DISTRIBUTIONS OF MICROSTRUCTURES IN QUENCHED STEELS AS REVEALED BY COMPUTER SIMULATION

A cellular automaton model of heat transfer and structural development in quenching steels has been developed and programmed for a three-dimensional computer simulation. A previous study has validated the simulation method by agreements of simulated cooling curves and hardenability with reported experimental data. In present work, a series of simulated quenching experiments for steel 1080 and 4140 steel have been carried out. With five adjustable parameters, a large variety of cooling conditions has been created and applied to the simulated quenching. Effect of delayed quenching and the associated phenomenon of inverse hardening have been addressed with emphasis.