Effect of Nb Content on the Behavior of Primary Carbides in 0.4C-5Cr-1.2Mo-1V Steel

Abstract

Niobium (Nb) microalloying can improve the material properties of H13 steel (0.4C-5Cr-1.2Mo-1V steel), but it also affects the natures of the primary carbides. Therefore, the effect of Nb content and cooling rate on the behavior of primary carbides in H13 steel was studied in this paper. The matrix structure was obtained by chemical etching, and then the formation location of primary carbides was identified by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The three-dimensional (3D) characteristics, including morphology, number density, and size, were obtained by a non-aqueous electrolysis method. The enrichment of alloying elements in the last-to-solidify region leaded to the formation of primary carbides during the solidification. The Ti4C2S2 phase precipitated first, and then the Mo-Cr-rich carbide was formed around the Ti4C2S2 phase. During the cooling process, the Ti4C2S2 phase partly transformed into Nb-rich carbide and then further partly transformed into V-rich carbide. There is a huge difference between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional morphologies of the primary carbides. As the Nb content increased, the size of last-to-solidify region decreased gradually and the size and number density of primary carbides in the 3D observation increasingly increased. However, as the decrease of the cooling rate, the size of primary carbides increased rapidly and the number density of primary carbides decreased markedly. The thermodynamic and kinetics calculation results agreed well with the experimental observations.