Institute of Metals Division - The Hardenability Effect of Molybdenum

The hardenability effect of molybdenum has been evaluated by a number of investigators, including one of the present authors.1,2,3,4,6 Considerable discreMncy exists, however, among the results of these various investigators, and two of them, Brophy3 and Kramer,4 have indicated that the apparent hardenability effect of molybdenun would vary, depending upon the other alloying elements in the steels being considered. The results of previous, unpublished work conducted at the Duquesne Works Laboratory of the Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corporation also have indicated significant differences in the hardenability effect of molybdenu~n in nickel and in chromium steels. The present investigation was undertaken in an effort to establish the mechanism governing this difference in the hardenability effect of molybdenum. This work involved both end-quench hardenability and isothermal transformation tests on two series of steels of varying molybdenum content. One steel contained 3 pct nickel and the other 1 pct chromium. It was hoped that such studies would shed further light on the mechanism of this behavior. Materials and Experimental Work MATERIALS The chemical compositions of the steels used in this investigation arc shown in Table 1. These steels were furnished by Battelle Memorial Institutc in the form of 100-lb induction furnace ingots. The top half of each ingot was forged to 1 3/8-in. square billets and then rolled to I-in. round bar stock for isothermal transforma- tion studies. The bottom half of each ingot was forged into approximately 1 1/4-in. rounds for end quench tests. All of the steels were normalized from 1650°F and tempered at 1100°F before nlachming to end quench or isothermal samples. END-QUENCH TESTS standard l-in. diam end-quench tests were made on each of the steels. The test bars were austenitized at 1600°F for 30 min,, quenched in a standard Jominy jig, and hardness surveys were made in all tests. The 95 pct martensite point was deterInined from hardness values5 and cheeked by metallographic examination. The jominy distance values for 95 pct martensite were converted to hardellability values in terms of ideal diameter (Dl), using a revised carve for the relationship between Jominy distance and ideal diameter. This curve was based on the cooling time from the A1 to the bainite nose temperatures rather than on the usual criterion of half-temperature time. The cooling rates as determined by Russell and Williamson9 were used as a basis for this relationship. The derivation of this curve is described in detail in the appendix. ISOTHERMAL TRANSFORMATION STUDIES Samples for the isothermal transformation studies were quarter sectors of 1/16.is-in. thick slices from the 1-in. round bars. All samples were austenitized for a total the of 15 min., transferred rapidly to a lead bath for isothermal transformation, and brine quenched from the lead bath. A time of 3 see was allowed for the sample to come to the temperature of the lead bath, and this time was not included in the isothermal transformation times. Each sample was examined metallo-graphically at a magnification of 100 diam. The per cent transformation was estimated by comparison with standard micrographs, and the values were plotted against the on log/log coordinate paper. At least 4 and as Inany as 10. points were plotted for each steel. A line was drawn through the points for each steel, and the times for 5 pct transformation were obtained from the plot for each steel. Isothermal transformation diagrams in terms of 5 pet total transformation, covering the temperature range of 800 to 1200°F, were determined in this manner for an austenitizing temperature of 1600°F. The times for 5 pct transformation at the bainite nose for austenitizing temperatures of 1800 and 2000°F were also determined in the same manner. These times for 5 pct total transfor-