Influence of Heating Rate and Carbon Concentration on the Mechanical Properties of Carbon Steels

Abstract

In this work, the influence of temperature and heating rate on mechanical properties of three carbon steels (containing respectively 0.1%, 0.38% and 1% of carbon) has been investigated. Using a specifically designed apparatus equipped with a heating device, tensile and relaxation tests have been performed in air under three conditions of temperature (600 °C, 800 °C and 1100 °C) and for two extreme values of heating rate (10 °C/s and 270 °C/s respectively). A significant dependence of mechanical properties ( such as the yield stress and the maximal stress) upon the rate of heating has been pointed out. For instance, at 600 °C, for each material, an essential decrease of the yield stress as well as the flow stress was observed for the heating rate of 270 °C/s. Moreover, for a given temperature value, our results show that this parameter also affects the strain hardening factor as well as the strain rate sensitivity exponent.