The influence of alkaline salt bath quenching on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AISI D2 steel

AbstractIn this work, the microstructure and mechanical properties of AISI D2 tool steel is compared after air cooling and quenching in alkaline salt bath (60% KOH and 40% NaOH). The results have shown that the hardness of the samples quenched in alkaline salt bath with different temperatures followed by tempering at 540°C was higher than the hardness of air cooled sample. The maximum hardness from surface to centre of the samples was achieved after quenching in salt bath at 220°C. The microstructure and consequently the mechanical properties were altered after quenching in different media. It is also shown that hardening of D2 steel in alkaline salt bath can result in higher strength values than air cooling while there was no significant change in the impact energy of the samples.Dans ce travail, on compare la microstructure et les proprietes mecaniques de l’acier a outils AISI D2 apres refroidissement a l’air ou apres trempe dans un bain de sel alcalin (60% KOH et 40% NaOH). Les resultats ont montre que...