Abstract
The effects of vibrator quenching (QV) on the carbon content, microstructure, and mechanical properties (surface hardness number, wear resistance) in the pack carburizing of AISI 9310 steel were studied. The aim of this research is to increase the surface hardness and improve the wear resistance of AISI 9310 steel. The problem that often occurs in the quenching treatment after pack carburizing is that the thick cooling medium does not evenly wet the surface of the specimen, so that the cooling rate is not uniform, the impact is the distribution of the specimen surface hardness is not the same. Therefore, it is necessary to research the implementation of the vibrator in the quenching treatment. The specimens were treated with pack carburizing at a temperature of 875 °C, soaking time for 3 hours. The carburizing agent consisted of chicken egg shell powder (CESP) and rice husk charcoal (RHC) with various weight ratios of 5 %:95 %, 15 %:85 %, and 30 %:70 %. Followed by quenching treatment using a 10 % cane molasses cooling medium and vibrator. Hardness testing was carried out using a Vickers microhardness tester, wear resistance test using the pin-on-disc method, and a scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDX) was used to observe changes in the microstructure and carbon elemental content on the specimen surface. The results showed that the application of VQ caused the formation of a small martensite microstructure while without VQ it was large martensite and a few of residual ferrite. The highest surface hardness number is 685 kg/mm2, the wear resistance is 0.32 cm/mg for pack carburizing, using carburizing agent 70 % RHC, 30 % CESP and VQ. VQ causes a more even distribution of the thick cane molasses cooling medium so that the cooling rate of the specimens is uniform.
Highlights
AISI 9310 steel is low carbon steel with a carbon content of 0.10 % and other alloying elements such as nickel, chromium, and molybdenum
AISI 9310 steel is mainly used as gear material in the automotive and aerospace industries, components for small arms, clutch parts, piston pins and track rod pins because it has the advantages of large elongation, low brittleness, deformability, good weldability
The results showed that the surface hardness of high carbon steel is not uniform, without cracking the components so that molasses can be an excellent alternative to be used as a cooling medium, even though the cooling rate is not uniform
Summary
AISI 9310 steel is low carbon steel with a carbon content of 0.10 % and other alloying elements such as nickel, chromium, and molybdenum. Most of the engineering components of these steels wear out quickly due to their low surface hardness. One of the causes of wear is the low hardness number, friction due to surface contact between elements. Surface hardening techniques are widely used to increase friction resistance so that wear due to the contact force (friction) between surfaces decreases and the service life is longer. The study [1] investigated the contact fatigue resistance of hardened ground alloy steel bars. The specimens were of different aircraft grade alloy steels (AISI 8620, 9310, and 4140) and were hardened using different techniques (carburizing, vacuum carburizing and induction hardening) at different case depths. It is concluded that there is a relationship between surface hardness, casing depth, and wear resistance of test specimens that experience fatigue due to contact forces between specimen surfaces
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