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Effect of silicon and partitioning temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-carbon steel in a quenching and partitioning heat treatment

  • Metals & corrosion
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Abstract

Quenching and partitioning (Q andP) heat treatments of high- and low-silicon hyper-eutectoid steels, 0.21% and 1.7% silicon grades, have been investigated using dilatometry. In the present work, the amount and stability of retained austenite were quantified by a magnetic measurement technique. Optical microscopy (OM), high-resolution scanning electron microscope techniques and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) were used to identify and characterise the constituent phases. The mechanical properties were evaluated by micro-Vickers hardness measurements and nano-indentation measurements and linked to microstructural features. The results illustrate that increasing the silicon content will not prohibit bainite formation. At partitioning temperatures of 300 °C and higher, most retained austenite (RA) transformed to bainite in the low-silicon steel, while carbon partitioning was the main phenomenon in the 1.7 silicon grade steel. However, 28% of the bainite still formed in the presence of 1.7% silicon. In the high-silicon steel, the hardness decreased by 120HV by a mere increase in partitioning temperature from 250 to 300 °C. The wear resistance of bainitic microstructures resulting from isothermal transformation at 200 °C was similar to those of martensite. These outcomes provide an improved understanding of microstructural development with a view to industrial applications. A combination of 20–30% pre-existing martensite with 20% stabilized retained austenite and untempered martensite or/and lower bainite is suggested as a means of achieving the required mechanical properties.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported under the Australian Research Council's Industrial Transformation Research Hub funding scheme (project IH130200025). We gratefully acknowledge the technical support provided by the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials in the UOW and Analytical Centre in the UNSW, Australia. We also gratefully acknowledge the access to experimental facilities provided by The University of Wollongong and UNSW for the permission to publish these research outcomes. We gratefully acknowledge the collaboration effort with University of Campinas, Brazil, with School of Mechanical Engineering for producing high-silicon steel. The authors acknowledge Bill Joe in school of material science and engineering, UNSW to support nano-indentation measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Zeinab Babasafari, Madeleine du Toit & Rian Dippenaar

  2. Institute for Superconducting and Electronic Materials, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia

    Alexey V. Pan

  3. Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT Centre), School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Farshid Pahlevani & Veena Sahajwalla

  4. Electron Microscope Unit, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia

    Charlie Kong

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  1. Zeinab Babasafari
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Contributions

Z.B. designed and performed experiments and data analysis. C. K conducted EBSD. A.V.P helped to design and analyse the magnetic measurements as well as revising the manuscript. F.P helped to design EBSD experiments. R.D. supervised the study and suggested experimental approaches and helped to analyse experimental data and revise the manuscript. V.S and M.T gave suggestions to revise the manuscript. Z.B. wrote the manuscript and all authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zeinab Babasafari or Farshid Pahlevani.

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Babasafari, Z., Pan, A.V., Pahlevani, F. et al. Effect of silicon and partitioning temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-carbon steel in a quenching and partitioning heat treatment. J Mater Sci 56, 15423–15440 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-021-06270-w

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