Acta Metallurgica Sinica (English Letters) ›› 2000, Vol. 13 ›› Issue (2): 788-793.

• Research paper • Previous Articles     Next Articles

DISTRIBUTIONS OF MICROSTRUCTURES IN QUENCHED STEELS AS REVEALED BY COMPUTER SIMULATION

L. Zhou and X.Q. Wei School of Chemistry and Materials Science and School of Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330047, China   

  • Received:2000-04-25 Revised:2000-04-25 Online:2000-04-25 Published:2009-10-10

Abstract: A cellular automaton model of heat transfer and structural development in quenching steels has been developed and programmed for a three-dimensional computer simulation. A previous study has validated the simulation method by agreements of simulated cooling curves and hardenability with reported experimental data. In present work, a series of simulated quenching experiments for steel 1080 and 4140 steel have been carried out. With five adjustable parameters, a large variety of cooling conditions has been created and applied to the simulated quenching. Effect of delayed quenching and the associated phenomenon of inverse hardening have been addressed with emphasis.

Key words: microstructure, steel, computer simulation