Testing of the parametres of the Q P process in high strength low-alloyed steel

Abstract

The mechanical properties of new types of materials are dependent on their compositon and the distribution of their microstructure. These microstructures are obtained innovative heat and thermo mechanical treatments. One of these is the Q-P process. During the Q-P process untransformed austenite is stabilized in a martensite matrix and carbides are suppressed in nucleation (Edmonds et al., 2006). The process was optimized in new low-alloy steel 42SiCr with the aim of creating a steel with ultimate strength 2000MPa and ductility over 10%. The resulting structure was analyzed using light and laser confocal microscopy. The quantity of the residual austenite was measured with X-ray diffraction analysis. The mechanical properties were validated with a tensile test.