Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steel
Fatigue life is a key issue on the performance of alloys employed in mechanical components manufacturing such as Si-Mn spring steels used in the automotive industry. In these alloys, the fatigue life is strongly affected by surface defects and microstructure. In this paper, the effect of total decar...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Alloys and Metallurgical Systems |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294991782500032X |
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| author | Jéssica Cristina Costa de Castro Santana Silvano Leal dos Santos Renato Altobelli Antunes Sydney Ferreira Santos |
| author_facet | Jéssica Cristina Costa de Castro Santana Silvano Leal dos Santos Renato Altobelli Antunes Sydney Ferreira Santos |
| author_sort | Jéssica Cristina Costa de Castro Santana |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Fatigue life is a key issue on the performance of alloys employed in mechanical components manufacturing such as Si-Mn spring steels used in the automotive industry. In these alloys, the fatigue life is strongly affected by surface defects and microstructure. In this paper, the effect of total decarburization depth and nanohardness profile on the premature fatigue failure of the SAE 9254 spring steel is reported. Decarburization layer was developed during heat treatment (austenitization at 850 °C and oil quenching). Heat treated specimens with different decarburized layer thickness and controlled surface roughness were investigated to evaluate the interplay between the decarburized layer depth and fatigue behavior. Stress-controlled fatigue tests up to 400,000 cycles and fractographic analysis allowed determining that fully decarburized layers (ferrite layers) with thickness up to 25 μm did not fracture. Above this critical thickness, premature fatigue fracture took place. Microstructural characterization and nanohardness profile measurements indicated that premature crack nucleation during the fatigue tests is associated with an abrupt hardness variation at the interface between total and partial decarburization regions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e0dccf5f1f2f44268651893ab29c5882 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2949-9178 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Alloys and Metallurgical Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-e0dccf5f1f2f44268651893ab29c58822025-08-20T02:39:36ZengElsevierJournal of Alloys and Metallurgical Systems2949-91782025-06-011010018210.1016/j.jalmes.2025.100182Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steelJéssica Cristina Costa de Castro Santana0Silvano Leal dos Santos1Renato Altobelli Antunes2Sydney Ferreira Santos3Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, SP 09210-580, Brazil; Corresponding authors.Universidade Federal de Itajubá (UNIFEI), Instituto de Engenharia Integrada (IEI), Itabira, MG 35903-087, BrazilCentro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, SP 09210-580, BrazilCentro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS), Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC), Santo André, SP 09210-580, Brazil; Corresponding authors.Fatigue life is a key issue on the performance of alloys employed in mechanical components manufacturing such as Si-Mn spring steels used in the automotive industry. In these alloys, the fatigue life is strongly affected by surface defects and microstructure. In this paper, the effect of total decarburization depth and nanohardness profile on the premature fatigue failure of the SAE 9254 spring steel is reported. Decarburization layer was developed during heat treatment (austenitization at 850 °C and oil quenching). Heat treated specimens with different decarburized layer thickness and controlled surface roughness were investigated to evaluate the interplay between the decarburized layer depth and fatigue behavior. Stress-controlled fatigue tests up to 400,000 cycles and fractographic analysis allowed determining that fully decarburized layers (ferrite layers) with thickness up to 25 μm did not fracture. Above this critical thickness, premature fatigue fracture took place. Microstructural characterization and nanohardness profile measurements indicated that premature crack nucleation during the fatigue tests is associated with an abrupt hardness variation at the interface between total and partial decarburization regions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294991782500032XSi-Mn spring steelsSAE 9254 steelDecarburizationFatigueNanohardness |
| spellingShingle | Jéssica Cristina Costa de Castro Santana Silvano Leal dos Santos Renato Altobelli Antunes Sydney Ferreira Santos Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steel Journal of Alloys and Metallurgical Systems Si-Mn spring steels SAE 9254 steel Decarburization Fatigue Nanohardness |
| title | Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steel |
| title_full | Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steel |
| title_fullStr | Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steel |
| title_full_unstemmed | Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steel |
| title_short | Influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized SAE 9254 spring steel |
| title_sort | influence of the microstructure on the premature fatigue failure of decarburized sae 9254 spring steel |
| topic | Si-Mn spring steels SAE 9254 steel Decarburization Fatigue Nanohardness |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S294991782500032X |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jessicacristinacostadecastrosantana influenceofthemicrostructureontheprematurefatiguefailureofdecarburizedsae9254springsteel AT silvanolealdossantos influenceofthemicrostructureontheprematurefatiguefailureofdecarburizedsae9254springsteel AT renatoaltobelliantunes influenceofthemicrostructureontheprematurefatiguefailureofdecarburizedsae9254springsteel AT sydneyferreirasantos influenceofthemicrostructureontheprematurefatiguefailureofdecarburizedsae9254springsteel |