The Nitrogen Content Effect on Carbonitride Coagulation in 40Cr8 Steel with Micro-Additions V and V + Al

The work examines the effect of nitrogen and micro-additions V and V+Al on the austenite grain size and the coagulation of carbonitride precipitates in 40Cr8 steel. The analyzed materials underwent heat treatment consisting in holding the material at 1200ºC for 1h, which was next exposed to furnace cooling down to 820ºC and maintained at this temperature for 20hrs, and subsequently quenched in water. With the application of electron microscopy, the microstructure and the formed carbonitride precipitates were examined. The SigmaScanPro software was used to perform the quantitative metallographic analysis of the precipitates. The study demonstrated that increase in the content of nitrogen inhibits the coagulation rate of carbonitrides, whereas aluminium favours the tendency for coagulation and efficiently inhibits the austenite grain growth.