Optimizing the low-pressure carburizing process of 16Cr3NiWMoVNbE gear steel

Abstract

Compared with the traditional atmospheric carburization, low-pressure carburization has the benefits of producing no surface oxidation and leaving fine, uniformly dispersed carbides in the carburized layer. However, the process parameters for low-pressure carburization of 16Cr3NiWMoVNbE steel have yet to be optimized. Thus, we use the saturation-value method to optimize these parameters for aviation-gear materials. Toward this end, the microstructure and properties of 16Cr3NiWMoVNbE steel after different carburization processes are studied by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electron probe microanalysis. Considering the saturated austenite carbon concentration, we propose a model of carbon flux and an alloy coefficient for low-pressure carburization to reduce the carbon concentration in austenite and avoid the surface carbide network. At the early stage of carburization (˜30 s), the gas-solid interface has a higher concentration gradient. The averaging method is not ideal in practical applications, but the carbon flux measured by using the segmented average method is 2.5 times that measured by the overall average method, which is ideal in practical applications. The corresponding carburization time is reduced by 60%. By using the integral average method, the actual carburization time increases, which leads to the rapid formation of carbide on the surface and affects the entire carburization process. Nb and W combine with C to form carbides, which hinders carbon diffusion and consumes carbon, resulting in a sharp decrease in the rate of C diffusion in austenite (the diffusion rate is reduced by ˜52% for 16Cr3NiWMoVNbE steel). By changing the diffusion coefficient model and comparing the hardness gradient of different processes, the depth of the actual layer is found to be very similar to the design depth.