PREDICTION OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF QUENCH HARDENING STEEL

The present study investigated the application of finite element method for prediction of mechanical properties of quench hardening steel. Based on the experimental results obtained, a numerical model for simulation of continuous cooling of quench hardening steel was developed. For the simulation of the kinetics of diffusion phase transformations, the Avrami equation and additive rule were applied. A new model was also developed for martensitic transformation which was validated using metallographic analysis and hardness tests. Experimental and simulation results indicated a good agreement. The developed model information provided here could be used for simulation of continuous cooling and kinetics phase transformation as well as for prediction of final distribution of microstructures and hardness of alloy steels.