Cg. De Andres et al., Effects of carbide-forming elements on the response to thermal treatment of the X45Cr13 martensitic stainless steel, J MATER SCI, 33(16), 1998, pp. 4095-4100
The effects of carbide-forming elements on the response to thermal treatmen
t of the X45Cr13 martensitic stainless steel have been investigated. Heat t
reatments consisted of austenitizing for 60 s at temperatures ranging from
1000-1250 degrees C. The higher is the solution treatment temperature, the
less M23C6 carbide is left out of solution in the austenite. As a result, t
he concentration of carbon and alloying elements in the martensite increase
s and, therefore, an increase in the hardness until a maximum value of 710
HV was found at austenitizing temperatures of 1120 and 1130 degrees C for t
he steels X45Cr13 and X45CrMoV14, respectively. At higher austenitizing tem
peratures, the presence of retained austenite was observed, which leads to
a lowering of the hardness value. The higher amount of carbide-forming elem
ents 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. (C
) 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers.