Influence of heat treatment on the structure and properties of pseudo-alloy steel – copper alloy obtained by infiltration

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The paper presents the results of studies of the effect of heat treatment regimes on changes in the structure and properties of steel-copper alloy pseudo-alloys obtained by infiltration. It is shown that, depending on the composition and initial density of the steel skeleton, the strength of the material increases by 1.3–1.8 times, the hardening effect is realized when the carbon content in the steel skeleton is 0.3–1.5 % and is achieved due to changes in the structure and phase composition of the steel base and copper phase. It has been established that during heating for quenching and during tempering, redistribution of carbon occurs in the iron phase, which is more pronounced in the frame of the pseudo-alloy made of medium-carbon steel. The formation of a “crust” structure in the grains of the skeleton is noted, while in the skeleton made of medium-carbon steel this occurs at a tempering temperature of 200 °C, in low-carbon steel – at a temperature of 500–650 °C. In a high-carbon steel skeleton, carbon stratification in the grain body is less pronounced. An increase in the strength of pseudo-alloys at tempering temperatures of 500–650 °C is associated with the formation of the α′-phase, the precipitation of the Fe3C carbide phase and the metastable Fe2C phase in the iron phase, as well as the precipitation of dispersed phases Fe4Cu3, Fe4Cu3, η-Cu6Sn5 and δ-Cu3Sn8 in the copper phase. Due to the precipitation of phases, the microhardness of the infiltrate in the form of copper in pseudo-alloys after tempering at 550 °C increased from 820–880 to 950–980 MPa, in the form of tin bronze – from 1450 to 1750 MPa. The use of heat treatment leads to an increase not only in the strength, but also in the tribotechnical properties of the pseudo-alloy: the friction coefficient of the pseudo-alloy with a frame of 80 % density made of FeC0.8 steel decreases to 0.008–0.009, the seizure pressure doubles and the wear resistance increases by more than 2.5 times.