The transformation of carbides during austenization and its effect on the wear resistance of high speed steel rolls

The transformation of carbides with austenization time of a high speed steel (HSS) roll material, manufactured by a centrifugal casting method, has been studied. The correlation between wear resistance and the type, morphology, volume fraction, and distribution of the carbides has also been investigated. Microstructural observations, X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, hardness measurements, and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) have been used to characterize the carbides. The type and volume fraction of carbides were found to change with austenizing time. During austenization, the transformation of the M3C carbides can be postulated as M3C + γ-Fe→ M2C, with much finer nodular and rodlike MC carbides also forming through a solid-state transformation. The M2C carbide decomposes as M2C + γ-Fe → MC + M7C3 + M6C. The decomposed carbide substantially maintains a platelike shape until the end of decomposition. The most important finding of this study is that austenization results in changes in the type, morphology, volume fraction, and distribution of carbides and that it can be controlled to produced a homogeneous distribution of hard carbides, resulting in an improvement in the wear resistance of HSS rolls. This finding may be of great use for the industrial production of HSS rolls. © The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society and ASM International 2007.