Research on quenching and tempering process of BTW1 wear-resistant steel for engineering machinery

    
    Introduction
    
    Quenching and tempering is a heat treatment process widely used to improve the mechanical properties of engineering machinery. This process is especially beneficial in increasing the wear resistance of materials and BTW1 wear-resistant steel is the typical example used for this purpose. It is of great significance to research on quenching and tempering process of BTW1 wear-resistant steel for engineering machinery due to the special requirements of high wear resistance of engineering machinery.
    
    Quenching and Tempering of BTW1 Wear-Resistant Steel
    
    Quenching
    
    Before the quenching and tempering of BTW1 wear-resistant steel, it is necessary to perform processes such as blanking, forging and annealing. After these processes, the material is in an austenite single-phase state, and then subjected to quenching. There are generally two types of quenching methods for this kind of wear-resistant steel, namely oil quenching and air quenching. The phase transformation during oil quenching of BTW1 wear-resistant steel can be divided into three stages: austenite → austenite + martensite → martensite. The phase transformation of air quenching can be divided into two stages: austenite → austenite + martensite.
    
    Tempering
    
    After the quenching of BTW1 wear-resistant steel, the material is in a martensite single-phase state, which has high hardness and low toughness, so it needs to be tempered to improve its mechanical properties. Tempering can reduce the hardness of the material and improve its toughness. Generally speaking, the tempering temperature of BTW1 wear-resistant steel falls in the range of 350℃ to 540℃. During the tempering process, the main phase transformation is martensite → martensite + retained austenite. The amount of retained austenite increases when increased tempering temperature is applied.
    
    Influence of Quenching and Tempering Process on Mechanical Properties
    
    The mechanical properties of BTW1 wear-resistant steel can be divided into three parts, namely hardness, strength, and wear resistance. The influence of quenching and tempering process on the mechanical properties is shown in Figure1. It can be seen from the figure that the hardness of the material is earlier improved by quenching and tempering process, while the strength and wear resistance are gradually improved.
    
    
    Figure 1: Quenching and tempering process diagram
    
    Conclusion
    
    BTW1 wear-resistant steel quenching and tempering process can greatly improve its mechanical properties and wear resistance. Therefore, quenching and tempering process of BTW1 wear-resistant steel is an important measure to increase the service life of engineering machinery. It can be concluded that the tempering temperature of BTW1 wear-resistant steel should fall in the range of 350℃ to 540℃ and oil quenching or air quenching should be adopted for the best mechanical property and wear resistance.

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