Non-vacuum electron-beam carburizing and surface hardening of mild steel

In this paper, we study the structure, microhardness, and tribological properties of surface layers of mild (0.19% C) steel, which was formed by electron-beam cladding with an iron-graphite powder mixture followed by quenching and tempering. A 1.4 MeV electron beam that was extracted into air was used. Cladding of steel with the iron-graphite mixture at a beam current of 24 and 26 mA formed a hypoeutectic cast iron layer (2.19% C) and a hypereutectoid steel (1.57% C) layer, which were 2.0 and 2.6 mm thick, respectively. The microhardness of the surface-quenched and tempered steel and cast iron layers was 7 and 8 GPa, respectively. Electron-beam quenching of the surface layers of hypoeutectic cast iron was accompanied with multiple cracking. During the quenching of the 1.57% C steel layer, crack formation was not observed. In friction tests against fixed and loose abrasive particles, the surface layers of hypereutectoid steel and hypoeutectic cast iron that were produced by electron-beam cladding and quenching had lower wear rates than mild steel after pack carburizing, quenching, and tempering. In the sliding wear tests, the cast iron clad layer, which was subjected to electron-beam quenching and tempering, exhibited the highest wear resistance. Electron-beam treatment can be used to harden local areas of large workpieces. It is reasonable to treat clad layers of high-carbon steel with electron-beam quenching and tempering. To prevent multiple cracking, white cast iron layers should not be quenched.