Effects of quenching medium and tempering temperature on microstructures, mechanical properties, and fatigue behavior of EA4T steel

This paper investigated the effects of quenching medium (5% salt water or 12.5% PAG solution) and tempering temperature (600 degrees C or 650 degrees C) on microstructures, mechanical properties, and fatigue behavior (FB) of EA4T steel. Microstructures were characterized by OM, SEM, and EBSD techniques. Improved FB of samples was obtained with the quenching medium of 5% salt water followed by tempering at 600 degrees C. The presence of refined grain size and the decreased volume fraction of lath bainite (LB) significantly improved the FB. Furthermore, the combined effects of grain size and LB volume fraction on FB were revealed.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of different quenching mediums and tempering temperatures on the microstructures, mechanical properties, and fatigue behavior of EA4T steel. It was found that quenching with 5% salt water followed by tempering at 600 degrees Celsius significantly improved the material's fatigue behavior.