The Influence of Austenite Grain Size on the Mechanical Properties of Low-Alloy Steel with Boron

Abstract

This study forms part of the current research on modern steel groups with higher resistance to abrasive wear. In order to reduce the intensity of wear processes, and also to minimize their impact, the immediate priority seems to be a search for a correlation between the chemical composition and structure of these materials and their properties. In this paper, the correlation between prior austenite grain size, martensite packets and the mechanical properties were researched. The growth of austenite grains is an important factor in the analysis of the microstructure, as the grain size has an effect on the kinetics of phase transformation. The microstructure, however, is closely related to the mechanical properties of the material such as yield strength, tensile strength, elongation and impact strength, as well as morphology of occurred fracture. During the study, the mechanical properties were tested and a tendency to brittle fracture was analysed. The studies show big differences of the analysed parameters depending on the applied heat treatment, which should provide guidance to users to specific applications of this type of steel.

Keywords

• boron steels
• austenite grain size
• impact strength
• fracture
• tensile strength