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The rapid heat treatment of steel

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Abstract

The technique of austenitizing steel by heating rapidly through the Ac1 to Ac3 range, limiting the maximum temperature to the minimum required for complete austenitization and quenching immediately is discussed. Rapid austenitizing refines the austenite grain size if the initial microstructure is a fine aggregate, such as martensite or tempered martensite. Additional grain refinement usually results from two or more cycles and most steels hardenable by heat treatment become ultrafine grained and hence exhibit increased strength and toughness. Rapid austenitizing can also be applied, particularly to high-carbon steels, to develop a unique microstructure comprised of a uniform dispersion of very small carbide particles in an ultrafine grained martensitic matrix.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Edgar C. Bain Laboratory for Fundamental Research, U.S. Steel Corp., Monroeville, Pa

    R. A. Grange (Staff Scientist)

Authors
  1. R. A. Grange
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Additional information

This paper is based on a presentation made at a symposium on Altering the Time Cycle of Heat Treatment, held at the Philadelphia meeting of The Metallurgical Society of AIME, October 14, 1969, under the sponsorship of the IMD Heat Treatment Committee.

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Grange, R.A. The rapid heat treatment of steel. Metall Trans 2, 65–78 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02662639

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02662639

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