Analysis of Heat Treatment Parameters on the Properties of Selected Tool Steels M390 and M398 Produced with Powder Metallurgy

Abstract

This paper deals with the comparison of two tool steels M390 and M398 produced by powder metallurgy of the MICROCLEAN type. The primary use of steel is in the plastics industry to produce screws for injection molding machines. The main purpose of the paper is to analyze the hardness after different stages of heat treatment. The first part of the article evaluates the hardness of steels after hardening, which was performed using a hardening dilatometer DIL805A. A total of 8 different controlled cooling measurements were performed, for both types of powdered tool steels, from a maximum rate of 100 °C/s to a minimum of 0.01 °C/s. Based on the results of the first set of samples from the hardening dilatometer, the optimal cooling time is evaluated to achieve the highest hardness of both materials. This rate was used to heat treat a second set of samples that had undergone a quenching process from which a selected group was quenched to −78 °C. Freezing was performed to reduce the amount of residual austenite. Before measuring the hardness, the samples were tempered at temperatures of 200, 400, 600 °C for 2x2h. The measured hardness values were then compared with data from the manufacturer BÖHLER.