Mechanical behavior and strengthening mechanism of a fine-grained medium carbon steel produced via cyclic oil quenching

Xiuxia Wang, Xianzhe Shi, Yuzhong Hui, Biao Chen, Bin Gan, Jianghua Shen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

Medium-carbon steels are widely used in structural applications. However, the strength of such steels can hardly be over 1100 MPa. In this work, a cyclic oil quenching process was applied to a common medium-carbon steel, i.e., #45 steel, to produce fine-grains, which exhibited a superior tensile strength of over 1690 MPa with moderate ductility. The microstructural results revealed that the refined grains and imbedded dislocations play a critical role in the strength improvement. In addition, the material exhibited an increased strength and ductility under dynamic tension due to the strain rate effect, while however the strain hardening capability decreases with strain rates. For the underlying reasons, the widely reported thermal softening effect and deformation-induced martensitic transformation are ruled out here by microstructure observation. This work brings up a new process to produce high performance steels.

Original languageEnglish
Article number144669
JournalMaterials Science and Engineering: A
Volume866
DOIs
StatePublished - 23 Feb 2023

Keywords

  • Cyclic quenching
  • Martensitic transformation
  • Mechanical properties
  • Microstructure
  • Steel

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Mechanical behavior and strengthening mechanism of a fine-grained medium carbon steel produced via cyclic oil quenching'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this