Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Carburizing Heat Treatment of Selective-Laser-Melted 20MnCr5 Steel

  • Published:
Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

As a novel manufacturing technology, additive manufacturing (AM) has many advantages such as energy saving, reduced material waste, faster design-to-build time, design optimization, reduction in manufacturing steps, and product customization compared to conventional manufacturing processes. Heat treatment is widely used to improve the properties of conventional manufactured steel parts. The response of additively manufactured steel parts to heat treatment may be different from conventionally manufactured steel parts due to variations in the as-deposited alloy microstructure. An understanding of heat treatment processes for additively manufactured steel parts is necessary to develop their heat treatment process parameters. In the present work, 20MnCr5 steel was selected to investigate the carburizing heat treatment of additively manufactured parts. These parts were fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM) for the carburizing study. It was found that the AM parts fabricated by the SLM process show the microstructure of tempered martensite, while the microstructure of as-received wrought part is ferrite and pearlite. It was also experimentally found that the SLM process decarburizes the entire SLM part. Before carburizing, a normalization process was conducted on both SLM and wrought 20MnCr5 parts to reduce the effect of the pre-carburizing microstructure. The objective of this project is to determine the carburizing performance of additively manufactured steel parts. The results for the SLM parts in terms of carbon concentration and microhardness profiles are compared with the results for the wrought steel. It was found that the carburized SLM part in the present work has higher carbon concentration near the surface, deeper case depth, and higher total carbon flux than the carburized wrought part.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Fig. 16

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. M. Jamshidinia, A. Sadek, W. Wang, and S. Kelly, Additive Manufacturing of Steel Alloys Using Laser Powder-Bed Fusion, Adv. Mater. Process., 2015, 173(1), p 20–24

    Google Scholar 

  2. W.J. Sames, F. List, S. Pannala, R.R. Dehoff, and S.S. Babu, The Metallurgy and Processing Science of Metal Additive Manufacturing, Int. Mater. Rev., 2016, 61(5), p 315–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. J. Brnic, G. Turkalj, D. Lanc, M. Canadija, M. Brcic, and G. Vukelic, Comparison of Material Properties: Steel 20MnCr5 and Similar Steels, J. Construct. Steel Res., 2014, 95(Supplement C), p 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2013.11.024

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. S. Kladarić, I. Kladarić, M. Gudelj, and M. Pejnović, The Effect of Carburizing on the Properties of Steel 20MnCr5 and 18CrNi8, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Novi Sad, Serbia, p. 71, 2018.

  5. J.L. Dossett and G.E. Totten, Ed., 37.1 Thermodynamics and Kinetics, in ASM Handbook, Volume 04A—Steel heat Treating Fundamentals and Processes (ASM International, Cleveland, 2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. O. Karabelchtchikova and R.D. Sisson, Carbon Diffusion in Steels: A numerical Analysis Based on Direct Integration of the Flux, J. Phase Equilib. Diffus., 2006, 27(6), p 598–604

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. O. Karabelchtchikova and R.D. Sisson, Calculation of Gas Carburizing Kinetics from Carbon Concentration Profiles Based on Direct Flux Integration, in Defect and Diffusion Forum, Y.H. Sohn, C. Campbell, D. Lewis, and A. Lupulescu, Ed., Trans Tech Publ, Zurich, 2007, vol 266, p 171–180

    Google Scholar 

  8. O. Karabelchtchikova, M. Maniruzzaman, and R. Sisson, Carburization Process Modeling and Sensitivity Analysis Using Numerical Simulation, Mater. Sci. Technol.-Assoc. Iron Steel Technol., 2006, 2, p 375

    Google Scholar 

  9. European Steel and Alloy Grades/Numbers SteelNumber. http://www.steelnumber.com/en/steel_composition_eu.php?name_id=230. Accessed 14 Jan 2020

  10. https://www.bourn-koch.com/what-is-blanchard-grinding/. Accessed 14 Jan 2020

  11. Standard Test Methods for Determining Average Grain Size. ASTM E112-12(2013), West Conshohocken, PA.

  12. L. McCusker, R. Von Dreele, D. Cox, D. Louër, and P. Scardi, Rietveld refinement guidelines, J. Appl. Crystallogr., 1999, 32(1), p 36–50

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. O. Karabelchtchikova, “Fundamentals of mass transfer in gas carburizing,” 2007.

  14. O. Karabelchtchikova, Fundamentals of Mass Transfer in Gas Carburizing, Ph.D. Dissertation, Ph.D. thesis, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 2017.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The support of the Center for Heat Treating Excellence (CHTE) at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the member companies is gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks go to GKN Sinter Metals Inc. for fabricating AM parts and Caterpillar, Inc. for conducting heat treatments. The authors also would like to thank Dr. Olga Rowan of Caterpillar, Inc. for the valuable suggestions and assistance on the carburizing process. The help from Dr. Yangyang Fan on characterization is appreciated.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Heat Treating Excellence (CHTE), Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA

    Mei Yang & Richard D. Sisson Jr.

Authors
  1. Mei Yang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Richard D. Sisson Jr.
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mei Yang.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This article is an invited submission to JMEP selected from presentations at the 30th Heat Treating Society Conference and Exposition held October 15-17, 2019, in Detroit, Michigan, and has been expanded from the original presentation.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Yang, M., Sisson, R.D. Carburizing Heat Treatment of Selective-Laser-Melted 20MnCr5 Steel. J. of Materi Eng and Perform 29, 3476–3485 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-020-04564-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11665-020-04564-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation