Analysis of the effect of interrupted quenching on microstructure of high carbon steels for forgings

The present study is focused on analyzing the effect of the interrupted quenching followed by a partitioning process in a high carbon steel 0.50C-1.50Mn-0.40Si-2.00 Cr without significant contribution of Al. Thermal treatments were performed at laboratory scale in a quenching dilatometer Linseis R.I.T.A RL78. The fractions of retained austenite were evaluated by scanning electron microscope. The temperature for the interrupted quenching phase was evaluated based on the Koistenen and Marburger equation (adapted to the 0.50C steel) and the result highlights a correlation between the chosen different temperature of quenching and the fraction of retained austenite formed during the quenching step of the process. Copyright © 2017 VBRI Press.