Phase change materials as quenching media for heat treatment of 42CrMo4 steels

Milad Sakkaki, Farhad Sadegh Moghanlou, Soroush Parvizi, Haniyeh Baghbanijavid, Aziz Babapoor, Mehdi Shahedi Asl*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In the present work, paraffin phase change material is used as quenchant for the heat treatment of 42CrMo4 alloy and compared with water, air, and CuO doped paraffin. The samples were prepared based on ASTM E 8M-98 standard for tensile test and then heated up to 830 °C, kept for 4 h in an electric resistance furnace and then quenched in the mentioned media. Elastic modulus, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, elongation, and modulus of toughness were determined according to the obtained stress-strain curves. Moreover, the hardness and microstructural evolution were investigated after the heat treatment at different media. The samples quenched in paraffin and CuO-doped paraffin are higher in ultimate tensile strength (1439 and 1306 MPa, respectively) than those quenched in water (1190 MPa) and air (1010 MPa). The highest hardness, with a value of HV 552, belonged to the sample quenched in CuO-doped paraffin. The microstructural studies revealed that the non-tempered steel had a ferrite/pearlite microstructure, while by quenching in water, paraffin and CuO-doped paraffin, ferrite/martensite microstructures were achieved. It is also observed that using the air as quenchant resulted in a three-phase bainite/martensite/ferrite microstructure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)752-761
Number of pages10
JournalJournal of Central South University
Volume27
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2020
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • 42CrMo4 steel
  • heat treatment
  • mechanical property
  • microstructure
  • phase change materials
  • quenchant

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