Effect of prior cold ring rolling on carbide dissolution during the austenitizing process of an M50 bearing steel

Abstract

The influence of prior cold ring rolling (PCRR) on carbide dissolution during the austenitizing process of an M50 bearing steel was investigated by combining microstructural observations with kinetics analysis. The microstructural results show that the PCRR leads to a reduction in the volume fraction and the mean diameter of the undissolved carbides. The matrix of the as-quenched specimens after PCRR is enriched with more carbon and alloying elements than those without PCRR, which further confirms that the dissolution behavior of the alloy carbides is enhanced by PCRR during the austenitizing process. The kinetics of the transformation from ferrite to austenite (α → γ) without and with PCRR are determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) upon heating. The austenite onset (Ac1) and end (Ac3) temperatures both decrease with as the thickness reduction from the PCRR increases. The activation energy for the α → γ transformation is calculated and shows a significant decline when the PCRR process is applied. In addition, the PCRR process results in a slight increase in the hardness regardless of the austenitizing temperature.