characteristics.

This makes it possible in principle to replace low-temperature tempering

with self-tempering after HTMT.
2. After sprayer cooling, the structure and properties of steels 38KhS and 30KhGSN2A
hardly vary through the cross section of bars 20 mm in diameter.
3. The structure and properties of steel 30KhGSN2A do not depend on the sprayer cooling
time and match those of samples tempered at 150-170; sprayer cooling of steel 38KhS for 5
and 12 sec leads to formation of a structure matching that after tempering at 170 follow-
ing HTMT.

LITERATURE CITED
I. S . S . Gorelik, L. N. Rastorguev, and Yu. A. Skakov, X-Ray and Electronoptical Analysis
of Metals [in Russian], Metallurgiya, Moscow (1971), p. 145.
2. L . M . Utevskii, Electron Diffraction Analysis in Metal Science [in Russian], Metallur-
giya, Moscow (1973).
3. M . L . Bernshtein, Strength of Steel [in Russian], Metallurgiya, Moscow (1976).
4. M . L . Bernshtein, Thermomechanical Treatment of Metals and Alloys [in Russian], Vol. 2,
Metallurgiya, Moscow (1968).

OPTIMIZATION OF THE PROPERTIES OF HEAT-TREATED COMPONENTS

H. I. Spies UDC 620.17:621.78

The selection of the heat-treatment conditions of temper hardened steels is determined

by the operating conditions of the components concerned. In addition to static strength,
the components must usually also have high fatigue strength and sufficiently large impact
toughness, and in particular, low temperature of transition to the brittle state. Sometimes
it is indispensable to obtain high wear resistance, which is attained by various kinds of
surface treatment. For the final selection of the material and the conditions of heat treat-
ment, the technological properties of the material must also be taken into account.
With temper hardened steel, quenching aims at obtaining a martensitic structure. By
varying the temperature and duration of tempering, the strength level of steels can be
changed within a wide range. This range is bounded by the strength of annealed and hardened
steel. For each steel there exists a region of temperature and time conditions of heat
treatment in which the optimum combination of strength and impact toughness is achieved; the
position of this region depends on the carbon content of the steel. Figure 1 shows the
curves for determining the optimum strength of steel in dependence on the carbon content,

TABLE 2

[ ponents after
'hardening, % ~,1;
TABLE i Cooling

Steel
No.
TGL (East
German
Corresponding designa-
cion in G O S T or alloy-
In oil
I:
95 5 I-- 55 1 ,0 [},96--0,94
standard) ing typ --

1 25CrMo4 Type 30KhM

I
'2 30Mn5 Type 35T2 10 sec in oil,
3 30CrMoV9 0 , 3 % C ; 2,5%Cr; 0,2% Mo;
v then in air _ loo I_ _ 43 0 , 7 8 96--0,92
4 34Cr4
5 37MnSi5 36 S5~ I
6 40Mn4 40T
7 40Cr4 40
0,42% C; 1% Cr; 0,2 % Mo
In air -- 35 301 35 28 0,51 0,80--0,77
8 42CrMo4
9 50CrMo4 0,50 % C; 1% Cr; (%2 % Mo
10 60Si/Vtn7 Type 60 $2 *In tensionof standard specimens after t e m -
pering at 460-660 C.

Freiberg Mining Academy (East Germany). Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya

Obrabotka Metallov, No. 2, pp. 36-40, February, 1981.

0026-0673/81/0102-0111507.50 1981 Plenum Publishing Corporation iii

 oB, blPa

60
I I / 2C.~x-Hecsd
20001 I .. i , . _..~..
Hie m =Hmcx-HRC 7 t I " .

O0

\
20
0,2 0,3 g~- 0,5 %C 60D aoo 10oo OB, MPa
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
Fig. i. Correlation between the carbon content and the
strength of temper hardened steels. Rectangles indicate
the scatter of ultimate strength of specimens with diameter
~16 mm (the numbers next to the rectangles correspond to
the numbers of steels in Table i).
Fig. 2. Effect of the hardening structure on reduction of
area of specimens of steel $45: i) 90% M + 1 0 % F; 2) 80%
M + 1 5 % B + 5 % F; 3) 100% M.

and also the strength of heat-treated standard steels, established for blanks with <20 mm
diameter as a result of many years' experience in production. The designation of these
steels is presented in Table i.
Below we present formulas suggested by different authors for determining the strength
and hardness of steels after tempering in dependence on the carbon content.
According to Just [5],

Hhar = 35+ 0,5H temhar (HRC);

Hmax=50(% C)+36 (HRC);
range of application: steels with 0.2-0.6% C; for Hha r = H m a x we obtain

H temhar = 100(%C)+g (HRC). (1)

According to Just's data [2],

gBtem ~ 0'5(%hat+ ~ annl); (2)

%tem=2000(%C)+610 ( MPa ).

According to Breen et al. [6],

H temhar= Hhar -7 (HRC).

With Hha r = H m a x , according to [5],

H-temhar ' ~< 50 (%C)+29 (HRC); (3a)
w i t h H h a r = H ( 5 o % M + 50% B ) , a c c o r d i n g to data of [ 9 ] ,

H temhar ~< 50(%C)+18 (HRC). (3b)

The best agreement between calculated and experimental data is attained when Eq. (3b)
is used.
TABLE 3
I'Degree

Hardenabi~ty I enabil- Structure

Lower ~mit
31 io,56ty . F + P+ B
Upper limit 60 o,85 M+ B

112
 TABLE 4.

Temper- % aT 6~ ~ %,kJ/m ~, at temperature

ingtern- oTI%
perature,
"C MPa % T~ r --25 c I --75oc
0,79/-- ego/-- [ 700I-- 201-- I 621-- 400/'-- I 150/-- 1001--
620 73~t925[575t870 25119 I 66165 [751,3
Note. The numerator gives the properties after hardening and tempering of steel with
hardenability at the lower limit, the denominator gives the same for the upper limit.

In practice one often fails to achieve martensitic structure. Therefore, the proper-
ties which are attained when steels with nonmartensitic hardening structures are tempered
are of interest. It can be seen from Figs. 2 and 3, and also from the data of Table 2, that
the ratio ~T/~B, reduction of area 4, and impact toughness aH are sensitive to changes of
the structure. The properties of steels with initial martensitic structure and of steels
with bainitic structure differ imperceptibly [i0]. However, the formation of ferrite or of
a mixture of ferrite and pearlite in steel leads to a considerable drop in its impact'tohgh-
ness. Consequently, in stress analysis of a structure it must be borne in mind that with
equal strength in dependence on the structure obtained by hardening, steel may have different
ductility and impact toughness. To attain equal strength or hardness with different harden-
ing structures, different tempering temperatures are required. Figure 3 also shows the
effect of tempering on the temperature dependence of impact toughness. At temperatures
below --25C impact toughness abruptly drops (transition to the brittle state) in specimens
with bainitic structure when their hardness after tempering is HV 300 (tempering temperature
above 550C). The endurance limit also noticeably drops when nonmartensitic structures form
[i, 2].
Quantitative structural analysis of steel in the hardened state is extremely laborious.
The simplest criterion for evaluating the quality of hardening is the degree of hardening
or the relative hardness R, i.e., the ratio of the real hardness after hardening to the maxi-
mally possible hardness (with 100% martensitic structure) [2-4]:

Heft H eff
R = Hmax = 50 ( % C ) + 3 6 "

Figure 4 shows that there is a close correlation between the relative hardness R and
the properties of temper hardened steel. The desirable degree of hardening depends on the
operating conditions, and it increases with more stringent requirements concerning strength,
iNpact toughness, and ductility. The indispensable degree of hardening in dependence on the
required mechanical properties can be evaluated from the data of Fig. 4. This was examined
in detail in [2, 3]. The good agreement between the results obtained with Eq. (3b) and the
experimental values (Fig. i) indicates that in blanks with less than 20 mm diameter a struc-
ture with 50% martensite satisfies the requirements.

<~., ~ffl m z
s,s i

Fig. 3. Effect of the hard-

ening structure and of the
hardness after tempering on
the impact toughness of
specimens with a round
notch 3 mm deep of steel
,,< ~,/ 42CrMo4: O) 95% M + 5 % B;
\ A, O, &) 100% B; D) 35% B +
\ -,,,, ,_, 65% (F+P); the numbers
4+ -i-~ next to the curves give the
test temperature.

0
250 J50 #IV

113
 %%
~.~ M J / m ~
70 ~ ,,,

eo ~ ~ ,~ "-,Teo
~ ~'~ -'~ ~, 800
. . ~ ~ *900
so ~ ~". ..... . .1.'..2 o`
oo

"~'... ~" '..IZOd ,,oo

40 .. #jO0
ol--- I I I - I I
wo ao ~o (Heff/&o=~), % oo eo eo H e f f / H m a x ~ ,

Fig. 4. Effect of the degree of hardening (Heff/Hmax) on

reduction of area and impact toughness of steels with 0.3-
0.4% C. The numbers next to the curves indicate the value
of OB, MPa.

A comparison of the mechanical properties of the steels 30 Mn5 and 30 CrMoV9 shows how
important the hardening structure is for the safety factor. The structure of specimens of
steel 30 CrMoV9 with diameters up to 16 mm after hardening, even under unfavorable conditions,
contains more than 50% martensite. Such a structure makes it possible to increase strength
to values obtained by Eq. (3a) and exceeding the optimum values determined by Eq. (2).
In addition to the operating properties, the hardening structure also determines the
technological properties of steel. A different degree of hardening causes an unequal state
of stress, and consequently also a different change of shape and dimensions of the component
in hardening, and also different sensitivity to hardening cracks. The properties of steel
obtained after tempering are also considerably dependent on the hardening structure, i.e.,
on the degree of hardening.
Factors Affectin$ the Properties of Steel. The structure, hardness, and internal stres-
ses in a hardened steel component are determined by the hardenability of the steel, the
dimensions of the component, and by the conditions of its cooling. The hardenability is
usually judged from the scattering band of hardness obtained by the method of end-face hard-
ening (Fig. 5). The scatter of hardness depends on the material and on its sensitivity to
the inevitable, technologically determined changes in the hardening speed. As criterion of
hardenability, researchers often use the distance from the end face at which the structure
contains 50% martensite. The measure of the scatter of hardness due to the material is the
maximum difference in hardness at this distance. Examples of the effect of the scatter of
hardness on the properties of steel 42CrMo4 are contained in Tables 3 and 4. These proper-
ties were ascertained in specimens cut out from a component with 80 mm diameter, 20 mm from

TABLE 5
r
,

eoo

o~ o .,-,

I
37MNS15 ]0 31--0,39 4--20 9 '32 22
34Cr4 [0,31--0,38 7--15 20 19,5 12
4OCt4 [0,38--0,44[ 8,5--20 23 ] 19,5 13
25CrMto4 [0,22--0,29 7--21 20 [ 17 9
42CrMo4 [0,38--0,J5 12--34 35 | 20 7

*Intensity of cool i ng after Grossman H = 0 . 4

[3].

114
 HRC
HRC

%
50

+o
d
\ , 0,j-~,O/oce
%
JO

30
20 - ~. ~ o,z % cr

10
I
0 "10 20 30 O0 m m 10 20 30 ~,0 m m
Distance from end face Distance from end face

Fig. 5 Fig. 6
Fig. 5. Hardenability of steel 37MnSi5: A) max-
imum gradient of hardness AHRC/5 mm; a, b) hard-
ness of steel with 0.31% C at a distance of 2.5
and 7.5 mm, respectively; c, d) semimartensitic
hardenability of steel with 0.31 and 0.39% C,
respectively (depth of hardening 4 and 20 mm);
AHmax) maximum scatter of hardness with depth of
hardening i0 mm.
Fig. 6. Effect of chromium on the hardenability
of spring steel 60SiMn7 (dashed area: scatter of
results for steel with less than 0.2 Cr).

the surface according to TGL 4395. The cooling rate at this point corresponds to the cooling
rate at a distance of 25 mm from the end face in end-face hardening.
Ultimate strength according to TGL 6547 has to be equal to 880-1080 MPa. With equal
cooling conditions (quenching in oil), the hardness of a component with 80 ram diameter of
steel 42CrMo4 may differ by HRC 19 at a distance of 20 mm from the end face. After temper-
ing to the same hardness, there are particularly large differences in impact toughness at
low temperatures.
The sensitivity of material to changes in the hardening speed can be judged by the
gradient of hardness in the band of its scatter [7]. Steel with a slightly sloping curve
of change in hardness is less sensitive to changes in hardening speed than steel in which
hardness decreases greatly with increasing distance from the cooled end face.
With given cooling conditions, the effect of the dimensions of the component on the
structure and hardness of steel is determined by the cooling rate at different distances
from the surface. With increasing size, the difference between the cooling rates on the
surface of the component and at its center also increases. This has the result that in
large components the required minimum degree of hardening for temper hardened steels is not
attained. It should be pointed out that the properties of materials are usually determined
from specimens with diameters of less than 16 mm. The values of properties obtained with
such specimens can be attained in real components only in exceptional cases.
~Possibilities of Optimizing Properties. From the above it follows that an indispensable
condition of optimally utilizing the properties of steel is a small scatter of the degree of
hardening. Selection of steel with a certain hardenability, matching of the dimensions of
the component before heat'treatment and of the finished component, and increasing the inten-
sity of cooling are among the ways of attaining a high degree of hardening. These possibili-
ties are successfully used at enterprises of the engineering industry in East Germany.
Further prospects open up with the use of low carbon steels because with them stronger
quenching media may be used. This is based on the slight change in dimensions of components
made of such steels and on the lack of their proneness to hardening cracks forming during
their treatment. Lower carbon content also entails higher impact toughness and better tech-
nological properties, e.g., strainability at low temperatures and weldability. However,
when steel with a certain carbon content is selected, it must be borne in mind that carbon
is the most effective element for improving strength and hardenability. Therefore, the
advantages and shortcomings of low carbon steels must be assessed in each actual case.

115
 To ensure stability of the properties of a component in different cross sections, it
is essential to attain low scatter of hardness and to check the tempering conditions. In
addition to certain technological parameters, this requirement can also be fulfilled by
correct selection of the steel. A comparison of the scattering bands of hardness of a num-
ber of temper hardened steels shows that these steels differ strongly with regard to the
scattering band as well as in their sensitivity to changes in the hardening speed (Table 5).
The scatter of hardness of steels used in East Germany, especially steels not contain-
ing chromium, exceeds the values given in the literature. This is due to the uncontrolled
metallic admixtures introduced into the steel with scrap. Fig. 6 shows, e.g., how the fluc-
tuations in the chromium content of the charge affect the hardenability of spring steel
60SiMn7. As a result of investigations carried out in recent years, much information was
obtained on the effect of alloying elements on the hardenability of different groups of
steels; this information makes it possible to calculate in advance the hardenability of
these steels [5, 8]. On the basis of such a calculation it is possible to replace certain
alloying elements by others in order to reduce the scatter of hardness while the other prop-
erties remain constant. The basis of such a substitution, which would also achieve a con-
siderable saving in ferroalloys, would have to be changes in the composition of steels
specified by the respective standards.
Taking the degree of hardening into account in specifying the tempering conditions
makes it possible to reduce the scatter of properties in the temper hardened state. Joint
research at engineering enterprises in East Germany and at the Freiburg Mining Academy per-
mits the conclusion that computerization will make it possible to predict the strength of
temper hardened steels with fair accuracy.
Thus, optimization of the properties of components can be achieved by using the correct
steels and conditions of heat treatment, but this, in addition to the availability of essen-
tial data, also requires a critical review of the standards for different groups of materials.
In addition to a change of the guaranteed composition it is apparently also necessary to
reduce for some steels the possible intervals of the diameters used. Furthermore, if the
properties and hardenability, and also the prices of steels are taken into account, it is
obviously inexpedient to reduce the number of grades. For instance, when steel 37MnSi5 is
replaced by the cheaper steel 34Cr4, we obtain better hardenability, and consequently also
improved operational properties (Table 4).

CONCLUSIONS
i. The properties of components made of temper hardened steels depend largely on the
structure obtained after hardening. The hardening structure can be evaluated by the degree
of hardening R.
2. The necessary degree of hardening depends on the required properties. In many
cases the properties of steel with the structure of tempered low bainite are no worse than
the properties of steel with the structure of tempered martensite.
3. When the dimensions of the component and the cooling conditions are given, the
degree of hardening is determined by the hardenability.
4. Hardenability of steel is evaluated by the scattering bands of hardness obtained
by the method of end-face hardening. Taking hardenability into account when steel is select-
ed, it is possible to optimize the properties of the heat-treated component.

LITERATURE CITED
i. A. Rose, A. Krisch, and F. Pentzlin, Stahl Eisen, 91, i001 (1971).
2. E. Just, VDI Bet., No. 214, 75 (1974).
3. U. Wyss, Harterei-Techn. Mitt., 6, No. 2, 9 (1952).
4. W. Crafts and J. Lamont, Hgrtbarkeit und Auswahl yon St~hlen, Springer-Verlag, Berlin
(1954).
5. E. Just, Hgrterei-Techn. Mitt., 23, 85 (1968).
6. D. Breen, G. Walter, and C. Keith, Met. Progr., 103, No. 2, 76 (1973).
7. G. MHnch and H. Hegen, Neue HUette, 22, 333 (1977).
8. H. Spies, G. MUnch, and A. Prewitz, Neue HUette, 22, 443 (1977).
9. A. Legat and A. Moser, H~rterei-Techn. Mitt., 23, i0 (1968).
i0. A. Gulyaev, J. Golovanenko, and B. Sikeev, Metalloved. Term. Obrab. Met., No. 7, 60 (1978).

i16