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Enhanced microstructures and properties of spray-formed M3:2 high-speed steels by niobium addition and thermal-mechanical treatment

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Abstract

M3:2 high-speed steel (HSS) billets with or without Nb addition were prepared by spray deposition. The effects of Nb and post-thermal-mechanical processing (decomposition treatment and hot forging), as well as heat treatment, on the microstructure and properties of M3:2 HSS were investigated. The microstructure of the as-deposited M3:2 HSS consisted of equiaxed grains with a mean size of approximately 25 µm and discontinuous plate-like M2C and irregular MC carbides distributed along grain boundaries. 0.5% Nb addition can refine the M2C plates and spheroidize MC carbides. With 2% Nb addition, the refined grains with a mean size of approximately 12 µm and continuous net of M6C and a uniform distribution of NbC carbides were obtained. The decomposition of metastable M2C carbides can be accelerated with 0.5% Nb addition due to the refined size and lower thermodynamic stability of M2C plates. With the increased degree of decomposition of M2C carbide, the M6C and MC carbides became refined and more uniformly distributed after optimal thermal-mechanical processing and heat treatment, which leads to a significant increase in bend strength and toughness.

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Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant No. 2011CB606303), Open Foundation of State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing (Grant No. 2018-Z01), Program of the University Students’ Innovation and Pioneering (Grant No. XZG-16-08-15), and Ph.D. Research Startup Project of Jiangxi University of Science and Technology (Grant No. 3401223322). The authors thank Dr. Lin Lu, Dr. Jinxiang Zhang, Dr. Zhigang Wang, Mr. Xiyu He, Ms. Panpan Jiang, Ms. Xinger Wen, and Ms. Lili Zhao for their help with material preparation and academic discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou, 341000, China

    Hebin Wang, Ping Ou, Yabin Li, Li Shen & Hongjin Zhao

  2. State Key Laboratory for Advanced Metals and Materials, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing, 100083, China

    Longgang Hou, Hua Cui & Jishan Zhang

  3. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Ningbo University, Ningbo, 315211, China

    Xiaofeng Wang

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  1. Hebin Wang
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Correspondence to Longgang Hou or Hongjin Zhao.

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Wang, H., Hou, L., Ou, P. et al. Enhanced microstructures and properties of spray-formed M3:2 high-speed steels by niobium addition and thermal-mechanical treatment. Journal of Materials Research 34, 1043–1053 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2018.460

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