Effects of HIP and forging on fracture behaviour in cast iron with spheroidal vanadium carbides dispersed within martensitic-matrix microstructure

Abstract

The cast iron with spheroidal vanadium carbides dispersed within martensitic-matrix microstructure was developed as a die material due to its high hardness. In order to achieve high performances of dies, not only the hardness but also the mechanical properties such as fracture toughness and fatigue crack propagation (FCP) resistance should be improved. In this paper, hot isostatic pressing (HIP) or forging was applied to the cast iron to improve mechanical properties, and the fracture behaviour, such as flexural strength, fracture toughness and FCP, was studied. The average flexural strength was reduced by forging because of the enhanced notch sensitivity due to the increase in the hardness. The fracture toughness was not affected by HIP nor forging while its scatter was significantly reduced by both post-treatments. The intrinsic FCP resistance taking account of crack closure was the same regardless of the application of HIP or forging, indicating that a slight change in the microstructure resulting from both treatments and the presence of casting defects exerted little influence on FCP behaviour. It could be concluded that both HIP and forging could improve the hardness of the material, while fracture toughness and FCP resistance were maintained.