Abstract
This study aims to investigate the primary carbides precipitation in H13 steel solidified at relatively high cooling rates, ranging from 300 to 6,000 °Cmin−1, based on in situ observations with a high temperature confocal laser scanning microscope. In the cooling rate range investigated, the solidification microstructure becomes more refined as cooling rate increases and the relationship between the secondary dendrite arm spacing (SDAS), λ2, and cooling rate, \({\dot T}\), can be expressed as \({\lambda _2} = 128.45{{\dot T}^{ - 0.124}}\). Regardless of cooling rates, two kinds of primary carbides, i.e., the Mo-Cr-rich and V-rich carbides, are precipitated along the interdendritic region and most of them are the Mo-Cr-rich carbides. The morphology of Mo-Cr-rich carbide is not obviously influenced by the cooling rate, but that of V-rich carbide is obviously affected. The increasing cooling rate markedly refines the primary carbides and reduces their volume fractions, but their precipitations cannot be inhibited even when the cooling rate is increased to 6,000 °C·min−1. Besides, the segregation ratios (SRs) of the carbides forming elements are not obviously affected by the cooling rate. However, compared with the conventionally cast ingot, the SDAS and primary carbides in the steel solidified at the investigated cooling rates are much finer, morphologies of the carbides have changed significantly, and SRs of the carbides forming elements are markedly greater. The variation of primary carbide characteristics with cooling rate is mainly due to the change in SDAS.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Gualco A, Svoboda H G, Surian E S, et al. Effect of welding procedure on wear behaviour of a modified martensitic tool steel hard facing deposit. Mater. Des., 2010, 31: 4165–4173.
Handbook ASM. Vol. 1 — Properties and selection: irons, steels, and high-performance alloys. ASM International, Materials Park, OH. 1990, 44073: 140–194.
Rafi H K, Ram G J, Phanikumar G, et al. Microstructural evolution during friction surfacing of tool steel H13. Mater. Des., 2011, 32: 82–87.
Cong D, Zhou H, Yang M, et al. The mechanical properties of H13 die steel repaired by a biomimetic laser technique. Optics & Laser Technology, 2013, 53: 1–8.
Mao M, Guo H, Wang F, et al. Effect of cooling rate on the solidification microstructure and characteristics of primary carbides in H13 steel. ISIJ Int., 2019, 59(5): 848–857.
McHugh K, Lin Y, Zhou Y, et al. Influence of cooling rate on phase formation in spray-formed H13 tool steel. Mater. Sci. Eng. A, 2008, 477: 50–57.
Kheirandish S, Noorian A. Effect of niobium on microstructure of cast AISI H13 hot work tool steel. J. Iron. Steel Res. Int., 2008, 15: 61–66.
Ozaki K. Effect of the distribution of primary carbide on fatigue strength of cold work die steels. Electric Furnace Steel, 2005, 76: 249–257. (In Japanese)
Mishnaevsky L L, Lippmann Jr N, Schmauder S. Micromechanisms and modelling of crack initiation and growth in tool steels: role of primary carbides. Materials Research and Advanced Techniques, 2003, 94: 676–681.
Mesquita R A. Tool steels: properties and performance, CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, USA, 2016.
Pryds N, Huang X. The effect of cooling rate on the microstructures formed during solidification of ferritic steel. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2000, 31: 3155–3166.
Fernandez R, Lecomte J, Kattamis T. Effect of solidification parameters on the growth geometry of MC carbide in IN-100 dendritic monocrystals, Metall. Trans. A, 1978, 9: 1381–1386.
Reed R C. The superalloys: fundamentals and applications. Cambridge University Press, New York, USA, 2008.
Hopkinson N, Hague R, Dickens P. Rapid manufacturing — An industrial revolution for the digital age. John Wiley & Sons. Inc., Chichester, England, 2006.
Hofmann D C, Roberts S, Otis R, et al. Developing gradient metal alloys through radial deposition additive manufacturing. Scientific Reports, UK., 2014, 4: 5357.
Helmer H E, Körner C, Singer R F. Additive manufacturing of nickel-based superalloy Inconel 718 by selective electron beam melting: Processing window and microstructure. J. Mater. Res., 2014, 29: 1987–1996.
Xiao H, Li S, Xiao W, et al. Effects of laser modes on Nb segregation and Laves phase formation during laser additive manufacturing of nickel-based superalloy. Mater. Lett., 2017, 188: 260–262.
Basak A, Acharya R, Das S. Additive manufacturing of single-crystal superalloy CMSX-4 through scanning laser epitaxy: computational modeling, experimental process development, and process parameter optimization. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2016, 47: 3845–3859.
Islam M, Purtonen T, Piili H, et al. Temperature profile and imaging analysis of laser additive manufacturing of stainless steel. Physics Procedia., 2013, 41: 835–842.
Francois M M, Sun A, King W E, et al. Modeling of additive manufacturing processes for metals: Challenges and opportunities. Curr. Opin. Solid State Mater. Sci., 2017, 21: 198–206.
Ho A, Zhao H, Fellowes J W, et al. On the origin of microstructural banding in Ti-6Al4V wire-arc based high deposition rate additive manufacturing. Acta Mater., 2019, 166: 306–323.
Klocke F, Arntz K, Teli M, et al. State-of-the-art laser additive manufacturing for hot-work tool steels. Procedia CIRP., 2017, 63: 58–63.
Gu G, Pesci R, Langlois L, et al. Microstructure observation and quantification of the liquid fraction of M2 steel grade in the semi-solid state, combining confocal laser scanning microscopy and X-ray microtomography. Acta Mater., 2014, 66: 118–131.
Kim J H, Kim S G, Inoue A. In situ observation of solidification behavior in undercooled Pd-Cu-Ni-P alloy by using a confocal scanning laser microscope. Acta Mater., 2001, 49: 615–622.
Sohn I, Dippenaar R. In-Situ observation of crystallization and growth in high-temperature melts using the confocal laser microscope. Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2016, 47: 2083–2094.
Attallah M M, Terasaki H, Moat R J, et al. In-situ observation of primary γ’ melting in Ni-base superalloy using confocal laser scanning microscopy. Mater. Charact., 2011, 62: 760–767.
Ling L, Han Y, Zhou W, et al. Study of microsegregation and Laves phase in Inconel718 superalloy regarding cooling rate during solidification. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2015, 46: 354–361.
Hobbs R, Tin S, Rae C. A castability model based on elemental solid-liquid partitioning in advanced nickel-base single-crystal superalloys. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2005, 36: 2761–2773.
Lippard H E, Campbell C E, Dravid V P, et al. Microsegregation behavior during solidification and homogenization of AerMet100 steel. Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1998, 29: 205–210.
Thomas B G, Samarasekera I V and Brimacombe J K. Mathematical model of the thermal processing of steel ingots: Part I. Heat flow model. Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1987, 18: 119–130.
Kurz W, Fisher D J. Fundamentals of solidification. Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland, 1989.
Quaresma J M, Santos C A, Garcia A. Correlation between unsteady-state solidification conditions, dendrite spacings, and mechanical properties of Al-Cu alloys. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2000, 31: 3167–3178.
Bouchard D, Kirkaldy J S. Prediction of dendrite arm spacings in unsteady- and steady-state heat flow of unidirectionally solidified binary alloys. Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1997, 28: 651–663.
Zhang Y, Huang Y, Yang L, et al. Evolution of microstructures at a wide range of solidification cooling rate in a Ni-based superalloy. J. Alloys Compd., 2013, 570: 70–75.
Seo S, Lee J, Yoo Y, et al. A comparative study of the γ/γ′ eutectic evolution during the solidification of Ni-base superalloys. Metall. Mater. Trans. A, 2011, 42: 3150–3159.
Clyne T, Kurz W. Solute redistribution during solidification with rapid solid state diffusion. Metall. Trans. A, 1981, 12: 965–971.
Meng Y, Thomas B G. Heat-transfer and solidification model of continuous slab casting: CON1D. Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 2003, 34: 685–705.
Ueshima Y, Mizoguchi S, Matsumiya T, et al. Analysis of solute distribution in dendrites of carbon steel with δ/γ transformation during solidification. Metall. Mater. Trans. B, 1986, 17: 845–859.
Flemings M C. Solidification processing, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1974: 2121–2134.
Glicksman M E. Principles of solidification: an introduction to modern casting and crystal growth concepts. Springer Science & Business Media, 2010.
Acknowledgments
This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51904146), the Doctor Start-up Fund of Liaoning Province (Grant No. 2019-BS-125), and the National Key Laboratory of Marine Engineering of China (Grant No. SKLMEA-USTL-201707).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Guang-di Zhao
Male, born in 1989, Lecturer, Ph.D. His research interests mainly focus on the solidification and segregation behaviors of metals.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhao, Gd., Zang, Xm., Li, Wm. et al. Study on primary carbides precipitation in H13 tool steel regarding cooling rate during solidification. China Foundry 17, 235–244 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41230-020-9092-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41230-020-9092-8