International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

Phase transformations in metals have a major influence on the material behaviour in several common engineering applications. Steels exhibiting enhanced response to transformation-induced plasticity (e. g. high strength TRIP-steels for automotive production) are examples of the important role martensite formation can play. An externally stressed specimen in the process of a phase transformation may show a significant nonlinear behaviour, which is known as transformation plasticity. Even under an externally applied load stress with the corresponding equivalent stress being small in relation to the “normal” yield stress of the material, plastic deformation occurs.
An aim of a research was to determine relaxation and transformation plasticity properties of alloyed tool steel while is tempered at elevated temperatures and for different tempering duration.

The article deals with the investigation of plastic deformations of carburized medium carbon stainless steel after quenching and tempering. After carburization the specimens were heated at 1020 °C temperature and then air quenched. At the process of air quenching the specimens were bent within the temperature dropping interval approximately from 550 °C to room temperature. The bending caused tension or compression in different parts of the specimen, so interstitial distortion was formed. As the bending stress was much lower than the yield stress, the specimen didn’t bend during the first minutes of experiment, and then started bending during the martensitic transformation (transformation plasticity effect). The curved quenched specimens then were tempered at temperatures 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 °C for 1 hour and the deflection of specimen after each tempering was measured.

The results showed different influence of tension and compression on transformations occurring in steel during quenching and tempering. The tempering temperature effect on self-deformation of curved specimen was revealed.

Basic idea in this metallographic investigation is checking the effect of induction (surface) quenching of produced part, two-side lever made of 42CrMo4 steel. This part is build in railway wagon. According its production assignation it has to be surface hardened just in some positions. Formerly surface hardness of this part was realized by chemical-heat treatment i.e. case hardening of 16MnCr5 steel. But because of specific form of the part and increased britlness which appear in the thinnest parts of lever (between the rounded opening and the surface) and idea was obtained to change the case hardening with induction quenching. Efficiency of performed induction quenching i.e. hardness values and depth of quenched layer was controlled by optical microscopy and hardness measurement.