Abstract
Carburized steel grades are widely used in applications where high surface near hardness is required in combination with good core toughness as well as high strength and fatigue resistance. The process of carburizing lower to medium carbon containing steel can generally provide this combination of properties and has been practiced for several decades. Such steel is essential in the vehicle power-train, machines and power generation equipment. However, the increasing performance demands by such applications as well as economical considerations forced steel producers to develop better alloys and fabricators to design more efficient manufacturing processes. The present paper describes recent concepts for alloy design optimization of carburizing steel and demonstrates the forthcoming beneficial consequences with regard to manufacturing processes and final properties.
Highlights
Motivation for optimizing carburizing steelCase carburizing steels (alternatively known as case hardening steels) are widely used in applications where high surface-near hardness is required in combination with good core toughness as well as high strength and fatigue
According to the challenges outlined above, the present paper will indicate some recently achieved improvements of case carburizing steel alloys focusing on the following targets: (i) Development of an innovative alloy providing a better service performance than that of the European premium grade 18CrNiMo7-6; (ii) Development of a cost reduced alloy providing a similar service performance like that of the European premium grade 18CrNiMo7-6; (iii) Development of alloy concepts allowing high temperature carburization; (iv) Reduction of distortion after quenching; (v) Possibility of additional plasma nitriding after case carburizing
Incremental optimization of processing as well as alloy design has been enabling successive improvements in the cost, quality and performance of case carburized gear components. Quantum leaps in this respect are possible when alloy design and processing are optimized in a synergistic way
Summary
Case carburizing steels (alternatively known as case hardening steels) are widely used in applications where high surface-near hardness is required in combination with good core toughness as well as high strength and fatigue. (i) Chromium steels for smaller components when only low hardenability is required. (ii) Manganese-chromium steels with medium hardenability for passenger vehicle components. (iii) Chromium-molybdenum steels with medium/high hardenability for passenger and commercial vehicle components. (iv) Chromium-nickel-molybdenum steels with high hardenability for severely loaded machinery and commercial vehicle components. (v) Nickel-chromium steels with high hardenability for components with extraordinary toughness requirements. Within these alloy systems, standardized steel grades are available in different major markets offering a guaranteed spectrum of mechanical properties.
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