An Analytical Model for Calculation of the Steel Hardness after Continuous Cooling

Abstract

A number of modern engineering steel grades were analyzed using the CCT diagrams plotted by means of the dilatometer. The statistical analysis of the experimental data allowed for the determination of the equations connecting the critical cooling rate to achieve fully martensitic microstructure and the martensite hardness with the chemical composition of the steel. The dependence of the steel hardness on the cooling rate in the range of 0.1…30 °C/s was determined. It was shown that this dependence had the logarithmic character for every studied steel grade. The equations connecting the coefficients of the logarithmic function with the chemical composition of steel were obtained.