Effect of Tempering Temperature on Microstructure and Impact Properties of Two High-strength Leaf Spring Steels

doi:10.11901/1005.3093.2022.462

Chinese Journal of Materials Research

2023, Vol. 37

Issue (5): 341-352 DOI: 10.11901/1005.3093.2022.462

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Effect of Tempering Temperature on Microstructure and Impact Properties of Two High-strength Leaf Spring Steels

XIA Bo¹, WANG Bin², ZHANG Peng²(

), LI Xiaowu¹, ZHANG Zhefeng¹^,²

^1.School of Materials Science and Engineering, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
^2.Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China

Cite this article:

XIA Bo, WANG Bin, ZHANG Peng, LI Xiaowu, ZHANG Zhefeng. Effect of Tempering Temperature on Microstructure and Impact Properties of Two High-strength Leaf Spring Steels. Chinese Journal of Materials Research, 2023, 37(5): 341-352.

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Abstract

The effect of tempering temperature on the microstructure and impact toughness of two high-strength leaf spring steels 50CrMnSiVNb and 50CrMnMoVNb for automobile was comparatively studied by means of optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and impact tester. The results show that compared with those of 50CrMnSiVNb steel, there are more segregation bands along with a larger proportion of large-angle grain boundaries in the microstructure of 50CrMnMoVNb steel, while the later steel shows less temper brittleness. When comparing the impact toughness of the two leaf spring steels, it is found that being quenched and then tempered in the range of 150~400℃ for the two steels, the 50CrMnSiVNb steel presents better impact toughness. The impact toughness of the steel tempered in this range is mainly affected by the degree of banded segregation, which is more prone to cleavage fracture and leads to a straighter impact crack propagation path; In the contrast, after the two steels were tempered in the range of 400~500℃, the 50CrMnMoVNb steel shows better impact toughness, and the impact toughness in this region is mainly affected by the tempering brittleness and the proportion of large-angle grain boundary. The tempering brittleness caused by the thin-film like carbides at the interface of the laths during tempering greatly worsens the impact toughness, while the large angle grain boundary has a stronger barrier effect to crack propagation and consumes more energy, leading to the improvement of the impact toughness.

Key words: metallic materials 50CrMnMoVNb steel 50CrMnSiVNb steel tempering temperature impact toughness microstructure

Received: 26 August 2022

ZTFLH:

TG142.1

Fund: Special Fund Project of Hightech Industrialization Cooperation between Jilin Province and CAS(2020SYHZ0008);Special Fund Project of Hightech Industrialization Cooperation between Jilin Province and CAS(2021SYHZ0046)

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https://www.cjmr.org/EN/10.11901/1005.3093.2022.462 OR https://www.cjmr.org/EN/Y2023/V37/I5/341

Table 1 Chemical composition of the two leaf spring steels (mass fraction, %)

Fig.1 Volume fraction of α and γ phases calculated by Thermo-Calc

Fig.2 Tensile properties of the two spring steel tempered at different temperatures^[6]

Fig.3 Metallographic microstructures of the two spring steels under different conditions (a, b) hot-rolling condition; (c, d) tempered at 150℃; (e, f) tempered at 250℃; (g, h) tempered at 350℃; (i, j) tempered at 450℃

Fig.4 TEM microstructures of the two spring steels tempered at different temperatures (a, b) 150℃; (c, d) 250℃; (e, f) 350℃; (g, h) 500℃

Fig.5 EBSD microstructures of the two spring steels tempered at 350℃ (a, b) EBSD image quality maps, red line: low-angle grain boundary, blue line: high-angle grain boundary; (c, d) grain size distribution and (e, f) grain boundary misorientation distribution

Fig. 6 EBSD microstructures of the two spring steels tempered at 500℃ (a, b) image quality maps; (c, d) grain size distribution and (e, f) grain boundary misorientation distribution

Fig.7 Impact toughness of the two spring steels tempered at different temperatures

Fig.8 Impact microscopic fractographies of the two spring steels tempered at different temperatures (a, b) 250℃; (c, d) 350℃; (e, f) 400℃; (g, h) 500℃

Fig.9 SEM morphologies and the EDS results of the dimples, cleavage planes at the impact fracture and the segregation bandings of 50CrMnMoVNb steel tempered at 250℃ (a) impact fracture morphology; (b) microstructures; (c) EDS element analysis results of cleavage surface and dimple; (d) EDS element analysis results of the banded segregation and matrix

Fig.10 Impact crack propagation path of 50CrMnMo-VNb steel tempered at 250℃

Fig.11 Effect of microstructures on the impact fracture mechanism and crack propagation path

Fig.12 XRD patterns of the two steels tempered at 250℃

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