"Electron beam re-melting to improve surface properties of hot work tool steel"

Electron beam re-melting to improve surface properties of hot work tool steel

Authors : Valmik Bhavar, Prakash Kattire, Sandeep Thakare, Sachin Patil, Dr. Rajkumar Singh

 

Abstract: Remelting is a surface modification technique in which high energy beam like laser or electron is exposed to the surface of a component, resulting in thin area of molten metal. Rapid melting and cooling causes change in microstructure and improves surface properties.

This paper focuses on to study effect of electron beam surface remelting on hot work tool steel. Electron beam remelting treatments were applied on tool steel specimens by varying scan speed and performance was analyzed by measuring hardness, melting and case depths. The microstructural evolutions during EB remelting were evaluated by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). Additionally, pin on disk wear test was executed to understand wear behavior of these specimens. It was observed that, EB remelting modifies surface microstructure to ultra-fine grain size which improves hardness and wear resistance. At the end, melting and case depths were correlated to the scan speed of the electron beam.