In this paper, the effects of different tempering temperatures on a recently developed ultrahigh-strength steel with 0.4 wt.% carbon content were studied. The steel is designed to be used in press-hardening for different wear applications, which require high surface hardness (650 HV/58 HRC). Hot-rolled steel sheet from a hot strip mill was austenitized, water quenched and subjected to 2-h tempering at different temperatures ranging from 150 °C to 400 °C. Mechanical properties, microstructure, dislocation densities, and fracture surfaces of the steels were characterized. Tensile strength greater than 2200 MPa and hardness above 650 HV/58 HRC were measured for the as-quenched variant. Tempering decreased the tensile strength and hardness, but yield strength increased with low-temperature tempering (150 °C and 200 °C). Charpy-V impact toughness improved with low-temperature tempering, but tempered martensite embrittlement at 300 °C and 400 °C decreased the impact toughness at −40 °C. Dislocation densities as estimated using X-ray diffraction showed a linear decrease with increasing tempering temperature. Retained austenite was present in the water quenched and low-temperature tempered samples, but no retained austenite was found in samples subjected to tempering at 300 °C or higher. The substantial changes in the microstructure of the steels caused by the tempering are discussed.

A new experimental steel containing in weight percent 0.3C-2.0Mn-0.5Si-1.0Al-2.2Cr and 0.3C-1.9Mn-1.0Si-1.0Cr was hot rolled in a laboratory rolling mill and directly quenched within the martensite start and finish temperature range. It was then partitioned without reheating during slow furnace cooling to achieve tensile yield strengths over 1100 MPa with good combinations of strength, ductility and impact toughness. Gleeble thermomechanical simulations led to the selection of the partitioning at the temperatures 175 and 225 °C, which produced the desired microstructures of lath martensite with finely divided retained austenite in fractions of 6.5% and 10% respectively. The microstructures were analyzed using light and scanning electron microscopy in combination with electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray diffraction analysis. The mechanical properties were characterized extensively using hardness, tensile and Charpy V impact testing. In tensile testing a transformation induced plasticity mechanism was shown to operate with the less stable, carbon-poorer retained austenite, which transformed to martensite during straining. The auspicious results in respect to microstructures and mechanical properties indicate that there are possibilities for developing tough ductile structural steels through thermomechanical rolling followed by the direct quenching and partitioning route.

Innovative nanostructured materials offer the possibility of enhancing the tribological performance of traditional materials like graphite and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂). In this study, the scratch resistance of two different copper powders, dendritic and spherical, and their composites with traditional MoS₂, nanometric MoS₂, and graphene nanoplatelets was investigated. Metal powder metallurgy was employed to produce composite materials with 5 wt% and 10 wt% of each solid lubricant. A ball milling step was employed to grind and mix the matrix copper powder with the lubricants. The use of a cold press combined with the sintering in inert atmosphere at 550 °C limited the oxidation of the copper and the degradation of the solid lubricants. The so-produced materials were characterized through a variety of techniques such as micro-indentation hardness, electrical resistivity, contact angle wettability, X-ray diffraction, Raman scattering, and scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, micro-scratch tests were performed on both pure copper and composite materials for comparing the apparent scratch hardness and friction coefficients. The scratches were examined with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), to identify the evolution of the damage mechanisms during the formation of the groove. The results highlighted the important difference between the dendritic and spherical copper powders and demonstrated a way to improve wear behavior thanks to the use of nanometric powders as solid lubricants.