Thermal diffusivity and thermal expansion investigations of WLV steel

Abstract

WLV steel (32CrMoV12-28) with a density 7.80 g/cm3 at room temperature (RT) was used to study the temperature characteristics of thermal diffusivity and thermal expansion in the temperature range from RT to 1100°C Two types of NETZSCH flash devices were used, i.e. low-temperature LFA 467 and high-temperature LFA 427. A sample of NETZSCH Inconel 600 with a density of 8.35 g/cm3 at room temperature in the temperature range from RT to 480°C was used as the reference material. The reference material was used to determine the thermal conductivity and specific heat by the comparative method. The results of thermal diffusivity tests of WLV steel made with the LFA 467 and LFA 427 apparatus turned out to be consistent with each other. Measurements of thermal expansion of WLV steel were carried out using a NETZSCH DIL 402 C dilatometer. The results of thermal expansion studies indicated a ferrite-austenite phase transition at 835°C, which causes shrinkage of the material. WLV steel has been tested for military use as barrel steel. The paper presents the thermophysical properties of this steel in a wide range of temperatures so that they can be used as input data for numerical simulations of heat transfer in cannon barrels.