Improved Wear Resistance of Boron Steels by Subcritical Annealing and Hardening with Production Cost Savings and Lower Environmental Impact

Abstract

Boron steels are very interesting as wear resistant materials. In this research we propose a boron steel without alloys, 30MnB5, with a new thermal treatment that exceeds the mechanical characteristics of conventional treatment. The 30MnB5 steel, with the new sub-critical annealing and water quenching heat treatment, also exceeds the RAEX450. The new treatment has important advantages, such as: energy savings and reduction of costs and manufacturing times. It also has a more favourable ACV than 30MnB5 with conventional heat treatment and RAEX450. Its wear resistance is significantly improved compared to the classic heat-treated 30MnB5 and the RAEX450.