Phase Transformations of 5Cr-0.5Mo-0.1C Steel after Heat Treatment and Isothermal Exposure

This study consists of the experimental and numerical analysis of the phase transformations of 5Cr-0.5Mo.0.1C steel after heat treatment. The microstructure of the as-received steel comprised ferrite and bainite, which is in agreement with the microconstituents predicted by the Calphad-calculated TTT diagram. Calphad-based precipitation calculations show that the cooling stage of normalizing treatment did not cause carbide formation. In contrast, tempering at 700 °C for 15 min promotes the intergranular precipitation of Fe3C, M7C3 and M23C6 carbides, which is consistent with experimental results. Aging at 600 °C for short periods caused the precipitation of both M7C3 and M23C6 carbides; however, M23C6 is the dominant phase after prolonged aging. This is in agreement with experimental results. A rapid decrease in the steel hardness was observed after short aging, which is attributable to bainite transformation. Further reduction in hardness is associated with the diffusion-controlled coarsening of M23C6 carbide.