Sensitivity of the Impact Toughness and Microstructure of 15CrNi3MoV Steel Under Different Quenching Rates

doi:10.1007/s40195-023-01583-y

Abstract

Abstract:

The sensitivities of the mechanical properties and microstructure of 15CrNi3MoV alloy steel under different quenching rates were investigated in the present study. After subjection to quenching with four different cooling rates (water cooling, forced air cooling, static air cooling and furnace cooling) followed by tempering, the microstructure was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM); and the low-temperature (−20 °C) impact toughness was evaluated. The results showed that the tempered microstructure and mechanical properties had high sensitivity to the quenching rate. With a decrease in the quenching rate, the low-temperature impact energy of tempered specimens decreased with increasing fluctuation. Correspondingly, the fracture morphology changed from completely ductile to brittle. In addition, as the quenching cooling rate decreased, the as-quenched matrix changed from a lathy to a polygonal structure with the presence of carbides and martensite-austenite (M-A) constituents, and the effective grain size increased. Tempered martensite with dispersed fine carbides was found in the tempered water cooling specimen, and tempered bainite with a polygonal structure containing large carbides and rare incomplete undecomposed M-A constituents was found in the tempered forced air cooling, static air cooling and furnace cooling specimens. The small effective grain size and fine carbides contributed to the good temperature impact toughness of the tempered water cooling specimens.

Key words: Alloy steel, Quenching cooling rate, Impact toughness, Martensite-austenite (M-A) constituents, Carbides

Bing Wang, Hong-Lin Zhang, Bin Xu, Hai-Yang Jiang, Ming-Yue Sun, Dian-Zhong Li. Sensitivity of the Impact Toughness and Microstructure of 15CrNi3MoV Steel Under Different Quenching Rates[J]. Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters), 2023, 36(10): 1735-1748.

Figures/Tables 15

Table 1 Chemical composition (mass%) of the present steel

C	Si	P	S	V	Cr	Mn	Ni	Mo	Fe
0.14	0.32	0.008	0.0007	0.046	0.97	0.52	2.59	0.24	Bal.

Fig. 1 Geometry of the initial material and impact specimens: a positions of samples in the forging, b schematic diagram of impact specimens. (Units in mm)

Table 2 Impact toughness values of tempered specimens under different quenching conditions

Quenching condition	Impact energy at − 20 °C/J				Average (J)
Quenching condition	1	2	3	4	Average (J)
WC	260	267	271	253	262.75
FAC	240	232	195	225	223
SAC	220	191	230	225	216.5
FC	153	100	102	65	105

Fig. 2 Impact energy fluctuations of specimens after tempering

Fig. 3 Fracture morphologies of a, b WC, c, d FAC, e, f SAC, g, h FC impact specimens after tempering

Fig. 4 Microstructure morphologies of quenching specimens under a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC conditions, and the red dotted line represents the prior austenite grain boundary (LM: Lath martensite, M-A: Martensite-austenite, and CA: Carbide aggregation)

Fig. 5 Microstructure morphologies of a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC specimens after tempering. The red dotted line represents the prior austenite grain boundary (M-A: Martensite-austenite and CA: Carbide aggregation)

Fig. 6 EBSD maps of the microstructures under different quenching rates: a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC specimens. The HAGBs with misorientation angles greater than 15° are shown by blue lines, and the red areas represent the RA

Fig. 7 EBSD maps of the microstructures under different quenching rates after tempering: a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC specimens. The HAGBs with misorientation angles greater than 15° are shown by blue lines, and the red areas represent the RA

Fig. 8 Effective grain size measured from the EBSD maps after a Quenching, b tempering

Fig. 9 Microstructures detected by TEM observations of as-quenched a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC specimens

Fig. 10 Microstructures detected by TEM observations of tempered a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC specimens

Fig. 11 Average lengths of carbides measured from TEM in tempered a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC specimens

Fig. 12 Longitudinal fracture morphologies of the a WC, b FAC, c SAC, d FC specimens after tempering

Fig. 13 Fracture process of the matrix containing particles in the a, b lath matrix with fine particles, and c, d polygonal matrix with particles

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