Effects of Repeated Heat Treatments on the Wear Resistance of Pre-Carburized Steel

Abstract

The current study embarks on the exploration of the influence of varying heat treatments on the wear characteristics of medium carbon steel samples undergoing carburization. The investigation involved seven distinct cooling processes, utilizing a range of quenching media to cool the samples from elevated temperatures of 780℃ and 770℃. The carburized steel specimens were subjected to two tempering protocols at 230℃ and 250℃. A comparison was drawn against control samples that were neither heat-treated nor carbureted. The empirical findings suggest a significant reduction in key wear indices such as weight loss, cumulative volume lost, wear coefficients, and wear rates upon the repetition of heat treatment. The third heat treatment regimen demonstrated the poorest results in terms of the aforementioned wear indices, superseding the negative outcomes of the second heat treatment, which in turn exceeded the first. Distinctly, samples quenched with distilled water exhibited the most desirable characteristics, recording the minimal values for weight loss, cumulative volume lost, wear coefficients, and wear rates, when juxtaposed with other quenching media. Conversely, the highest values for these wear indices were observed in samples quenched with shampoo and, to some extent, motor oil.