Bearings, Hardenability, Manganese Steels, Martensite Transformation

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