Abstract
The possibility of improving the mechanical and wear performance of steel rails with conventional compositions, near-eutectoid and without special alloying elements, using a two-step heat treatment was investigated. The heat treatment involved a first step involving quenching to a low temperature, near the Ms, maintaining at this temperature for a short time, followed by a second step at higher temperatures until complete transformation. The microstructures, tensile, and wear properties of the obtained products were characterized. The dilatation data confirmed that the remaining austenite was completely eliminated by the bainitic transformation at 400 °C for only 300 seconds, in the absence of alloying elements such as silicon without formation of carbide precipitates. The refined bainite-ferrite microstructure obtained by the two-step heat treatment significantly increased mechanical properties, as well as wear resistance measured using tensile and pin-on-disk tests. The bainitic ferrite structure exhibited approximately 20 pct higher hardness and about 53 pct less mass loss on pin-on disk test than the as-received pearlitic sample. Dilatometric and microstructural analysis using EBSD-electron backscattered diffraction techniques provided evidence that the two-step heat treatment increased the nucleation rate of the bainitic transformation and shortened the incubation time for transformation at the second step, at the same time increasing the density of crystallographic defects such as dislocations and grains boundaries. The proposed heat treatment, besides improving the mechanical properties and wear resistance, avoids the technological difficulties of using molten salt or metal for isothermal heat treatment of long products as rails.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Bs (°C) = 830 -270C-90Mn-3Ni-70 Cr- 83Mo
where C, Si, Mn, etc. represents the weight percentage (wt pct) of the alloying elements.
References
K. Holmberg and A. Erdemir: Friction., 2017, vol. 5, pp. 263–84.
J.M. Martin and A. Erdemir: Phys. Today., 2018, vol. 71, p. 3897.
R. Le Houillier, G. Bégin, and A. Dubé: Metall. Trans., 1971, vol. 2, pp. 2645–53.
B.P.J. Sandvik: Metall. Trans. A., 1982, vol. 13, pp. 789–800.
H.K.D.H.D.V.E. Bhadeshia: Met. Sci., 1983, 17, vol. 17.
US5879474A: 1999.
S. Das Bakshi: Wear of fine pearlite, nanostructured bainite and martensite. Doctoral thesis, 2017. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.7780.
J.E. Garnham: The Wear of Bainitic and Pearlitic Steels. Doctoral thesis, 1995. https://leicester.figshare.com/account/articles/10099568
Y. Hiroyasu, M. Shinji, Y. Sadahiro, K. Yuzuru, and S. Tooru: NKK Tech. Rev., 2001, pp. 44–51.
H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia: Encycl. Mater. Sci. Technol., 2002, pp. 1–7.
F. Pickering: in Steels Symposium, Climax Molybdenum Co. of Michigan/University of Michigan, 1967, pp. 109–32.
J. Kalousek, D.M. Fegredo, and E.E. Laufer: Wear., 1985, vol. 105, pp. 199–222.
R.K. Steele: Steel Alloys with Lower Bainite Microstructures for Use in Railroad Cars and Track, 2002.
F. Caballero, M. Miller, S. Babu, and C. Garcia-Mateo: Acta Mater., 2008, vol. 55, pp. 381–90.
H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia and D.V. Edmonds: Acta Metall., 1980, vol. 28, pp. 1265–73.
R. Voothaluru, V. Bedekar, D. Yu, Q. Xie, K. An, P. Pauskar, and R.S. Hyde: Metals (Basel)., 2019, vol. 9, pp. 1–23.
R.F. Hehemann: Metall. Trans., 1971, vol. 2, pp. 39–44.
V.W. Jellinghaus: Arch. für das Eisenhüttenwes., 1952, vol. 23, pp. 459–70.
R.T. Howard and M. Cohen: Trans. Metall. Soc. AIME., 1949, vol. 176, pp. 384–97.
H. Okamoto and M. Oka: Metall. Trans. A., 1985, vol. 16, pp. 2257–62.
J. Zhao and Z. Jin: Mater. Sci. Technol., 1992, vol. 8, pp. 1004–10.
I.A. Yakubtsov and G.R. Purdy: Metall. Mater. Trans. A Phys. Metall. Mater. Sci., 2012, vol. 43, pp. 437–46.
S.K. Putatunda: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2001, vol. 315, pp. 70–80.
J. Yang and S.K. Putatunda: Mater. Des., 2004, vol. 25, pp. 219–30.
K. Hase, C. Garcia-mateo, and H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2006, vol. 438–440, pp. 145–8.
X. Wang, K. Wu, F. Hu, L. Yu, and X. Wan: Scr. Mater., 2014, vol. 74, pp. 56–9.
G. Gao, H. Guo, X. Gui, Z. Tan, and B. Bai: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2018, vol. 736, pp. 298–305.
H.M. Rietveld: J. Appl. Crystallogr., 1969, vol. 2, pp. 65–71.
M. Masoumi, E.A.A. Echeverri, A.P. Tschiptschin, and H. Goldenstein: Sci. Rep., 2019, vol. 9, p. 7454.
E.M. Bortoleto, A.C. Rovani, V. Seriacopi, F.J. Profito, D.C. Zachariadis, I.F. Machado, A. Sinatora, and R.M. Souza: Wear., 2013, vol. 301, pp. 19–26.
W. Steven and A.G. Haynes: J. Iron Steel Inst., 1956, vol. 183, pp. 349–56.
M.J. Santofimia, F.G. Caballero, C. Capdevila, C. García-Mateo, and C. Garcia De Andrés: Mater. Trans., 2006, vol. 47, pp. 1492–500.
A.M. Ravi, J. Sietsma, and M.J. Santofimia: Scripta Mater., 2017, vol. 140, pp. 82–6.
S. Banerjee and P. Mukhopadhyay: Phase Trans., 2007, vol. 12, pp. 89–123.
S.F. Di Martino and G. Thewlis: Metall. Mater. Trans. A., 2014, vol. 45, p. 579.
M. Enomoto, S. Li, Z.N. Yang, C. Zhang, and Z.G. Yang: Calphad., 2018, vol. 61, pp. 116–25.
Wang, H. Yu, H. Gu, T. Zhou, and L. Wang: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2019, vol. 744, pp. 299–304.
G. Tressia, A. Sinatora, H. Goldenstein, and M. Masoumi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2019.203122.
P.J. Blau: 2008, vol. 38, pp. 1007–12.
C.C. Viáfara and A. Sinatora: Wear., 2011, vol. 271, pp. 1689–700.
M. Suzuki and K.C. Ludema: J. Tribol., 1987, vol. 109, p. 587.
Y.Z. Hu, N. Li, and K. Tonder: J. Tribol., 1991, vol. 113, p. 499.
C.C. Viáfara and A. Sinatora: 2009, vol. 267, pp. 425–32.
S.S. Sahay, G. Mohapatra, and G.E. Totten: Adv. State Art Fire Test., 2010, vol. 36, pp. 692–792.
R. Stock and R. Pippan: Wear., 2011, vol. 271, pp. 125–33.
A. Królicka, K. Radwański, A. Ambroziak, and A. Żak: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2019, vol. 768, p. 138446.
C.C. Viáfara, M.I. Castro, J.M. Vélez, and A. Toro: Wear., 2005, vol. 259, pp. 405–11.
M. Masoumi, N.B. De Lima, G. Tressia, A. Sinatora, and H. Goldenstein: J. Mater. Res. Technol., 2019, vol. 8, pp. 6275–88.
Y. Chen, R. Ren, X. Zhao, C. Chen, and R. Pan: Wear., 2020, vol. 448–449, p. 203217.
X. Han, Z. Zhang, Y. Rong, S.J. Thrush, G.C. Barber, H. Yang, and F. Qiu: J. Mater. Res. Technol., 2019, vol. 9, pp. 1357–64.
W. Hirst and J.K. Lancaster: J. Appl. Phys., 1956, vol. 27, pp. 1057–65.
R.M. Farrell and T.S. Eyre: Wear., 1970, vol. 15, pp. 359–72.
B. Karnataka: Int. J. Eng. Res. Tech., 2012, vol. 1 pp. 1–7.
F.E. Kennedy: Wear, 1984, vol. 100, pp. 453–76. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1648(84)90026-7
N.C. Welsh: J. Appl. Phys., 1957, vol. 28, pp. 960–8.
Y. Chen, R. Ren, J. Pan, R. Pan, and X. Zhao: Wear., 2019, vol. 438–439, p. 203011.
Y. Zhou, J.L. Mo, Z.B. Cai, C.G. Deng, J.F. Peng, and M.H. Zhu: Tribol. Int., 2019, vol. 140, p. 105882.
Y. Zhou, J.F. Peng, Z.P. Luo, B.B. Cao, X.S. Jin, and M.H. Zhu: Wear., 2016, vol. 362–363, pp. 8–17.
H.W. Zhang, S. Ohsaki, S. Mitao, M. Ohnuma, and K. Hono: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2006, vol. 421, pp. 191–9.
H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia and J.W. Christian: Metall. Trans. A., 1990, vol. 21, pp. 767–97.
S.M.C. Van Bohemen and J. Sietsma: Int. J. Mater. Res., 2008, vol. 99, pp. 739–47.
E.A. Ariza-Echeverri, M. Masoumi, A.S. Nishikawa, D.H. Mesa, A.E. Marquez-Rossy, and A.P. Tschiptschin: Mater. Des., 2020, vol. 186, p. 108329.
E.A. Ariza, J. Poplawsky, W.E.I. Guo, P. Tschiptschin, K. Unocic, and A.J. Ramirez: Metall. Mater. Trans. A., 2018, vol. 49, pp. 4809–23.
M. Masoumi, H.F.G. Abreu, L.F.G. Herculano, J.M. Pardal, S.S.M. Tavares, and M.J.G. Silva: Eng. Fail. Anal., 2019, vol. 104, pp. 379–87.
M.N. Yoozbashi, Yazdani, and T.S. Wang: Mater. Des., 2011, vol. 32, pp. 3248–53.
X. Long, F. Zhang, Z. Yang, and M. Zang: Materials (Basel)., 2019, vol. 12, p. 1534.
G. Chen, G. Xu, H.S. Zurob, and H. Hu: Metall. Mater. Trans. A., 2019, vol. 50, pp. 573–80.
J. Lu, H. Yu, X. Duan, and C. Song: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2020, vol. 774, p. 138868.
L.M. Rivas: National Center for Metallurgical Research (CENIM-CSIC), 2016.
X. Gan, X. Wan, Y. Zhang, H. Wang, G. Li, G. Xu, and K. Wu: Mater. Charact., 2019, vol. 157, p. 109893.
H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia: Bainite in Steels Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. Maney Publishing, Leeds, 2001.
G. Mingfei and Y.U. Hao: Sci. China Technol. Sci., 2012, vol. 56, pp. 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-012-5047-7
S. Zaefferer, P. Romano, and F. Friedel: J. Microsc., 2008, vol. 230, pp. 499–508.
D. Song, J. Hao, F. Yang, H. Chen, N. Liang, Y. Wu, J. Zhang, H. Ma, E. Eyram, B. Gao, Y. Qiao, J. Sun, and J. Jiang: J. Alloys Compd., 2019, vol. 809, p. 151787.
R. Kannan, Y. Wang, M. Nouri, D. Li, and L. Li: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2018, vol. 713, pp. 1–6.
I. Hutchings and P. Shipway: Tribology: Friction and Wear of Engineering Materials. 2nd ed. Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2017.
F.G. Caballero, M.K. Miller, and C. Garcia-Mateo: Mater. Chem. Phys., 2014, vol. 146, pp. 50–7.
D. Sun, C. Liu, X. Long, X. Zhao, Y. Li, B. Lv, F. Zhang, and Z. Yang: Mater. Sci. Eng. A., 2021, vol. 811, p. 141055.
A.B. Rezende, T. Fonseca, F.M. Fernandes, R.S. Miranda, F.A.F. Grijalba, P.F.S. Farina, and P.R. Mei: Wear., 2020, vol. 456–457, p. 203377.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the support offered by CNPq and Vale S.A.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Manuscript submitted 11 March 2021; accepted 8 August 2021.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Masoumi, M., Tressia, G., Centeno, D.M.A. et al. Improving the Mechanical Properties and Wear Resistance of a Commercial Pearlitic Rail Steel Using a Two-Step Heat Treatment. Metall Mater Trans A 52, 4888–4906 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-021-06432-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11661-021-06432-0