Development of Non-Quenched Prehardened Steel for Large Section Plastic Mould Original Research Article

In order to meet the demand of prehardened steel for large section plastic mould and save energy, a non-quenched prehardened (NQP) steel is developed. The temperature field of a large block is researched by finite element method simulation and 9 test steels are designed in the laboratory. Their microstructures and hardness are investigated when they are air cooled and control cooled at cooling rate similar to the simulation. The result shows that the hardness uniformity through section is closely correlated to bainitic hardenability for the NQP steel, and the hardness of one test steel (0. 27C–1. 95Mn-l. 04Cr-0. 45Mo-0. IV) fluctuates between HRC 40 and 43 under both cooling conditions. The test steel has better machinability compared with C45 steel, and the NQP steel is produced successfully in the factory based on the laboratory results. Its microstructurf is bainite, and it is distributed uniformly through the size of 460 mm × 800 mm × 3200 mm.