A novel concept for simplification of heat treatment process in a tool steel by the addition of aluminium has been proposed in this research. The addition of 1.08 wt-% aluminium leads to an approximately fully pearlitic state, of which the cementite lamellae are largely spheroidised. Excessive addition of 1.58 wt-% aluminium would result in the formation of a large amount of δ-ferrite. These results are mainly attributed to the synthetic effect of aluminium on the driving force of pearlite transformation and the inter-spacing distance between the proeutectoid carbides. The mechanical properties’ analyses show that aluminium has promising potential to substantially simplify the processing method for developing a relative low-cost mould steel without the concomitant mechanical properties’ reductions.
OldewurtelA. and EscherC.: ‘The use of tools steels: Experience and Research’, Proc. 6th Int. Conf. on 'DE-GP4M-a new generation for tool steel casting’, Karlstad, Sweden, Sept 2002, Karlstad University, Paper 175–184.
2.
BhadeshiaH. K. D. H. and HoneycombeR. W. K.: ‘Steels: microstructure and properties’, 3th edn, 2006, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann.
3.
BhadeshiaH. K. D. H.: ‘Steels for bearings’, Prog. Mater. Sci., 2012, 57, 268–435. doi: 10.1016/j.pmatsci.2011.06.002
4.
RastegariH., KermanpurA. and NajafizadehA.: ‘Investigating the effects of short time austenitizing and cooling rate on pearlitic microstructure and mechanical properties of a hot rolled plain eutectic carbon steel’, Mater. Des., 2015, 67, 217–223. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2014.11.038
5.
GuoN., LuanB. and LiuQ.: ‘Influence of pre-torsion deformation on microstructures and properties of cold drawing pearlitic steel wires’, Mater. Des., 2013, 50, 285–292. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2013.02.047
6.
ChenM. Y., YenH. W. and YangJ. R.: ‘The transition from interphase-precipitated carbides to fibrous carbides in a vanadium-containing medium-carbon steel’, Scr. Mater., 2013, 68, 829–832. doi: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2013.01.020
7.
YiH. L., HouZ. Y., XuY. B., WuD. and WangG. D.: ‘Acceleration of spheroidization in eutectoid steels by the addition of aluminum’, Scr. Mater., 2012, 67, 645–648. doi: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2012.07.020
8.
PerelomaE. and EdmondsD. V.: ‘Phase transformations in steels volume 1: fundamentals and diffusion-controlled transformations’, 2012, Cambridge, Woodhead.
9.
MehlR. F. and HagelW. C.: ‘The austenite: pearlite reaction’, Prog. Metal. Phys., 1956, 6, 74–134. doi: 10.1016/0502-8205(56)90005-3
10.
MeinA., FourlarisG., CrowtherD. and EvansP.: ‘Influence of aluminium additions upon CCT diagrams for hot rolled TRIP assisted dual phase steel’, Mater. Sci. Technol., 2012, 28, 627–633. doi: 10.1179/1743284711Y.0000000092
11.
WuK. M. and BhadeshiaH. K. D. H.: ‘Extremely fine pearlite by continuous cooling transformation’, Scr. Mater., 2012, 67, 53–56. doi: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2012.03.019
12.
SuhD. W., ParkS. J., OhC. S. and KimS. J.: ‘Influence of partial replacement of Si by Al on the change of phase fraction during heat treatment of TRIP steels’, Scr. Mater., 2007, 57, 1097–1100. doi: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2007.08.022
13.
PengH. F., SongX. Y., GaoA. and MaX.: ‘Microstructure and mechanical properties of the Al-added ultrahigh carbon steel’, Mater. Lett., 2005, 59, 3330–3332. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2005.05.067
14.
ZhangX., FanL. J., XuY. L., LiJ., XiaoX. S. and JiangL. Z.: ‘Effect of aluminum on microstructure, mechanical properties and pitting corrosion resistance of ultra-pure 429 ferritic stainless steels’, Mater. Des., 2015, 65, 682–689. doi: 10.1016/j.matdes.2014.09.074
15.
JinJ.-E. and LeeY.-K.: ‘Effects of Al on microstructure and tensile properties of C-bearing high Mn TWIP steel’, Acta Mater., 2012, 60, 1680–1688. doi: 10.1016/j.actamat.2011.12.004
16.
HuF., HodgsonP. D. and WuK. M.: ‘Acceleration of the super bainite transformation through a coarse austenite grain size’, Mater. Lett., 2014, 122, 240–243. doi: 10.1016/j.matlet.2014.02.051
17.
ChatterjeeS., MurugananthM. and BhadeshiaH. K. D. H.: ‘δ TRIP steel’, Mater. Sci. Technol., 2007, 23, 819–827. doi: 10.1179/174328407X179746
18.
YiH. L.: ‘Full pearlite obtained by slow cooling in medium carbon steel’, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2010, 527, 7600–7604. doi: 10.1016/j.msea.2010.08.009
19.
VerhoevenJ. D. and GibsonE. D.: ‘The divorced eutectoid transformation in steel’, Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 1998, 29, 1181–1189. doi: 10.1007/s11661-998-0245-4
20.
PanditA. S. and BhadeshiaH. K. D. H.: ‘Divorced pearlite in steels’, Proc. R. Soc. A, 2012, 468, 2767–2778. doi: 10.1098/rspa.2012.0115
21.
LuoD., PeetM. J., OoiS. W., YanP.I, YinZ. and BhadeshiaH. K. D. H.: ‘Spheroidisation of hypereutectoid state of nanostructured bainitic steel’, Mater. Sci. Technol., 2014, 30, 1282–1286. doi: 10.1179/1743284714Y.0000000545
22.
KhvanA. V., HallstedtB. and BroeckmannC.: ‘A thermodynamic evaluation of the Fe–Cr–C system’, Comput. Coupl. Phase Diagr. Thermochem., 2014, 46, 24–33. doi: 10.1016/j.calphad.2014.01.002
23.
MesquitaR. A. and KestenbachH. -J.: ‘Influence of silicon on secondary hardening of 5 wt% Cr steels’, Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2012, 556, 970–973. doi: 10.1016/j.msea.2012.06.060
24.
LuK. and LuL.: ‘Preface to the viewpoint set on the strengthening effect of nanoscale twins’, Scr. Mater., 2012, 66, 835–836. doi: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2012.02.024
25.
LiS. S., LiuY. H., SongY. L., KongL., ZhangR. H. and LiT. J.: ‘Microstructure, mechanical properties and strengthening mechanisms of 5Cr5MoV modified by aluminum’, Mater. Des., 2015, 83, 483–492.
26.
YuL., WangH. H., WangX. L., HuangG., HouT. P. and WuK. M.: ‘Improvement of impact toughness of simulated heat affected zone by addition of aluminium’, Mater. Sci. Technol., 2014, 30, 1951–1958. doi: 10.1179/1743284714Y.0000000602
27.
NamW.-J. and ChoiH.-C.: ‘Effects of silicon, nickel, and vanadium on impact toughness in spring steels’, Mater. Sci. Technol., 1997, 13, 568–574. doi: 10.1179/mst.1997.13.7.568
28.
MichaudP., DelagnesD., LamesleP., MathonM. H. and LevaillantC.: ‘The effect of the addition of alloying elements on carbide precipitation and mechanical properties in 5% chromium martensitic steels’, Acta Mater., 2007, 55, 4877–4889. doi: 10.1016/j.actamat.2007.05.004
