EFFECT

OF

OF

HEAT

TREATMENT

HIGH-CHROMIUM
M.
I.

N.
V.

CAST

Berkun,
Zhivitsa,

ON

THE

PROPERTIES

IRON

I. P. Volchok,
and
V. I. Topal

UDC

621.78:669.15'24-196

High-chromium
cast iron (2.3-3.0% C, 23-30 % Cr, up to 0.8% Mn, up to 1.4% Si) is widely us ed for parts
subject to abrasivewear.
High-chromium
cast iron may be additionally alloyed with nickel, molybdenum,
and vanadium. In the cast condition the structure consists of supercooled austenite with eutectic carbides
(Fe, Cr)TC 3 (Fig. la).
Under high operating pressures (for example, the linings of ball mills) the rnetastable austenite in
high-chromium
cast iron is hardened, forming a hard surface layer that provides high wear resistance
[i]. However,
in the overwhelming
majority of castings of high-chromium
cast iron (parts of pumps, hydrocyclones, graders, etc.) operating under abrasive wear conditions where the pressure is small the
austenite is hardly cold worked at all. In hydroabrasive wear the relatively soft austenite matrix is first
attacked (~H 400), and then the carbides are broken out. Despite the fact that the resistance to hydroahrasire wear of high-chromium
cast iron is relatively low in the cast condition, the cast iron is used without
heat treatment or after annealing (to reduce the hardness and improve the machinabiiity).

Fig. I. Microstructure of high-chromium

cast iron (1350 x)
as cast (a), after annealing at 600 (b) and 1200 ~ (c), and after
normalization at S00 (d), i000 (e), and 1200 ~ (f).
V. Ya. Chubar' Zaporozh'e Machine Construction Institute. Translated
Termicheskaya
Obrabotka Metallov, No. i, pp. 64-66, January, 1971.

from

Metallovedenie

C 1971 Consultants Bureau, a division of Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 g/est 17th Street, New York,
N. Y. 10011. All rights reserved. This article cannot be reproduced for any purpose whatsoever without
permission of the publisher. A copy of this article is available from the publisher [or $15.00.

69

]mm
X2~I , ] I i ] { i,~]
' l J\l/]

]m~
.........

8
7

kg/mm 2

C~bend,kg/mm 2

~6

~9

a n, k g - m / c m 2
9, ~ I - T T ' I G G - F I G I

As cast ~' ~

I0~,~ ~

a n, k g - m / c m 2
o.~Z F F T ~ I - F T T 1

As cast6Oo

800 10o0 o~
b

Fig. 2

As
cast

500 700 9QO 7100~

Fig. 3

F i g . 2. Effect of n o r m a l i z a t i o n (a) and a n n e a l i n g t e m p e r a t u r e s

(b) on the p r o p e r t i e s of h i g h - c h r o m i u m c a s t iron.
F i g . 3. Effect of n o r m a l i z a t i o n (1) and a n n e a l i n g (2) on the w e a r
r e s i s t a n c e of h i g h - c h r o m i u m c a s t iron.
We i n v e s t i g a t e d the effect of heat t r e a t m e n t on the s t r u c t u r e , m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s , and w e a r r e s i s t a n c e of h i g h - c h r o m i u m c a s t i r o n of n e a r l y e u t e c t i c c o m p o s i t i o n : 2.50~c C, 27.2~c Cr, 0.957c Si, 0.63~c Mn,
0.327c Ti, 0.04~ S, 0.027c P.
The c a s t i r o n was m e l t e d in an induction f u r n a c e with a g r a p h i t e c r u c i b l e . C a s t i n g s 10.5 m m in
d i a m e t e r w e r e a n n e a l e d or n o r m a l i z e d at 500-1200~
a f t e r which they w e r e ground to a d i a m e t e r of 10 ram.
The w e a r t e s t s w e r e m a d e by the m e t h o d d e s c r i b e d in [2]. Steel 20 was used a s the s t a n d a r d . The bending
s t r e n g t h was d e t e r m i n e d on s a m p l e s 10 m m in d i a m e t e r a n d 120 m m long (100 m m between s u p p o r t s ) and
the i m p a c t t o u g h n e s s on s a m p l e s 55 m m long (no notch). The m i c r o s t r u c t u r e was r e v e a l e d by etching in a
r e a g e n t c o n s i s t i n g of 5 g p i c r i c acid, 2.5 g h y d r o c h l o r i c acid, 100 g ethyl a l c o h o l .
M e t a l l o g r a p h i c a n a l y s i s showed that the a u s t e n i t e is r e s i s t a n t at 500~ the s t r e n g t h i n c r e a s e s s o m e what and the w e a r r e s i s t a n c e r e m a i n s unchanged ( F i g s . 2 and 3). D e c o m p o s i t i o n during annealing or n o r m a l i z a t i o n b e g i n s at 600 ~ with p r e c i p i t a t i o n of e x t r e m e l y fine s e c o n d a r y c a r b i d e s throughout the a u s t e n i t e
g r a i n s (see F i g . lb), with a c o m p o s i t i o n of (Fe, Cr)23C 6. T h e s e s t r u c t u r a l changes c a u s e a s h a r p r e d u c t i o n of the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s .
A n n e a l i n g at 700-1200 ~ l e a d s to d e c o m p o s i t i o n of a u s t e n i t e into a f e r r i t e - c a r b i d e m i x t u r e . As the
t e m p e r a t u r e is i n c r e a s e d the e u t e c t i c c a r b i d e s " a b s o r b " the neighboring s e c o n d a r y p r e c i p i t a t e s , while the
s e c o n d a r y p r e c i p i t a t e s c o a l e s c e in the c e n t r a l s e c t i o n s of f o r m e r a u s t e n i t e g r a i n s . The h a r d n e s s and w e a r
r e s i s t a n c e a r e m i n i m a l at 800 ~, r e m a i n i n g a l m o s t unchanged at h i g h e r t e m p e r a t u r e s . The m e c h a n i c a l
p r o p e r t i e s d e c r e a s e m o n o t o n i c a l l y at t e m p e r a t u r e s f r o m 700 to 1200 ~ ( F i g s . 2 and 3).
The m i e r o s t r u c t u r e of the h i g h - c h r o m i u m c a s t i r o n s n o r m a l i z e d at 600-800 ~ is s i m i l a r to that a f t e r
a n n e a l i n g at the s a m e t e m p e r a t u r e s . This is a l s o c o n f i r m e d by the changes in the p r o p e r t i e s with a n n e a l ing and n o r m a l i z a t i o n (Fig. 2). However, with n o r m a l i z a t i o n at 900 ~ the d i s p e r s e d s e c o n d a r y phase g r o w s
s u b s t a n t i a l l y and goes p a r t i a l l y into solution. Both t h e s e p r o c e s s e s , e s p e c i a l l y solution, a r e i n t e n s i f i e d at
1000 ~ (Fig. l e ) , which l e a d s to an i n c r e a s e of h a r d n e s s and w e a r r e s i s t a n c e (Figs. 2 and 3).
After heating to II00 ~ and cooling in air the structure of high-chromium
cast iron consists of austenire, martensite,
and (Fe, Cr)TC 3 and (Fe, Cr)23C s carbides. The drop of the wear resistance and hardness
after normalization
at 1200 ~ is due to an increase in the solubility of carbon and chromium
in austenite at
this temperature,
which increases its resistance to transformation
during subsequent cooling, in this case
the hardness of the alloy is the same as in the cast condition, while the structure differs only by its small
amount of fine secondary carbide (Fig. if). The mechanical
properties are highest after normalization
at 1200 o .
C ONCLUSIONS

1. A u s t e n i t e in h i g h - c h r o m i u m c a s t i r o n s is s t a b l e up to 500 ~ At h i g h e r t e m p e r a t u r e s the a u s t e n i t e
b e g i n s to d e c o m p o s e , c a u s i n g c h a n g e s in the h a r d n e s s , w e a r r e s i s t a n c e , and m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s .

70

2. The resistance of high-chromium cast iron to hydroabrasive wear is minimal in the cast condition and in the annealed condition.
3. To improve the machinability the alloys should be annealed at 800-900~ which lowers the hardness to HRC 32-35.
4. The resistance to hydroabrasive wear is highest after normalization at 1100~
L I T E R A T U R E CITED
1.
2.

T. Doddand R. Jackson, Metallurgia, 176, No. 455 (1967).

W. Stauffer, Schweizer Archly fiir Angewandte Wissenschaft und Teclmik, 24, Nos. 7-8 (1958).

71