Effect of cryogenic treatment on tensile behavior of case carburized steel-815M17

The crown wheel and pinion represent the most highly stressed parts of a heavy vehicle; these are typically made of 815M17 steel. The reasons for the frequent failure of these components are due to tooth bending impact, wear and fatigue. The modern processes employed to produce these as high, durable components include cryogenic treatment as well as conventional heat treatment. It helps to convert retained austenite into martensite as well as promote carbide precipitation. This paper deals with the influence of cryogenic treatment on the tensile behavior of case carburized steel 815M17. The impetus for studying the tensile properties of gear steels is to ensure that steels used in gears have sufficient tensile strength to prevent failure when gears are subjected to tensile or fatigue loads, and to provide basic design information on the strength of 815M17 steel. A comparative study on the effects of deep cryogenic treatment (DCT), shallow cryogenic treatment (SCT) and conventional heat treatment (CHT) was made by means of tension testing. This test was conducted as per ASTM standard designation E 8M. The present results confirm that the tensile behavior is marginally reduced after cryogenic treatment (i.e. both shallow and deep cryogenic treatment) for 815M17 when compared with conventional heat treatment. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) analysis of the fracture surface indicates the presence of dimples and flat fracture regions are more common in SCT specimens than for CHT and DCT-processed material.