Effects of Austenitisation Temperature and Multiple Tempering on the Microstructure and Impact Toughness of a 5 wt. % Cr Cold Work Tool Steel

• The microstructure and properties of a 5 wt.% Cr cold work tool steel were studied after austenitisation at 1020°C, 1050°C or 1075°C followed by single, double and triple tempering treatments at 525°C. The microstructures were investigated with scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction and phase transformations were studied by dilatometry. Furthermore, hardness and Charpy un-notched and V-notched impact toughness testing was performed and results were correlated to observed microstructures. With higher austenitisation temperature, the martensite and bainite start temperatures were lowered resulting in microstructures containing a higher volume fraction of retained austenite. Retained austenite transformed into martensite on cooling from the tempering temperature. Specimens that were austenitised at 1050°C or 1075°C and tempered twice contained fresh martensite. Applying a third tempering was therefore required to guarantee a fully tempered microstructure. The second tempering resulted in an increase of the un-notched impact energy while the third tempering did not have a pronounced effect. A triple tempering procedure could be preferable when austenitising at high temperatures to avoid undesirable fresh martensite in the tool microstructure.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Materialteknik -- Bearbetnings-, yt- och fogningsteknik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Materials Engineering -- Manufacturing, Surface and Joining Technology (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Cold work tool steel

microstructure

martensite

retained austenite

toughness

X-ray diffraction

scanning electron microscopy

dilatometry

Production Technology

Produktionsteknik

Manufacturing and materials engineering

Produktions- och materialteknik

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

kon (subject category)