ASTM A694 F60 HEAT TREATMENT

AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

Martin BALCAR, Jaroslav NOVK, Libor SOCHOR,
Pavel FILA, Ludvk MARTNEK

AS, a.s., Strojrensk 6,
591 71 r nad Szavou, Czech Republic,
Tel.:+420 566 64 2136, Fax.: +420 566 64 2831,
Email: martin.balcar@zdas.cz
Abstract

Production of heavy steel forgings of
microalloy steels seeks possibilities to take
advantages associated with the benefit of application
of microalloying elements and thermomechanical
treatment at the level of mechanical properties
attained, known from production of sheets, strips and
tubes.
The paper documents the influence of
quenching temperature on values of mechanical
properties and structure of F60 steel according to
ASTM A694. Verification of quenching temperature
influence contributes to optimization and
determination of a complex method of microalloy
steel heat treatment.
Steel structure and mechanical properties
after the quenching constitute initial as well as basic
criterion to achieve requested mechanical properties
at properly chosen tempering temperature.


Keywords: A694 F60, HSLA steel, Quenching and
Tempering, Mechanical Properties
1. INTRODUCTION
As the requirements for structural steel
properties are growing, the development of use of
microalloying elements even in the field of production
of forgings and castings takes place.
Production of heavy steel forgings of
microalloy steels does not allow to immediately take
advantages associated with the benefit of application
of microalloying elements and thermomechanical
treatment known from production of sheets, strips
and tubes. In the case of production of steel forgings,
the forming and heat treatment process mainly
features different forming and heat treatment
conditions compared to thin-walled products (sheets,
strips, tubes).
Development and verification of F60 steel
production and treatment technology according to
ASTM A694 under ZDAS, Inc. conditions constitute a
number of technological changes and introduction of
new process elements in the field of steel making
and subsequent thermomechanical treatment.
Verification of quenching temperature
influence on properties and structure of F60 forged
steel contributes to optimization of complex HSLA
steel making technology at ZDAS, a.s.
2. EXPERIMENTAL MATERIAL
Verification of quenching temperature
influence on structure and mechanical properties of
modified F60 steel according to ASTM A694 made by
EOP/LF/VD technology was carried out on forged
piece samples with dimensions (100x100x150)mm.
Basic chemical composition of the steel is shown in
Table 1.
Table 1: Basic chemical composition HSLA steel F60
(wt. %)

Modified F60 steel according to ASTM A694
is typical low carbon steel with addition of alloying
elements, manganese, silicon, nickel and
molybdenum. Moreover, the steel is microalloyed by
vanadium, aluminium and niobium. Concentration of
other elements is at the level like residual elements
and the rest is iron [1], [2].
After the forming process, the forgings were
anti-flake annealed up to a temperature of 650C
for a period of 10 hours and subsequently normalized
at a temperature of 930C with air cooling.
3. LABORATORY HEAT TREATMENT
The heat treatment itself was carried out on
forged steel samples under laboratory conditions.
Verification of influence of austenitization
quenching temperature (T
A
) on the structure and
mechanical properties was proposed for the
temperature range (880 to 940)C with subsequent
water quenching and tempering T
T
= 620C with air
cooling. Sample marking and heat treatment carried
out are as follows:

L1: T
A
= 880C/6 hrs/Water + T
T
= 620C/8 hrs/Air
L2: T
A
= 890C/6 hrs/Water + T
T
= 620C/8 hrs/Air
L3: T
A
= 900C/6 hrs/Water + T
T
= 620C/8 hrs/Air
L4: T
A
= 910C/6 hrs/Water + T
T
= 620C/8 hrs/Air
L5: T
A
= 920C/6 hrs/Water + T
T
= 620C/8 hrs/Air
L6: T
A
= 930C/6 hrs/Water + T
T
= 620C/8 hrs/Air
L7: T
A
= 940C/6 hrs/Water + T
T
= 620C/8 hrs/Air

Figure 1: Forged sample (100x100x150)mm
4. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF HSLA
STEEL ASTM A694 F60
The samples to determine attained
parameters of mechanical properties and to evaluate
the structure were taken from central zones of the
forgings. Evaluation of mechanical properties was
carried out in longitudinal direction. Table 2 shows
the requested level and attained values of
mechanical properties of individual F60 steel
samples.
Table 2: Mechanical properties HSLA steel F60
acc. quenching temperature

Austenitization temperature influence on
change in mechanical properties of forged, quenched
and tempered F60 steel is visible from Table 2. It is
obvious that steel strength increase accompanied by
significant toughness drop takes place as the
austenitization temperature is increasing.
5. MICROSTRUSCTURE OF HSLA STEEL
ASTM A694 F60
Similarly as in the case of mechanical
properties evaluation, steel structure evaluation was
carried out in the given point of the sample.
Steel structure for concrete heat treatment
states (T
A
= 880, 900, 920, 940C) is shown below:



After the quenching and tempering, the
microstructure of all samples forgings is practically
the same. Ferrite, bainite, granular pearlite and
sorbite occur. It is evident from a series of snaps
magnified 500 times, where the secondary grain can
be compared better, that the secondary grain does
not change notably as the quenching temperature is
increasing.
Above mentioned fact is confirmed by results
of evaluation of austenitic grain size by means
oxidation method according to ASTM E 112 97 with
using the LECO IA32 image analysis. Results of
austenitic grain size measurement are shown in
Table 3.
Table 3: Grain size - HSLA steel F60 - ASTM E 112
LECO IA32

From the results shown in Table 3, it is not
possible to observe direct influence of quenching
temperature on austenitic grain size change. All the
samples show a very fine structure [3], [4], [5].
6. CONCLUSIONS
From results of experimental work attained
follows direct influence of quenching temperature on
mechanical properties of ASTM A694 F60 steel. Was
observed growth in strength values and drop in
impact value as the temperature of quenching was
increasing. The most favorable results of mechanical
properties were attained with quenching
temperatures 880C, 890C and 900C.
Steel microstructure after the quenching and
tempering is comparable for all the samples. Ferrite,
bainite, granular pearlite and sorbite occur.
Evaluation of austenitic grain size by oxidation
method according to ASTM E 112-97 confirmed the
grain size uniformity, when comparing all
experimental samples, without provable influence of
quenching temperature.
Further optimization of steel mechanization
properties and structure can be awaited after the
verification of influence of the tempering temperature.
Subsequently, it will be possible to determine a
complex optimized heat treatment process for HSLA
steel ASTM A694 F60.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The paper has been solved within the EUREKA of
the OE 08009 E!4092 MICROST project. The project
was implemented based on government resources
with financial support of the Ministry of Education,
Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic
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