Prediction of solidification path and carbide precipitation in Fe-C-V-Cr-Mo-W high speed steels

Abstract

The solidification path and precipitation of carbides in the Fe-C-V-Cr-Mo-W high speed steel system are predicted with the help of thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. The Partial Equilibrium (PE) approximation is favoured. According to experimental data for high speed steel samples, the precipitating solidification sequence of carbides, including nature, composition and amount are discussed as a function of the nominal composition of C and V. The results show that the solidification path can be reasonably predicted by the Partial Equilibrium approximation for cooling rate lower than 10 K min -1. The experimental results suffer from the sensitivity limitation of the characterization methods used when the phase fraction becomes too small. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.