The Effects of Tempering on the Structure of Martensite in 52100 Steel
The Effects of Tempering on the Structure of Martensite in 52100 Steel
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
To experimentally investigate the effect of tempering temperature and time on the structure and composition of Martensite, AISI 52100 was Austenized at 1000°C for 40 minutes and quenched in agitated water at 21°C. The as-quenched steel contained body-centered tetragonal (BCT) Martensite with 22% retained Austenite. These samples were tempered at 100°C, 200°C and 300°C with different holding time and characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) to determine the effect on the structure of the Martensite. It was found that the content of retained Austenite didn’t change after tempering at 100°C. Retained Austenite decomposed after tempering for 40 minutes at 300°C. The change of crystal structure and lattice parameter for tempered Martensite with different holding time and temperature were measured. The effect of sample preparation on retained Austenite measurement and structure of Martensite and tempered Martensite was evaluated. An effective technique for carbides extraction and collection in steel was introduced.