18.20.5.

2010,RonovpodRadhotm,eskrepublika


RAPID CARBIDE SPHEROIDISATION IN C45 STEEL
Daniela HAUSEROVA
a
, Jaromir DLOUHY
b
Zbysek NOVY
c
, Ondrej STEJSKAL
d
a,b,c,d
COMTES FHT a.s., Prmyslov 995, 334 41 Dobany, esk republika,
daniela.hauserova@comtesfht.cz, jaromir.dlouhy@comtesfht.cz, zbysek.novy@comtesfht.cz
Abstract
Research into the process of rapid carbide spheroidisation is aimed at achieving significant reduction in
processing times of selected heat treatment procedures and resulting cost savings. Conventional methods of
annealing steel stock leading to formation of globular pearlite (microstructure consisting of ferrite matrix and
spheroidised carbides) require long soaking times, up to several tens of hours, due to the diffusional nature
of the process. Long annealing just below A
c1
produces spheroidised carbides in ferrite matrix. The newly
developed process based on carbide spheroidisation consists in heating of a steel workpiece through
thickness to a temperature no higher than A
c1
and in subsequent plastic deformation. The mechanical energy
introduced by forming leads to a rapid temperature increase in the entire workpiece to above A
c1
. The piece
is then cooled down in a conventional fashion. The combination of a suitable pre-heating temperature and an
appropriate amount of strain leads to transformation of initial ferrite-pearlite microstructure with lamellar
pearlite into desired ferrite matrix with spheroidised carbides in the entire volume of the workpiece.
The present paper brings a description of the rapid carbide spheroidisation phenomenon, which is necessary
for understanding its mechanism and for its reproducible application in real-world processes.
1. INTRODUCTION
Current procedures leading to carbide spheroidisation rely on diffusion of carbon in a steel heated to
a temperature close to or slightly below A
c1
. Diffusion-based processes of this type are time-consuming. The
holding times of tens of hours make spheroidising one of the most expensive heat treatment processes. The
newly-designed and patented process of the company COMTES FHT brings several-fold reduction in the
processing time and considerable cost savings. The present paper deals with investigation of the impact of
key process parameters on carbide spheroidisation. The acceleration of the process is tied to heating of the
material at a temperature close to A
c1
and to introducing plastic strain into the material [1-4].
2. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIAL AND EQUIPMENT
Specimens of the steel C45 (see Table 1) with a cylindrical shape and a diameter of 45 or 50 mm were used.
Their height was either 100 mm or 40 mm.
Table 1 Chemical composition of C45 [wt. %]
C Mn Si Cr Ni Cu P S
according 0.42 0.50 0.17 max max max max max
to EN 0.50 0.80 0.37 0.25 0.30 0.30 0.04 0.04
18.20.5.2010,RonovpodRadhotm,eskrepublika


The specimens were heated in the atmospheric furnace and deformed between flat swages of hydraulic
press with a maximum forging force of 100 tonnes. Metallographic observation by light and scanning
microscope was performed on longitudinal sections of all specimens in order to examine and compare
microstructures throughout the specimen section.
3. PROCESSING OF SPECIMENS
For the purpose of comparison with the newly-designed thermomechanical process, conventional soft
annealing was carried out. This heat treatment consisted in 12-hour hold at 700C and slow furnace cooling
(specimen denoted as S0 in Table 2). In order to explore the process of rapid spheroidisation induced by
thermomechanical treatment, the effects of the heating temperature, the amount and type of the introduced
strain and post-deformation cooling rate were observed.
The thermomechanical treatment consisted in heating the cylindrical specimen to the Tz temperature, two-
stage forming in a press with reheating, and subsequent cooling. The specimens were reheated to Tz with a
hold of 20 minutes between the deformation steps. In the second forming step, the specimen was deformed
in a direction perpendicular to that of the first step. The velocity of the press ram was 10 mms-1. The
specimen denoted as 9 (Table 2) did not undergo reheating. The Tz temperature is shown in Table 2.
Table 2 Thermomechanical treatment schedules. Values of plastic strain were obtained by numerical
simulation of deformation process.
Sample Dim. [mm]
T
z
[C]
after first
deformation
step**
after second
deformation step**
Cooling
S0 - 700 - - 700C/12 hrs/furnace
1 45 x 40 707 1,0 2,3 air
2 45 x 40 720 1,0 2,3 air
3 50 x 100 707 1,8 3,1 air
4 50 x 100 720 1,8 3,1 air
5 45 x 100 707 1,8 2,8 water
6 45 x 100 707 1,8 2,8 air
7 45 x 100 707 1,8 2,8 air/700C/12 hrs/furnace
8 50 x 40 707 1,0 2,4 air
9* 50 x 40 707 1,0 2,4 air
* Sample 9 was not reheated between first and second deformation steps.
** Deformation calculated in the central part of the sample.
18.20.5.2010,RonovpodRadhotm,eskrepublika


The material in its initial state has a ferrite-pearlite microstructure with pronounced banding in the direction of
the axis of the bar (Fig. 1). The initial hardness was
180 HV. The pearlite is of lamellar type with sparse
globular carbides.
4. NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
The forming process of the cylindrical specimen was
modelled by means of numerical simulation. It has
shown that the deformation process is accompanied by
a significant temperature increase, mainly in the centre
of the specimen. Fig. 2 shows the entire central cross
section of the specimen with a numerically modelled
temperature field for at the instant of completion
of the second deformation step. It shows the situation in
specimens 5, 6 and 7 see Table 2. According to the
model, the plastic strain in the centre of these specimens is = 2,8 (point P4 in Fig. 2). The temperature
prior to deformation was 700C. The greatest temperature increase according to the calculation occurred in
the centre of the specimen, leading to the final temperature of 738C.

Fig. 2 Temperature field in the specimen upon
completion of the second deformation step.
Cross-section through the central axis of the
specimen is shown
Table 3 Temperature afrer deformationn and total
plastic deformation in different points in the
sample.

Point
P1 P2 P3 P4 P5 P6 P7
Temp.
after 1
st

def. [C]
497 711 734 738 730 717 705
Temp.
after 2
nd

def. [C]
707 723 727 728 720 663 451
Total
plastic
strain
0,8 1,9 2,6 2,8 2,2 1,9 1,0
5. DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
Hardness was measured on the section of each specimen in the centre. Results in
Table 4 are an average of three values from three indents carried out at each specimen.

Table 4 Hardness of the central region of the specimens.

Fig. 1 Initial microstructure lamellar pearlite and
ferrite.
Specimen S0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Hardness HV30 148 177 190 180 180 184 169 147 196 185
18.20.5.2010,RonovpodRadhotm,eskrepublika



Fig. 3 Specimen 2, centre. Clearly visible ferrite
areas elongated in ditection of defrmation.

Fig. 4 Specimen 2, centre. Spheroidised
carbides.

Fig. 5 Specimen 4, centre. Optical microscope.
Homogenous structure with only small amount of
ferrite.
Fig. 6 Specimen 4, centre. Partially decomposed
cluster of retained pearlite lamellae.
The metallographic observation of the central region of specimens showed the impact of deformation on the
resulting microstructure in specimens 1, 2, 3 and 4. Specimens 1 and 2 which underwent smaller plastic
deformation (resulting in lower maximum temperature during the forming process) retained notable ferritic
areas elongated in the direction of deformation (Fig. 3). Specimens 3 and 4, deformed with greater intensity,
showed lower proportion of ferrite with more uniformly distributed carbides. Their shape and size in the
centre of specimens 1 through 4 were similar. The microstructures typically contained well spheroidised
carbides with a size between 0.3 and 1.5 m. There are only sparse cementite lamellae or their minute
clusters which had not decomposed (Fig. 4 and Fig. 6). Carbide lamellae in specimen 2, which showed
higher hardness (
Table 4), decomposed to finer globular particles than those in specimens 1, 2 and 3.
Homogeneous microstructure throughout the volume was not formed in any of specimens 1 through 4.
Halfway between the centre and the surface of the specimen the microstructure contains both spheroidised
carbides and lamellar pearlite. Specimens which underwent lower deformation (1 and 2) exhibit more
extensive and continuous areas of lamellar pearlite.
Specimens 5, 6 and 7 were also deformed in two steps with twenty-minute reheating in between. The T
z

temperature was 707C. Specimens 5 and 6 cooled in water and air, respectively, had similar microstructure
18.20.5.2010,RonovpodRadhotm,eskrepublika


in their central region as specimens 3 and 4. It consisted of spheroidised carbides in ferrite matrix with
sparse remnants of lamellae no more than 5 m in length. The microstructure was as heterogeneous as that
in specimens 1 through 4. With increasing distance from the centre of specimen, the proportion of lamellar
pearlite increased. Water quenching did not result in any change in the microstructure; the transformation
was completed above the M
S
temperature.
Specimen 7 was air-cooled after forming and then placed in a furnace at the temperature of 700C for 12 h
and cooled in furnace. Micrographs clearly show coarser carbides than in specimens 1 through 6 (the size of
carbides ranges between 0.5 and 2.5 m). This microstructure is present throughout the volume of
specimen. Carbide spheroidisation was complete unlike in specimen S0, which was held in furnance for 12h
without preliminary deformation.

Fig. 7 Specimen S0, centre. Partialy
spheroidised carbides..

Fig. 8 Specimen 7, centre. Globular carbides,
coarsened in comparison with the other samples.
Specimens 8 and 9 were formed in two steps, while the specimen no. 9 was not reheated between the steps.
Analysis of microstructure has shown that spheroidisation was most complete in specimen no. 9 where no
reheating was applied. Specimen 8 contained more remnants of lamellar pearlite colonies. A network of
spheroidised carbides delineated prior grain boundaries.

Fig. 9 Specimen 8, centre. A large amount of
residual lamellar pearlite.

Fig. 10 Specimen 9, centre. Only rare residual
lamellae of pearlite.
It is therefore possible to construct a preliminary hypothesis stating that more effective carbide
spheroidisation can be achieved with higher strain introduced over a short time interval. If the deformation
18.20.5.2010,RonovpodRadhotm,eskrepublika


process is interrupted by an isothermal hold, the recrystallization process take place but the spheroidising
process is less intensive. This hypothesis would have to be supported with results of further experiments.

6. CONCLUSION
The results of experiments suggest that forming a workpiece heated to a temperature slightly below A
c1
can
effectively initiate the rapid spheroidisation process. The soaking temperature prior to forming should range
between 5 and 15C below A
C1
. Another important parameter is the magnitude of introduced plastic strain.
With increasing amount of plastic strain the extent of carbide spheroidisation and the homogeneity of
microstructure increase. It was interesting to find that in case of multiple plastic deformation steps the
process was more effective when these steps followed in rapid succession. A delay between the
deformation steps, despite the temperature slightly below A
c1
, tends to have a negative effect on
spheroidisation. The cooling rate does not have a significant impact on the resulting microstructure.
Annealing at a temperature slightly below A
c1
for 12 hours was not sufficient for a complete spheroidisation
of carbides in the steel C45. Complete spheroidisation of carbides throughout the volume of the specimen
took place in relation to the thermomechanical treatment which induced the rapid spheroidisation process.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This paper includes results achieved within the project GACR P107/10/2272: Accelerated Carbide
Spheroidization and Grain Refinement in Steels.
REFERENCES
[1] Jech, J. Tepeln zpracovn oceli - Metalografick pruka, Praha: SNTL - Nakladatelstv technick literatury, 1969, pp. 391.
[2] Vander Voort, G. F., Lampman, S. R., Anton, G. J. Metallography and Microstructures, ASM Handbook,Volume 9, Ohio: ASM
International, 2004. pp. 1184.
[3] Chou C.C., Kao, P. W., Cheby, G. H. Accelerated spheroidization of hypoeutectoid steel by the decomposition of supercooled
austenite, Journal of Materials Science, 1986, 21, p. 3339 3344.
[4] Ptek, L. etc. Nauka o materilu, Brno: Akademick nakladatelstv CERM, s.r.o., 2001, pp.505.