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Fatigue Properties Improvement of Low-Carbon Alloy Axle Steel by Induction Hardening and Shot Peening: A Prospective Comparison

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Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) Aims and scope

Abstract

Fatigue fracture is the major threat to the railway axle, which can be avoided or delayed by surface strengthening. In this study, a low-carbon alloy axle steel with two states was treated by surface induction hardening and shot peening, respectively, to reveal the mechanism of fatigue property improvement by microstructure characterization, microhardness measurement, residual stress analysis, roughness measurement, and rotary bending fatigue tests. The results indicate that both quenching and tempering treatment can effectively improve the fatigue properties of the modified axle steel. In addition, induction hardening can create an ideal hardened layer on the sample surface by phase transformation from the microstructure of ferrite and pearlite to martensite. By comparison, shot peening can modify the microstructure in surface layer by surface severe plastic deformation introducing a large number of dislocation and even cause grain refinement. Both induction hardening and shot peening create compressive residual stress into the surface layer of axle steel sample, which can effectively reduce the stress level applied to the metal surface during the rotary bending fatigue tests. On the whole, the contribution of induction hardening to the fatigue life of axle steel sample is better than that of the shot peening, and induction hardening shows obvious advantages in improving the fatigue life of axle steel.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Project (No. 2017YFB0703004); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. U1664253); and the LiaoNing Revitalization Talents Program (No. XLYC1808027).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shi-Changxu Innovation Center for Advanced Material, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, 110016, China

    G. C. Chu, Q. Wang, J. P. Hou & Z. F. Zhang

  2. School of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China

    G. C. Chu & Z. F. Zhang

  3. Maanshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Maanshan, 243000, China

    F. Z. Hu

  4. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China

    X. J. Jin

  5. Baowu Group Masteel Rail Transit Materials Technology Company Limited, Maanshan, 243000, China

    Y. Zhang

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  1. G. C. Chu
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  2. F. Z. Hu
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  3. X. J. Jin
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  4. Y. Zhang
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  5. Q. Wang
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  6. J. P. Hou
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  7. Z. F. Zhang
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Correspondence to Q. Wang or Z. F. Zhang.

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Chu, G.C., Hu, F.Z., Jin, X.J. et al. Fatigue Properties Improvement of Low-Carbon Alloy Axle Steel by Induction Hardening and Shot Peening: A Prospective Comparison. Acta Metall. Sin. (Engl. Lett.) 35, 1343–1356 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40195-021-01366-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40195-021-01366-3

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