Effect of quench rate on microstructure and tensile properties of ALSL 4320 and 4340 steels

Abstract

A study has been made of the effect of quench rate on the microstructure and tensile properties of two commercial AISI 4320 and 4340 steels having fully martensitic structures. The steels were quenched from various temperatures from 1323 to 1473 K, at two different quench rates using iced brine (fast quench treatments) and oil held at 373 K (slow quench treatments). Tensile properties of these steels, after double-tempering at 473 K with intermediate quenching and refrigeration, were determined at ambient temperature (293 K) using an Instron test machine. The microstructural changes accompanying these quench rates were examined by means of optical and thin-foil transmission electron microscopic techniques. In the 4320 steel with a relatively high Ms temperature, the slow quench treatments compared to the fast quench treatments increased both the 0.2 pct proof stress and the ultimate tensile strength at similar total elongation levels, regardless of the prior austenite grain size, while the strength data of the slowly quenched steels exhibited a large scatter as the prior austenite grain size increased. However, in the 4340 steel with a relatively low Ms temperature tensile properties were less sensitive to quench rate, while the slow quench treatments compared to the fast quench treatments increased slightly only the 0.2 pct proof stress. From microstructural results, it is suggested that the beneficial effect on the strength of the slowly-quenched steels is caused by a dispersion-hardening effect due to carbon segregation or fine carbide precipitation in the martensite during the quench(i.e., autotempering).