Limiting Retained Austenite Decomposition in Quenched and Tempered Steels: Influences of Rapid Tempering and Silicon

Euser, Virginia Katherine; Williamson, Don Lee; Clarke, Amy Jean; Speer, John Gordon

doi:10.2355/isijinternational.isijint-2020-263

Title: Limiting Retained Austenite Decomposition in Quenched and Tempered Steels: Influences of Rapid Tempering and Silicon

Journal Article · Tue Dec 15 00:00:00 EST 2020 · ISIJ International

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2355/isijinternational.isijint-2020-263· OSTI ID:1774442

^[1]; Williamson, Don Lee ^[2]; Clarke, Amy Jean ^[2]; Speer, John Gordon ^[2]

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (United States)

Tempering reactions are critical to microstructure and property control in martensitic steels. Here, retained austenite decomposition and cementite precipitation are monitored using Mössbauer spectroscopy in 4340 and 300-M steel under conventional and rapid tempering conditions. Tempering times are compared at a constant tempered hardness by increasing tempering temperatures associated with short time conditions to achieve equivalent matrix softening to that of longer tempering times. Time-temperature combinations that provide equivalent tempered hardness generated microstructures with similar dislocation densities and cementite precipitation fractions; these mechanisms are controlled by self-diffusion. However, systematic differences in retained austenite content were observed at a given degree of softening, where shorter tempering times exhibited higher levels of retained austenite compared to more conventional conditions. At low temperatures, the differences in retained austenite preservation between explored time-temperature conditions are attributed to corresponding differences in carbon diffusion distance (in austenite), the controlling diffusional process of retained austenite decomposition. At higher temperatures, retained austenite decomposition exhibits C-curve kinetic behavior in 4340. Thus, reduced thermodynamic driving force for cementite and ferrite formation at higher temperature is believed to play a role in restricting retained austenite decomposition within some short-time, high temperature tempering regimes. The addition of silicon pushes cementite precipitation and retained austenite decomposition to higher temperatures, although retained austenite decomposition is suppressed to a greater extent than cementite precipitation. Potential is illustrated for coupling rapid tempering with silicon alloying to produce appreciably tempered martensite (~490 HV) with relatively less retained austenite decomposition compared to conventional tempering conditions.

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Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001

OSTI ID:: 1774442

Report Number(s):: LA-UR-20-23093

Journal Information:: ISIJ International, Vol. 60, Issue 12; ISSN 0915-1559

Publisher:: J-STAGECopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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