Calculated hardenability for improved consistency of properties in heat treatable engineering steels

Hardenability is one of the most important parameters controlling the heat treated properties of engineering steels. It affects the consistency of response for microstructure, hardness, strength, toughness, and dimensional change (distortion). This study illustrates that a major benefit of controlling hardenability is improving the consistency of dimensional distortion resulting from heat treatment. To facilitate the supply of steels to hardenability limits, especially restricted hardenability, a new technique was developed for the prediction of Jominy hardenability from chemical composition. The technique, termed the “Database Method,” uses measured Jominy hardenability and chemical composition data, contained in a database, to calculate the hardenability for a query composition. Using up to ten known steels, selected from the database with compositions closely matching that of the query steel, a small adjustment is made to the measured hardenability of each known steel allowing for the small difference in composition between the query and chosen steel. The final calculated result for the query steel is taken as the average of the various estimates. The basis of the Database Method is explained, and the advantages are illustrated for selecting engineering grades.