Effects of carbide-forming elements on the response to thermal treatment of the X45Cr13 martensitic stainless steel

Abstract

The effects of carbide-forming elements on the response to thermal treatment of the X45Cr13 martensitic stainless steel have been investigated. Heat treatments consisted of austenitizing for 60 s at temperatures ranging from 1000Ð1250¡C. The higher is the solution treatment temperature, the less M23C6 carbide is left out of solution in the austenite. As a result, the concentration of carbon and alloying elements in the martensite increases and, therefore, an increase in the hardness until a maximum value of 710 HV was found at austenitizing temperatures of 1120 and 1130¡C for the steels X45Cr13 and X45CrMoV14, respectively. At higher austenitizing temperatures, the presence of retained austenite was observed, which leads to a lowering of the hardness value. The higher amount of carbide-forming elements in the X45CrMoV14 determines an increase in retained austenite from 3 vol%to about 30 vol %. Thus, a drop in the hardness value from 710 to 680 and 585 for the steels X45Cr13 and X45CrMoV14, respectively, was found.