Effect of austenitizing temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of medium carbon spring steel

The influence of austenitizing temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of medium carbon spring steel was systematically studied. Microstructural characterization showed that decreasing the austenitizing temperature from 900 °C to 860 °C effectively refined prior austenite grains...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Qian Yu, Yuliang Zhao, Feiyu Zhao
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Materials Letters: X
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590150825000146
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Summary:The influence of austenitizing temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of medium carbon spring steel was systematically studied. Microstructural characterization showed that decreasing the austenitizing temperature from 900 °C to 860 °C effectively refined prior austenite grains from 8.8 μm to 5.3 μm, reduced martensite block thickness from 0.9 μm to 0.7 μm, and increased the fraction of high-angle grain boundaries (HAGBs) from 70 % to 76 %. Crystallographic variant analysis revealed increased boundary densities for V1&V2, V1&V3(V5), V1&V4, and V1&V6 pairs in the 860 °C sample with refined PAGS, along with elevated frequencies of V1&V3(V5) and V1&V6 pairs classified as HAGBs, consistent with the K-S orientation relationship. These results demonstrate that reducing the austenitizing temperature from 900 °C to 860 °C significantly affects martensite block size, HAGB fraction, and crystallographic variant pairs, leading to enchanced yield strength from 1563 MPa to 1648 MPa and total elongation from 9.3 % to 9.7 %.
ISSN:2590-1508