Effect of induction heating on Vickers and Knoop hardness of 1045 steel heat treated

Abstract

AISI 1045 steel is a steel of medium carbon, widely used in machinery, the automotive industry, and the food industry, among others. Therefore, to fulfill its purpose, it is necessary to improve its mechanical resistance, wear resistance and resistance to fatigue through different surface heat treatments. Variables such as heating time and hence speed affect the thickness of the hardened layer and the microstructural characteristics of the area affected by heat treatment. The inspection of the transformation of phases during the treatment and the thickness of the boundary layer is generated by determining the hardness of the material, whose procedure is subject to the ASTM E92-17 and E384-17standards, which establish the methodology to be followed. Therefore, the objective of this work is to quantify the effect of three heating times at 1123 K on the hardening of AISI 1045 steel and the regularity of the hardened layer to ensure its functionality as a component subjected to friction, in addition to developing a table of equivalences between the Knoop (HK), Vickers (HK) and Rockwell C (HRC) hardness scales.