Hardness prediction in quenched and tempered nodular cast iron using the Hollomon-Jaffe parameter

Abstract

The Hollomon-Jaffe parameter is usually used to stablish a equivalence between time and temperature in a tempering treatment, but not to predict the harness of the alloy after the treatment. In this paper this last possibility has been studied. A group of cast iron samples was annealed and cooled at different rates in order to obtain samples with three different hardness values. These samples were tempered using different times and temperatures. The Hollomon-Jaffe parameter was calculated for each case and a relationship based on a logistic function between that parameter and the final hardness was stablished. This relationship was found to depend on the initial hardness and the lowest hardness achievable.