This article presents the results of investigations of the effect of heat treatment temperature on the content of the carbide phase of HS3-1-2
and HS6-5-2 low-alloy high-speed steel. Analysis of the phase composition of carbides is carried out using the diffraction method. It is
determined that with increasing austenitising temperature, the intensification of dissolution of M6C carbide increases. As a result, an
increase in the grain size of the austenite and the amount of retained austenite causes a significant reduction in the hardness of hardened
steel HS3-1-2 to be observed. The results of diffraction investigations showed that M7C3 carbides containing mainly Cr and Fe carbides
and M6C carbides containing mainly Mo and W carbides are dissolved during austenitisation. During austenitisation of HS3-1-2 steel, the
silicon is transferred from the matrix to carbides, thus replacing carbide-forming elements. An increase in a degree of tempering leads to
intensification of carbide separation and this process reduce the grindability of tested steels.
The paper presents the possibility of the usage of the concfocal microscope for define the type of tribological wear present during the technical dry friction on the testing machine of the pin-on-disc T-01M. The pin was a remelted high-speed steel and the disc was made from sintered carbides. The surface layer of the high-speed steel was remelted with the electric arc with different parameters. The intensity of the electric arc current was changed, the scanning speed and the single, overlapping remeltings were used. On the basis of the 3D, 2D view of the surface friction of the pin (made from the remelted high-speed steel), disc (made from the sintered carbides) and the surface roughness profile run along the marked line, the presence of the abrasive wear can be defined with the description of the elementary wear processes due to the abrasive and/or adhesive wear.
The rolls for the hot rolling finishing stands are cast centrifugally as two or three-layer rolls. The working layer is called a shell. The material of the shell is selected according to the position of the respective roll in the final finishing stand of the rolling mill. Typically, a combination of rolls made of a high-chromium cast iron + indefinite cast iron or high-speed steel + indefinite cast iron is commonly used. Great attention has been paid to indefinite cast iron in recent years and this material received a number of modifications that led to the increase of material properties up to 20% in comparison to the ordinary indefinite cast iron. But the goals of the new generation of material for hot rollers were chosen higher: increasing of production about 30% and more. This material has specific physical properties, heat treatment requirements as well as rolling mill requirements as is stated in the paper. It is expected that introduction of this material will reduce the difference between wear of the front and finishing stands, which can extend rolling campaigns and have a positive effect on the reduction rolls exchanges, the grinding of the rolls and the reduction of downtime.
The effect of laser processing on the structure, microstructure and hardness of high-speed steel produced by powder metallurgy was investigated. The samples were surfaces remelted with impulse CO2 laser radiation under different operation conditions. In the remelted layer, the presence of full remelting, partial remelting and heat affected zones was detected. As a result of concentrated laser beam treatment, microstructures characteristic of the rapid crystallization process were observed. The microstructure in the full remelting zone was characterized by a fine microdendritic structure with the average distance between the secondary axes of dendrites below 1 µm and the dissolution of primary carbides. Retained austenite was found in the remelted samples, the amounts of which depended on the treatment parameters and grew with an increase in the speed of the laser beam movement. There was no unequivocal effect of the distance of the irradiated surface from the focus of the beam focusing system on the content of retained austenite. Due to the presence of retained austenite in the remelted part, the hardness decreased by about 23% compared to the hardness of the material before the treatment. On the other hand, laser processing leads to strong refinement of the microstructure and eliminates the residual porosity of powder steels, which can increase the toughness and cutting performance of steel. The research also showed the possibility of shaping the geometry of the remelting zone by the appropriate selection of machining parameters