O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar um estudo comparativo da recristalização de dois aços rápidos, AISI M2 (Werkstoffnummer 1.3343) e ABC III (Werkstoffnummer 1.3333), após o encruamento resultante do processo de laminação a frio de chapas planas utilizadas para a confecção de serras fitas. Estudar a recristalização estática nesta classe de aços é relevante, pois eles freqüentemente são laminados a frio e recozidos na etapa final de processamento, antes da confecção da peça ou componente. Inicialmente, foi realizada a caracterização das amostras no estado como recebido, ou seja \'\'laminado a quente\'\'. A caracterização envolveu análise química, ensaios mecânicos, microscopia óptica, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, medidas de dureza e dilatometria. Em seguida, as amostras sofreram deformação a frio da ordem de até 50% de redução em espessura para determinação das curvas de endurecimento por deformação. Amostras com 25% de redução foram recozidas entre 100ºC e 750ºC, durante 1 hora e os resultados de dureza foram utilizadas para determinar as curvas isócronas de amolecimento. Amostras com 25% redução foram recozidas entre 600ºC e 750ºC, entre 15 e 480 minutos para cada uma das temperaturas, para determinação curvas isotérmicas de amolecimento. Resultados da análise microestrutural mostraram que o aço rápido AISI M2 apresenta uma distribuição mais homogênea de carbonetos. Esses carbonetos são mais finos em relação aos do aço ABC III, que apresenta uma distribuição mais heterogênea. Os dois aços apresentaram curvas muito similares de endurecimento por deformação. Após recozimento das amostras encruadas, foi verificado que o aço AISI M2 apresenta recuperação e recristalização levemente mais rápidas quando comparado com o ABC III. Ainda na etapa de recuperação e antes da recristalização, notou-se nos dois aços um pequeno aumento de dureza, principalmente entre 30 e 60 minutos de recozimento, na faixa de 650 ºC e 700ºC. Utilizando-se análises por difração de elétrons retroespalhados (microtextura e mesotextura) observou-se que o aço ABC III apresenta maior resistência para a recristalização se completar que o aço AISI M2. / This work aims at the comparative study of the recrystallization of two high-speed steels, namely AISI M2 (Werkstoffnummer 1.3343) and ABC III (Werkstoffnummer 1.3333), hardened by cold rolling of sheets employed in the production of band saws. Studying static recrystallization in this class of steels is relevant, since frequently they are cold rolled and annealed in their final processing stage, prior to the actual work piece manufacturing. Initially, samples have been characterized in the as-received condition, i.e. hot rolled. Characterization involved chemical analysis, tensile testing, optical metallography, scanning electron microscopy, hardness measurements and dilatometry. Following, samples have been cold worked with a 50% thickness reduction in order to evaluate the cold work hardening curves. Samples with 25% reduction have been annealed at temperatures in the 100oC to 750oC range, for one hour and hardness results have been used to determine the isochronous softening curves. Samples with 25% reduction have been annealed between 600 oC and 750oC for 15 to 480 minutes, for each one of the temperatures, to determine the isothermal softening curves. The microstructural analysis has shown that the AISI M2 steel presents a homogeneous carbide distribution. These carbides were fine when compared to those of the ABCIII steel that presented a heterogeneous distribution. Both steels presented similar work-hardening curves. After annealing the cold worked samples, it has been observed that the AISI M2 steel presented a slightly faster recovery and recrystallization than the ABCIII steel. Still in the recovery stage, prior to recrystallization, both steels showed a small hardness increase, mainly on annealing during 30 to 60 minutes in the 650oC to 700oC temperature range. Using electron backscattered diffraction analysis (microtexture and mesotexture) it has been observed that the ABCIII steel presented higher resistance to complete recrystallization than the AISI M2 steel.

Diversos componentes mecânicos como engrenagens, rolamentos, cilindros de laminação, trilhos e rodas de trem sofrem uma determinada solicitação conhecida por fadiga de contato, que consiste em uma solicitação causada pela tensão gerada entre o contato de dois corpos sob a ação de uma carga cíclica. Este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a resistência a esta solicitação para um aço ferramenta com microestruturas martensíticas e bainíticas. Para isto, foi utilizado um equipamento na configuração esfera contra plano, onde as esferas foram confeccionadas em material comercial ABNT 52100 e os discos em aço ferramenta tratados termicamente para obtenção de microestruturas martensíticas e bainíticas. Os ensaios foram realizados com a aplicação de uma pressão máxima de contato de 4,8 GPa até que ocorresse a falha por microlascamento da superfície do disco. Os resultados de vida em fadiga destes materiais foram apresentados por uma distribuição de Weibull que demonstraram uma maior resistência do material bainítico. Os resultados apresentados para ambas as microestruturas demonstraram que as falhas se iniciaram predominantemente na sub-superfície, atendendo as premissas iniciais do trabalho que buscava uma baixa ocorrência de falhas superficiais prematuras ocasionadas por possíveis inclusões, defeitos ou poros superficiais que agiriam como um concentrador de tensões, levando a uma falha antes que efetivamente as características físicas e metalúrgicas das microestruturas sejam testadas. / Several mechanical components such as gears, bearings, rolling mill rolls, rails and train wheels suffer a particular request known to contact fatigue, which consists of a request caused by the tension generated between the contact of two bodies subjected to a cyclic loading. This study aimed to evaluate the resistance to this request for tool steel with bainitic and martensitic microstructures. For this, was used a machine in the configuration ball against flat washer, where balls were made of commercial material ABNT 52100 and flat washer in tool steel heat-treated to obtain martensitic and bainitic microstructures. The tests were performed by applying a maximum contact pressure of 4.8 GPa until the failure by micro-spalling on the disk surface or subsurface. The results of the fatigue life of those materials were presented by a Weibull distribution that showed a better resistance to the bainitic material to this request. The results presented for both microstructures showed that the failures were initiated predominantly sub-surface, given the initial goals of the work, as evidenced by the low occurrence of premature superficial failures possibly caused by inclusions, pores or surface defects that would act as a stress concentrator leading to a premature failure before the physical and metallurgical microstructures characteristics were really tested.

Este trabalho avalia o uso de insertos autolubrificantes de pó de aço ferramenta sinterizado para aplicação em ferramentas dos processos de Conformação a Frio. São apresentadas a preparação e a análise de diferentes composições de misturas de pós de aço ferramenta H 13. A Metalurgia do Pó convencional foi utilizada como processo para a obtenção dos insertos do estudo. Foram compactadas e sinterizadas misturas de pó de aço H13 com a adição de percentuais variados do lubrificante sólido Bissulfeto de Molibdênio – MoS2, também em pó, com o objetivo de atribuir propriedades de autolubrificação ao composto. O percentual de lubrificante sólido empregado nas amostras variou de 1% a 5%, com posterior sinterização. Os resultados obtidos no Ensaio de Atrito com anéis de Alumínio AA6351 recozido apresentaram nos insertos autolubrificantes do estudo coeficientes de atrito μ entre 0,10 e 015, menores que os valores μ entre 0,20 e 0,30 obtidos com aço H13 laminado convencional. Também o desgaste abrasivo do ferramental proposto avaliado no Ensaio de Abrasão com Roda de Borracha foi 12% menor quando comparado com o aço ferramenta H13 laminado exposto ao mesmo ensaio. / This study evaluates the use of self-lubricating tool steel powder sintered inserts for use in tools of Cold Forming processes. Preparation and analysis of various compositions of H13 tool steel powder mixtures are presented. The conventional Powder Metallurgy was used as a process for obtaining the study inserts. Were compacted and sintered mixtures of H13 steel powder with the addition of varying percentages of the solid lubricant Molybdenum Disulphide - MoS2, also in powder form, with the purpose of giving self-lubricating properties to the composite. The percentage of solid lubricant used in the samples varied from 1% to 5%, with subsequent sintering. The results of the friction test on AA6351 aluminum rings had friction coefficients μ between 0.10 and 015 with self-lubricating inserts in study, smaller than μ values between 0.20 and 0.30 obtained with the conventional steel H13 laminate. Also, the abrasive wear of the tooling proposed evaluated in the abrasion test with rubber wheel was 12% lower when compared to the H13 tool steel laminate exposed to the same test.

O presente trabalho apresenta o desenvolvimento de um inserto em aço ferramenta AISI H13 obtido por meio do processo de Metalurgia do Pó com a adição de lubrificante sólido na sua composição, que tem a finalidade de conferir propriedades autolubrificantes ao mesmo. Foram utilizados os pós de MoS2 e de h- BN para promover a redução do coeficiente de atrito. Adicionou-se o lubrificante MoS2 ao pó de aço ferramenta na etapa de mistura dos pós, em concentrações que variaram de 1% a 5%. Da mesma forma, foram confeccionados corpos de prova substituindo o MoS2 por h-BN. Após a compactação de todos os corpos de prova eles foram sinterizados. A mistura com h-BN apresentou grande formação de óxido durante os processos de sinterização e de tratamento térmico, sendo descartada sua utilização para os ensaios de abrasão para verificar desgaste e para os ensaios do anel que determinam o coeficiente de atrito. Conforme as análises realizadas, pode-se observar a formação de fases distintas, com ilhas de lubrificante MoS2 em matriz ferrítica. Utilizou-se o ensaio do anel para determinação do coeficiente de atrito de Coulomb – μ, e anéis de Alumínio como corpos de prova para este ensaio. Os insertos de MoS2 apresentaram ótimos resultados neste ensaio, e foram similares a experimentos realizados por outros pesquisadores que utilizaram o mesmo sistema tribológico deste trabalho - H13 como ferramenta, MoS2 como lubrificante e anéis de Alumínio para conformação. A diferença satisfatória obtida pelo material confeccionado neste estudo em relação aos obtidos da literatura pesquisada está na forma de utilização do lubrificante, que neste caso foi adicionado à matriz pelo processo de Metalurgia do Pó, enquanto que nos trabalhos analisados o lubrificante foi borrifado sobre a matriz. / The present work describes the development of an insert of tool steel AISI H13 obtained by powder metallurgy process with the addition of solid lubricant in the composition, in order to impart self-lubricating properties. MoS2 and h-BN powder were used to promote the reduction of the friction coefficient. It was added MoS2 lubricant with the tool steel powder in the mixing step at concentrations ranging from 1% to 5%. Similarly were prepared specimens replacing MoS2 for h- BN. After compression of the samples they were also sintered. The mixture with h- BN showed extensive formation of oxide during the sintering process and heat treatment, and discarded their use for the abrasion test for wear and ring assays for the determination of the friction coefficient. Through the analysis carried out, were observed the formation of distinct phases with lubricant MoS2 islands in ferritic matrix. The tests for friction in samples with MoS2 showed good results, similar to experiments by other researchers who used the same tribological system of this work - H13 as a tool, MoS2 as a lubricant and aluminum rings for conformation. Satisfactory difference obtained by the material made in this study compared to those obtained from the literature is in the form of use of the lubricant, which in this case was added to the matrix by the powder metallurgy process, whereas in the studies analyzed the lubricant was sprayed onto the matrix.

A falha devido à ocorrência de fadiga térmica de materiais utilizados como ferramentas para trabalho a quente é identificada durante serviço e ocorre devido ao acúmulo de dano localizado. O aço AISI H13 é comumente utilizado em ferramentas para a conformação a quente devido à sua boa tenacidade à fratura e resistência ao desgaste, e considerável resistência à perda de dureza a quente. Este trabalho teve como motivação estudar a relação entre a microestrutura do aço H13 e os carregamentos térmicos e mecânicos, que possam levar à falha de ferramentas para forjamento a quente. Para este estudo, fez-se uso de meios computacionais (simulação numérica) aliados aos conhecimentos de caracterização microestrutural e do comportamento mecânico dos materiais. Nesta abordagem, elabora-se uma malha na microestrutura do referido aço no software OOF2®, do NIST, e as análises são feitas a partir da aplicação do método dos elementos finitos com o emprego do software Abaqus®. Com isso, torna-se possível examinar o efeito de aspectos microestruturais, como a influência dos precipitados, na ocorrência de tensões e de deformações na microestrutura de forma a obter um mapeamento de regiões críticas ao dano e à falha na ferramenta de forjar a quente. Os estudos são baseados e comparados com trabalhos já publicados, e simulam carregamentos e variações de temperatura no material em questão de modo a verificar as condições que favorecem a nucleação de trincas por fadiga térmica. Como principais conclusões e contribuições obtidas da análise realizada, podem ser destacadas: (i-) as regiões críticas que vêm a propiciar a nucleação de trincas térmicas são os precipitados e as interfaces; (ii-) no campo de tensões, a propriedade das fases que exerce a maior influência é o módulo de elasticidade; (iii-) os diferentes coeficientes de expansão térmica das fases geram deformações térmicas mais elevadas e tensões compressivas nas interfaces; (iv-) as deformações térmicas nos precipitados são superiores às da matriz devido à influência no campo de tensões; (v-) em termos de tensões térmicas, o momento do ciclo térmico mais crítico para a matriz é o resfriamento; e (vi-) ao passo que, nos precipitados, a etapa mais crítica é o aquecimento. / Failure due to thermal fatigue can occur in hot working tool materials and its onset takes place in the regions where the highest stress and strain are reached. AISI H13 steel is often used as a hot working tool since it has good toughness and wear resistance, and also a sensible resistance to loss of hot hardness. This study was carried out by means of finite element method (FEM) combined with microstructural characterization and mechanical behavior of materials analysis. According to this approach, H13 steel microstructure, in which carbides could be observed, was meshed by means of OOF2® (NIST). Moreover, the ABAQUS® commercial FEM software was used to simulate thermal and mechanical loading applied in the tool throughout mechanical processing. The conducted analysis allowed to observe the effect of precipitates on stress-strain distribution at different temperatures and loads. Hence, critical regions, in which damage could be favored as well failure onset in the microstructure of the hot forging tool, are displayed. The investigation was based on and compared to literature results and it showed that it can be possible to design the microstructure of hot forging materials, in which an improvement in the thermal fatigue resistance could be improved. The main remarks and conclusions of this work are as follows: (i-) precipitates and interfaces are preferential regions to nucleation and growth of cracks, and they seem to work as stress concentrators; (ii-) modulus of elasticity of phases has the strongest influence in the stress fields of the microstructure; (iii-) the mismatch between thermal expansion coefficients of the phases leads to compressive stresses on interfaces and also the highest thermal strain; (iv-) thermal strains are higher on the precipitates than on the steel matrix; (v-) elastic-plastic properties of steel matrix influenced on thermal cycles. In addition, cooling is the most critical condition of thermal stresses by analyzing each thermal cycle in this phase; and (vi-) whereas the precipitates have elastic behavior, and the most critical step is the heating, in which the maximum temperature of the cycle is reached.

<p>Large improvements in cutting tool design and technology, including the application of advanced surface engineering treatments on the cemented carbide insert, have been achieved in the last decades to enhance tool performance. However, the problem of improving the tool body material is not adequately studied.</p><p>Fatigue is the most common failure mechanism in cutting tool bodies. Rotating tools, tool going in and out of cutting engagement, impose dynamic stresses and require adequate fatigue strength of the tool. Working temperatures of milling cutter bodies in the insert pocket can reach up to 600°C depending on the cutting conditions and material of the workpiece. As a result, steel for this application shall have good hot properties such as high temper resistance and high hot hardness values to avoid plastic deformation in the insert pocket of the cutting tool. Machinability of the steel is also essential, as machining of steel represents a large fraction of the production cost of a milling cutter.</p><p>This thesis focus on the improvement of the cutting tool performance by the use of steel grades for tool bodies with optimized combination of fatigue strength, machinability and properties at elevated temperatures.</p><p>The first step was to indentify the certain limit of the sulphur addition for improved machinability which is allowable without reducing the fatigue strength of the milling cutter body below an acceptable level. The combined effect of inclusions, surface condition and geometrical stress concentrator on the fatigue life of the tool steel in smooth specimens and in tool components were studied in bending fatigue.</p><p>As the fatigue performance of the tools to a large extent depends on the stress relaxation resistance at elevated temperature use, the second step in this research was to investigate the stress relaxation of the commonly used milling cutter body materials and a newly steel developed within the project. Compressive residual stresses were induced by shot peening and their response to mechanical and thermal loading as well as the material substructures and their dislocation characteristics were studied using X-ray diffraction.</p><p>Softening resistance of two hot work tool steels and a newly developed steel was investigated during high temperature hold times and isothermal fatigue and discussed of with respect to their microstructure. Carbide morphology and precipitation as well as dislocation structure were determined using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray line broadening analysis.</p>

Large improvements in cutting tool design and technology, including the application of advanced surface engineering treatments on the cemented carbide insert, have been achieved in the last decades to enhance tool performance. However, the problem of improving the tool body material is not adequately studied. Fatigue is the most common failure mechanism in cutting tool bodies. Rotating tools, tool going in and out of cutting engagement, impose dynamic stresses and require adequate fatigue strength of the tool. Working temperatures of milling cutter bodies in the insert pocket can reach up to 600°C depending on the cutting conditions and material of the workpiece. As a result, steel for this application shall have good hot properties such as high temper resistance and high hot hardness values to avoid plastic deformation in the insert pocket of the cutting tool. Machinability of the steel is also essential, as machining of steel represents a large fraction of the production cost of a milling cutter. This thesis focus on the improvement of the cutting tool performance by the use of steel grades for tool bodies with optimized combination of fatigue strength, machinability and properties at elevated temperatures. The first step was to indentify the certain limit of the sulphur addition for improved machinability which is allowable without reducing the fatigue strength of the milling cutter body below an acceptable level. The combined effect of inclusions, surface condition and geometrical stress concentrator on the fatigue life of the tool steel in smooth specimens and in tool components were studied in bending fatigue. As the fatigue performance of the tools to a large extent depends on the stress relaxation resistance at elevated temperature use, the second step in this research was to investigate the stress relaxation of the commonly used milling cutter body materials and a newly steel developed within the project. Compressive residual stresses were induced by shot peening and their response to mechanical and thermal loading as well as the material substructures and their dislocation characteristics were studied using X-ray diffraction. Softening resistance of two hot work tool steels and a newly developed steel was investigated during high temperature hold times and isothermal fatigue and discussed of with respect to their microstructure. Carbide morphology and precipitation as well as dislocation structure were determined using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray line broadening analysis.

Shear blades are mostly made of cold-work tool steels and manufactured by rolling process. Rolling process is performed not only for forming the tool but also for improving the mechanical properties. In this study, an alternative method, involving sand casting, hot forging and heat treatment processes to manufacture the shear blades, has been proposed. In the proposed method, plastic deformation will be carried out by means of forging instead of rolling. The material has been selected as X48CrMoV8-1. For both of casting and forging processes, simulations have been conducted by using Computer Aided Engineering Software. According to the results of casting process simulation, the billets have been poured. These billets have been soft annealed first and then taken as the initial raw material for the forging process. After the forging process, quenching and tempering processes have been applied. The specimens have been taken as cast, as forged and as tempered and the microstructural analysis and mechanical tests have been performed on these. The same tests and analysis have been repeated for a commercially available shear blade sample which is manufactured by rolling. All these investigations have shown that the properties of the forged shear blade are very similar to the rolled shear blade. Therefore, the new proposed method has been verified to be used as an alternative manufacturing method for the cold-work tool steel shear blades.

In sheet metal forming operations the life length of the production equipment islargely dependent on the wear of the tools that are in direct contact with the sheet.One form of adhesive wear where some sheet material gets transferred to the tool, alsoknown as galling, is the most common cause of tool failure. The transferred materialsticks firmly to the tool and will scratch subsequent sheets and increase friction, renderingthem anywhere from aesthetically unsightly to completely ripped apart. Withcareful combination of several parameters the tools production life can be significantlyextended. The surface preparation of the tools has a large influence on the tool life, thesurface has to be smooth and yet not without texture. It was shown in strip reductiontesting that the orientation as well as the depth of the surface texture left by polishinginfluenced the tool life and that a texture perpendicular to the sliding direction was toprefer. The geometry of the forming tool is also a parameter to take into account as itinfluences the tool life not only by changing the contact pressure but also in itself. Ina sliding against flat sheet test rig a lower contact pressure increased the sliding distanceto galling. When two different geometries were compared at the same contactpressure it was found that there was a difference in tool life. As to the tool itself thematerial it’s made of influences the wear rate and tool life. Different tool steels wasinvestigated in sliding wear against metal sheets; Vancron 40 performed better thanVanadis 6 and S290PM performed better than a AISI M2 grade steel.

The presence of different types of defects is an important reality for manufacturers and users of engineering materials. Generally, the defects are either considered to be the unwanted products of impurities in the raw materials or to have been introduced during the manufacturing process. In high-quality steel materials, such as tool steel, the defects are usually non-metallic inclusions such as oxides or sulfides. Traditional methods for purity control during standard manufacturing practice are usually based on the light optical microscopy scanning of polished surfaces and some statistical evaluation of the results. Yet, as the steel manufacturing process has improved, large defects have become increasingly rare. A major disadvantage of the traditional quality control methods is that the accuracy decreases proportionally to the increased rarity of the largest defects unless large areas are examined. However, the use of very high cycle fatigue to 109 cycles has been shown to be a powerful method to locate the largest defects in steel samples. The distribution of the located defects may then be modelled using extreme value statistics. This work presents new methods for determining the volume distribution of large defects in high-quality steels, based on ultrasonic fatigue and the Generalized Extreme Value (GEV) distribution. The methods have been developed and verified by extensive experimental testing, including over 400 fatigue test specimens. Further, a method for reducing the distributions into one single ranking variable has been proposed, as well as a way to estimate an ideal endurance strength at different life lengths using the observed defects and endurance limits. The methods can not only be used to discriminate between different materials made by different process routes, but also to differentiate between different batches of the same material. It is also shown that all modes of the GEV are to be found in different steel materials, thereby challenging a common assumption that the Gumbel distribution, a special case of the GEV, is the appropriate distribution choice when determining the distribution of defects. The new methods have been compared to traditional quality control methods used in common practice (surface scanning using LOM/SEM and ultrasound C-scan), and suggest a greater number of large defects present in the steel than could otherwise be detected.