Metal Sci('m'c a n d Ileut Treatment

I-'ol. 41, Nos. 5 - 6. 1999

UDC 62 1,785.533:621.753.5

USE OF C A R B O N I T R I D I N G F O R S E L F - S H A R P E N I N G
OF T O O L S IN SERVICE
L. P. K a r p o v I

Translated from Metallovedenic i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 6, pp. 16 - 19, June, 1999.

INTRODUCTION

for grinding off the diffusion layer of the "soft" face and obtaining a diffusion layer of the requisite quality under the
condition o f a high structural strength o f the blades.
The thickness o f the diffusion layer h and tile zone o f
carbonitrides ( h n ) was detemlincd metallographically, tile
amount o f carbonitrides (CN) was evaluated in points by the
method o f [4] (six points correspond to the coarsest
carbonitrides), and the presence o f a carbon itride net (CN N)
in the layer was determined by GOST 8233-56.
The specimens were tested for fatigue strength using an
INSTRON testing machine. The cracking capacity was evaluated by indenting a Rockwell hardness meter into the studied surface. The H R C hardness of the difli, sion layer was
also measured.
The mechanical properties of the middle o f the blades
were evaluated by the results o f tests o f specimens subjected
to carbonitriding and heat treatment together with the cutters.
In order to eliminate saturation o f the specimens their surface
was c o p p e r coated.
The tests tbr tile impact strength were conducted for
specimens having a diffusion layer on all faces and on two
laces (a side one and a conjugate one without a notch concentrator ~ (Fig. 1 )).

Agricultural machines are equipped with sell:sharpening

cutting parts such as plough shares, shearers, and cultivator
cutlers [I]. Sell:sharpening occurs due 1o the difference in
lhe wear rates of the culling edges of the blade. The faces
meeting at the blade edge have different hardnesses, the
"'soft" |'ace wearing more than the "'hard" one. In order to increase the endurance o f the blade the hardness o f the "'hard"
|ace is increased by various methods, including diffusion saturation [1 ]. The hardness o f the "'soft" face is assumed to be a
base constant. Optimum proportions lot the hardnesses o f
these two faces have been established [1] for specific operational conditions. In machining metals the principle o f
self-sharpening is unknown.
The present work describes an attempt to realize the principle o f selILsharpening in metal cutters.

M E T H O D S OF S T U D Y
We used surface impregnation, in particular carbonitriding at 800~ in products o f pyrolysis of triethanolamine
developed earlier in [2, 3], for hardening the surface layers o f
cutters. The method -~ essentially consists of subjecting the
laces o f the blade to carbonitriding to a thickness o f up to
I ram, quenching, and tempering. The surface layer and the
core o f the blade are hardened. Then a part o f the surfi~ce
layer o f the "'soft" face is ground off so that its hardness becomes intermediate between that o f the surface o f the "'hard"
face and the core. The diffusion layer of the "hard" face is
not removed in order to preserve the maximum hardness, or
is removed but to a much lesser degree than the "soft" lace.
We tested the cutters o f guillotines and supershears from
steel 40Kh containing 0.40% C, 0.63% Mn, 0.23% Si, and
0.80% Cr. The plate preforms for the blades were forged
from rods 120 mm in diameter and then nonnalized. To make
the blades self-sharpening we detemfined optimum regimes

; Positive decision on Application No. 97109065 of 29.01.98.

Fig. I. Microscopic cross sections of impact specimens with a dif-

I Elektrokhimpribor Works, Lesnoy, Sverdlovsk Region, Russia.

2 Positive decision on Application No. 97120523.

fusion layer ( 3.6): a) over all faces: h ) over two thces.

250
002~5-0673/9~)/05(16-0250522.00 ~ 1999KluwcrAcademic/PlenumPublishers

Use of Carbonitriding for Self-Sharpening of Tools in Service

HJ'"

601).

251

TABLE !

Carbonitriding regime

h, mm hen,mm

CN,
points

CNN.
points

0.108
0.105

3-5

I - "~

I).1)87
0.174

2 (up
1o4)

1 2

5o0

Double hold at 800~ for 15 h,

0.87vx=60 80drops/min(l)
I.I0

400

1,it I

I).2

0.4

I).~

I).8

h, mm

Fig. 2. Distribution of the hardness over the thickness of the diffusion layer.

RESULTS A N D T H E I R D I S C U S S I O N

Grinding Off the "sqli" /2we Of the blades. Supershears

are used lbr shearing and cutting steel parts such as rods
21) mm in diameter. A plate cutter with a mass o f 2 kg and a
thickness of 16 mm has a blade sharpened at an angle of 75 ~
The bearing face o f the blade is "'hard" and presses the rod,
leaving an impression on it. The "soft" lace incises the rod.
Under the action o f the two blades incising the metal in contrary directions the preform is cut off(the rod ruptures transversely). The blades work with self-sharpening and withstand over 500 operations o f rod cutting under normal and
negative temperatures (t > - 60~
The bluntness radius is
0.007 ram,
The requisite depth o f grinding the "'soft" tace is determined by the curve o f the distribution o f the hardness over
the thickness o f the difl'usion layer. In order to plot this curve
the specimens or control blades are ground at a step o f
0. I mm through the entire diffusion layer and the hardness is
determined at each step (Fig. 2). The surface o f the "'hard"
(about 580 HI") lace is not ground, and the depth o f grinding
off the "soft" face is chosen by the corresponding hardness,
for example 470 - 530 HI!
Such an approach to the formation o f the cutting faces
o f the blade allowed us to increase their service life considerably.

800~ for 15 13with vt =

65 drops/rain + 2 h with
vt = 45 drops/rain (2)

Notation: vt is the rate of feeding triethanolaminc: h is the thickness

of the diffusion layer: hen is the thickness of the carbonitride zone:
CN is the amount of carbonitrides: CNN is a carbide net.

surface o f heat-treated specimens (Table 2) have shown that

regime 2 chosen for carbonitriding is quite satisfactory. No
fatigue cracks were discovered around the indentation.
The hardness over.the thickness o f the diffusion layer decreases monotonically, which makes it possible to predict the
depth o f grinding off the "'soft" face.
Structural strength. In order to provide the requisite
structural strength of s e l f sharpening blades we detemfined
the regimes of quenching and double tempering after the
carbonitriding.
In order to preserve nitrogen in the diffusion layer the
austenization temperature (800 820~
for the subsequent
heat treatment was chosen below the standard level. The
variation o f the temperature (800, 820, 840~
changed the
hardness o f the diffusion layer alter quenching in oil and
tempering at 400~ with cooling in the oil unsubstantially
(52 - 54 H R Q ) , and that of the core also (42 - 45 HRC.).
The impact toughness o f the middle K('L +=1).650.66 M J/m2: in specimens with a diffusion layer on two

"[ABLE 2
Carbonimding regime
1

Obtaining an optimum diJ.]itsion laveJ: The blades were

carbonitrided by different regimes (Table 1). The results o f
the study o f the diffusion layer on the blades were used to
choose the optimum saturation (regime 2 ). The technology
of manufacturing the blades was supplemented by
carbonitriding by regime 2, which provided an appropriate
lower thickness ( 0 . 8 5 - 1.10 ram), not coarse carbonitrides
(2 points, in some places at a distance o f up to 0. I 74 mm
from the surface their size corresponded to 4 points), and the
absence of a carbide net (or the presence o f only its initial
features). The carbon content in the diffusion layer on the
surface at a distance o f up to 0.2 - 0.3 mm was 0.82% and
that of nitrogen was 0.13% (0.01% in the middle).
The tests in an INSTRON machine with cyclic loading
and indenting the cone o f a Rockwell hardness meter into the

0.85 1.10

P, N

h,, d .mm

her

3000

500

0.06

0/0

10,000

300

0.54

I/'-" 2

15,000

200

0.66

I/2

10,000
3000

1000
500

0.36
0.19

0/It
1)/1

10,000
15.000

300
200

0.40
0.53

Off)
I)/2

I 0,000

1000

0.42

0/0

Notes. I. We give the results of evaluating the resistance

to contact fatigue for specimens subjected to cyclic tests
under a IoadP with number of cycles N. 2. The numerators give the number of cracks her around the indentation
on the surface of the specimen: the denominators give the
number of cracks on conical indentation left by a Rockwell cone thind is the indentation depthl.

252

faces, K C U = 0.21 0.24 M J / m 2. The strength and ductility

of the middle fluctuated within the lbllowing ranges:
cYo2= 1 3 5 0 - 1400MPa, cyo.z/Cy~-0.964-0.079, 6 = 1 1 13%, and tl/= 42 - 48%.
A low-temperature tempering at 1 8 0 - 2 0 0 ~
is conducted between quenching and tempering at 400~ which is
connected with the special features of the manufacturing process of the tools. Each blade is quenched separately and a
batch o f blades is formed for subsequent tempering at 400~
In order to eliminate cracking o f the blades in aging before
the tempering at 400~ they are subjected to a low-temperature tempering right after the quenching.
The temperature o f 400~ is optimum for the second
tempering because it provides a satisfactory toughness of the
middle and the surface layer o f the blades and a sufficient
hardness of the diffusion layer. Low-tempered blades fracture by a brittle mechanism when tested. A similar technology for carbonitriding and heat treatment 4 is used tbr guillotine blades from steel 40Kh. The thickness of the blades is
20 mm and the length is up to 635 mm. Short blades are subjected to light quenching: long blades are quenched after
heating in a chamber thrnace to 840~ Alter carbonitriding
and heat treatment the surface layer of the blades is ground
o f f b y 0.2 mm C'hard" face) and 0.4 mm ("soft" lace). After
the grinding the hardness o f the laces is 492 and 432 HI" respectively. The endurance o f pilot blades is 1,5 times higher
than that o f blades produced from tool steel with the same
high hardness of the cutting faces,
4 Patent No. 2117069.

L. E Karpov

CONCLUSIONS
1. Carbonitriding at 800~

and heat treatment o f flat

blades of supershears and guillotines from steel 40Kh with

subsequent grinding o f the faces to a specific depth provides
sell-sharpening of the blades in operation.
2. In order to provide a self-sharpening regime alter the
creation of the diffusion layer on the faces o f a blade and a
hardening heat treatment, a part of the layer o f the "'soft" Face
is ground off to a hardness much lower than that o f the sur['ace of the "'hard" face.
3. The structural strength of the blades is provided by optimum regimes o f carbonitriding, quenching: and double
tempering and raising the toughness o f the "soft" face by a
partial removal of the surface "'hard" layer.

REFERENCES
I. V. N. Tkachev, B. M. Fishtein, V. D. Vlasenko, and V. A. Ulanov.
Methods/or Increasing the Service L(/e 0/ Machine Parts [in
Russian]. Mashinostroenie, Moscow (1971).
2. k. R Karpov, "'Carbonitriding with the use of triethanolaminc at
800~ Metalloved. Term. Ohrah. Met., No. 2, 8 - 12 (1998).
3..4 Method.fin Carbon#riding Steel. RF Patent No. 208282{).
27.06.97 [in Russian].
4. V. D. Kal'ner (ed.), Control over the Quali O' q/lleat T/eatmenl q[
Steel Semit)roducts and Parts. .q Handhook [in Russian].
Mashinostroenie, Moscow (1984).