Effect Of Some Elements On Hardenability

AN investigation has been made of the multiplying factors for some of the more common alloying and deoxidizing elements for use in calculating hardenability of steel according to Grossmann's method.1 The factors for manganese, silicon, and aluminum that were reported in an earlier communication2 have been confirmed by microscopic determination of the half-martensite structure rather than on the basis of an empirically determined hardness corresponding to a half-martensite structure. Measurement of ideal critical diameter by microscopic examination was found to he necessary for other alloying elements, and multiplying factors for nickel, chromium, molybdenum, zirconium, vanadium, titanium, and boron have been determined. The nature and order of magnitude of the multiplying factors reflect the effect of the alloying elements on the structural character of the steel. Except for nickel and vanadium, the multiplying factors agree fairly well with previously published results. Good correlation between actual and calculated ideal critical diameters has been found in developing the multiplying factors and in checking the results against fairly simple steels. However, some discrepancies have suggested the need for a more thorough study of low-carbon and complex steels. TESTING PROCEDURE The investigation was conducted principally on steels made at the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc., in high-frequency induction furnaces using Armco iron and standard alloying materials. However, a few open-hearth steels were used in establishing the effect of nickel, and the hardenability factor for boron was based primarily on open-hearth steels. All bars were normalized prior to the machining of Jominy hardenability specimens. The Jominy test was carried out under conditions standard for the test.3 Austenitizing temperatures judged to-be-appropriate for the composi¬tions of the steels were used., Chemical analysis was determined on a sample taken adjacent to the Jominy specimen. Residual amounts of phosphorus, sulphur, nickel, chromium, molybdenum, and copper were determined on only one heat of each group made with the same materials during the same period. "Acid-soluble" aluminum and zirconium rather than total amounts were determined, as it is considered probable that the acid-soluble amount is more representative of the effective alloy. As tin was present to the extent of only 0.002 per cent, its effect was neglected. The method used to determine boron in the steels shown in Table 9* was developed by Galen Porter, Vincent Napoleon, and Thomas R. Cunningham,of the Union Carbide and Carbon Research Laboratories, Inc., and is. a modification of J. Naftel's procedure for boron in soils