Influence of a cryogenic treatment on the fracture toughness of an AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel

Abstract

Cryogenic treatments have been employed over the last three decades in both tool and high-alloy steels to improve wear resistance, mainly through the transformation of retained austenite and the precipitation of fine carbides. The application of these treatments to low-alloy steels and even to non-ferrous materials is becoming the subject of several investigations, due to their potentiality to reduce wear.The objective of the present work is to characterize the wear behavior of a cryogenically treated low-carbon AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel, by means of pin-on-disk tribological tests. Wear tests were performed according to ASTM G99 standard, under a range of applied normal loads and in two different environments, namely a vaseline bath and an argon atmosphere. Wear tracks were analyzed by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to evaluate wear volume, track geometry, surface features and the tribolayers generated after testing.In this study, it has been experimentally demonstrated that cryogenically treated specimens showed a wear resistance improvement ranging from 35 to 90% compared to conventionally treated ones.Obdelava s podhlajevanjem v zadnjih treh desetletjih, tako za orodja kot za visokolegirana jekla, pomeni izboljsanje njihove odpornosti proti obrabi, predvsem zaradi preoblikovanja zadrzanega avstenita in zgoscevanja finih delcev. Kakorkoli ze, izbolj{anje enega materiala je pogosto, vendar na racun drugega, zato je zanimivo oceniti ucinek takega tipa obdelave na lomno zilavost. Predmet pricujocega dela je bila dolocitev lomne zilavosti kriogensko obdelanega nizkoogljikovega martenzitnega nerjavecega jekla AISI 420, s pomocjo standardiziranih testov zlomov, izvedenih v skladu s standardoma ASTM E399 in ASTM E1820. V studiji je bilo s poizkusi dokazano, da so kriogensko obdelani vzorci pokazali hkratno povecanje KCI in trdote za 30 % in 5 %, v primerjavi s konvencionalno obdelanimi vzorci.