9. Heat Treatment Technology Adjustment Using Experimental and Simulation Methods

An examination of the heat treatment division was conducted based on experimental studies on supercooled austenite transformation in high-strength silicon steel and finite element modeling by means of Heat Treatment Solution (SYSWELD) package. Austenite phase transformations during cooling with various cooling rates of the steel under consideration were studied using dilatometry and metallography techniques as well as hardness measurements. Temperature dependence of the coolant heat transfer coefficient was calculated by means of inverse heat transfer equation solution. The experimentally obtained data was utilized for numerical modeling of the heat treatment process of the steel parts under consideration in accordance with the existing industrial technology. During modeling data analysis, some deviations from the assigned heat treatment technology were revealed. Disturbances of the assigned heat treatment technology resulted in the product quality mismatch. After the elimination of the detected heat treatment process deviations, a required distribution of microstructure and hardness was obtained along the cross section of the heat-treated parts. This led to a significant quality improvement of the steel product under consideration.