Microstructure Changes of Steel Materials under Isothermal Heat Treatment in Salt Bath

To improve the mechanical properties of steel materials such as Vanadis 4extra, Vanadis 10, Vancron 40, and Bohler S600, the isothermal heat treatment procedure using salt bath was used. Samples of the steels were processed at different time of austempering at various temperatures and compared to the samples processed by heat treatment (i.e. quenching in air or quenching in oil and tempering in air) which is most widely used in practice. Hardness properties are determined by the steel microstructure, the size and number of carbide particles in this microstructure. The suitability of heat treatment for improving mechanical properties of different steel materials is assessed.