US3658602A - Method for quenching steel rails in a fluidized powder medium - Google Patents

Method for quenching steel rails in a fluidized powder medium Download PDF

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Publication number
US3658602A
US3658602A US825043A US3658602DA US3658602A US 3658602 A US3658602 A US 3658602A US 825043 A US825043 A US 825043A US 3658602D A US3658602D A US 3658602DA US 3658602 A US3658602 A US 3658602A
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United States
Prior art keywords
gas
chromium
steam
medium
rail
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US825043A
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English (en)
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Jacques Pomey
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USINOR SA
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USINOR SA
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    • CCHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C21METALLURGY OF IRON
    • C21DMODIFYING THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF FERROUS METALS; GENERAL DEVICES FOR HEAT TREATMENT OF FERROUS OR NON-FERROUS METALS OR ALLOYS; MAKING METAL MALLEABLE, e.g. BY DECARBURISATION OR TEMPERING
    • C21D1/00General methods or devices for heat treatment, e.g. annealing, hardening, quenching or tempering
    • C21D1/56General methods or devices for heat treatment, e.g. annealing, hardening, quenching or tempering characterised by the quenching agents

Definitions

  • the fluidized medium is formed by mixing a powder of chromium, iron, nickel, molybdenum or tungsten, or alloys of these metals, with a pure steam or a gas comprising essentially steam.
  • powder media have insulating properties in the state of rest, and above all in the non-settled state after stopping the fluidization, namely low apparent heat conductivity, low transfer coefiicient at the interface between the solid steel part and the powder medium at rest. Consequently, the powder media are characterized by a very large difference between these two thermic properties between the fluidized state and the state of rest. Consequently, if the shape of the parts to be hardened is complicated, or if there are extensive regions on the surface where the tangent plane is but little inclined to the horizontal, the powder both a higher cooling rate and less quenching deformation of railway track rails. The problem is difiicult since these two properties are usually contradictory. Indeed, accelerating the cooling increases the temperature inequality in the rail and consequently the deformations.
  • the invention provides a method of quenching steel railway track rails in a fluidized powder medium comprising placing the rail in a horizontal inverted position and quenching the rail in a fluidized medium consisting essentially of a powder of a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, iron, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten and alloys of these metals, and a gas mainly consisting of steam.
  • the experimental apparatus for containing the fluidized powder medium is cylindrical and has for effective dimensions diameter 600 mm, height of the powder bed 400 mm.
  • the steel specimens are round bars having a diameter of 60 mm and a length of 300 mm.
  • the specimens are of eutectoid carbon steel C 0.85%, Mn 0.3%, Si 0.3%.
  • Two thermoelectric couples are placed in such manner that the hot weld is halfway from the end sections, one on the axis and the other near the surface.
  • the specimens are quenched in a position with the axis vertical or horizontal. In the latter case, the surface couple is near the point having a vertical tangent plane.
  • Each steel specimen is austenitized at 900 C, the period for bringing to the temperature in the muffle furnace being 45 minutes, and the period during which the temperature is maintained 30 minutes (totaltime 75 minutes).
  • the specimen is thereafter quenched in the fluidized powder medium at 1 75 C and the temperatures are recorded as a function of time.
  • the problem in this case is therefore to find a medium having intermediate properties so that there is at each instant of cooling equality between the mean temperature of the flange and that of the head of the rail so that the rail can be quenched without distorsion and that, after treatment, it be sufficiently straight not to require a straightening operation.
  • the symbol t which designates these times in minutes, has added thereto the index 1 or 2 depending on whether the hardening is carried out respectively in the corundum-air medium or chromium-steam medium.
  • the relative differences and gains have been calculated as a percentage.
  • the results are given in the Tables I, ll, Ill and IV respectively which relate to specimens having a horizontal axis and a core couple, a horizontal axis and a surface couple, a vertical axis and a core couple and a vertical axis and a surface couple.
  • round steel bars having the same dimensions as before but in two grades of alloy steels designated A and B were austenitized at 900 C for a period of 75 minutes of full heating, quenched vertically in the fluidized chromiumsteam powder medium at 170 C, maintained immersed for 4 minutes and then cooled in calm air. After cutting the median cross section with the grindstone, the hardnesses Te along a diameter were measured. These were expressed in Rockwell indices (Rc cone). The results are given in Table Vl.
  • the same steels A and B when austenitized under the same conditions and then immersed in a corundum-air medium at 170 C, do not harden.
  • the Rc hardness remains between 28 and 36 in the heart, 30 and 40 on the surface.
  • Tests were also carried out on self-hardening steel so as not have the recales cence in the concerned range of temperatures. Specimens of the same size, with a couple in the heart and quenched in the vertical position, were tested. The austenitizations were effected at 900 C and, during the quenching, the temperature was recorded and the times required for reaching either 700 C or 500 C were noted. Air quenching, oil quenching, in both cases at room temperature and quenching in the chromium powder-steam medium at 140 C were compared. The results are given in Table V11.
  • the invention not only improves the cooling capacity of the medium and, consequently, its steel quenching properties, but also avoids the unequal heat and the quenching deformations in the case of railway track rails treated in accordance with the teaching of US. Pat. No. 1,458,157 relating to the heat treatment of rails.
  • the chromium-steam medium at l40 C cools as quickly as the corundum-air medium at room temperature.
  • the temperature differential is smaller for the chromium-steam medium than for the corundum-air medium, irrespective of the temperature of these two media.
  • the temperature differential is smaller for the corundum-air medium at 175 C than for the corundum-air medium at room temperature.
  • the temperature differential remains very small, whether the medium be at 175C or 140 C.
  • the fluidized chromium-steam powder medium has this double apparently paradoxical and contradictory property of resulting in a more rapid cooling of the immersed parts and avoiding deformations in the case of correctly oriented rails.
  • the chromium can be replaced by one of the following metals iron, nickel, molybdenum, tungsten, or by alloys of the latter mixed together or with other elements in any proportion, and in particular stainless steels containing chromium, chromium-nickel or chromium-aluminum; iron alloys such as ferro-chromium, ferro-silicon, ferro-molybdenum, ferro-tungsten, ferro-nickel, ironsmall amount of hydrogen and carbonic gas, possibly also nitrogen and traces .of carbon men-oxide.
  • a small amount of methane for example in the form of a natural gas or a coke works gas and if the methane is converted hot according to the desired reaction (from left to right):
  • the temperature of the medium is higher than the boiling temperature of the water under the considered pressure. It is therefore higher than 100 C.
  • the temperature is defined by the conditions required for the metallurgical treatment. This can be, for example, a temperature but slightly higher than the Ms temperature of the beginning of the martensitic transformation of the considered steel if it is desired to effect a martensitic hardening in stages with the minimum of deformations and residual stresses. This can be a slightly lower temperature if the critical quenching rate so requires. If it is intended to effect an isothermic bainitic transformation, this can be, for example, the temperature corresponding to the maximum rate of bainitic transformation, of the order of 420 C, which temperature is slightly variable with the steel compositions. A temperature between 420 C and 500 C can be employed if it is desired to obtain less hardening than in the preceding case.
  • a higher temperature is of no interest owing to the lower rate of cooling and higher heating costs.
  • the temperature must be chosen between and 500 C by conventional metallurgical considerations.
  • Process for quenching steel heated railway track rail issuing from a mill comprising placing the rail in a horizontal inverted position with the rail head being lowermost and quenching the rail in a fluidized medium consisting essentially of a powder of a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, iron, nickel, and alloys of said metals, and a gas consisting essentially of steam, the temperature of the fluidized medium being 100-500 C.
  • alloys are stainless steels containing as alloys a substance selected from the group consisting of chromium, chromium-nickel and chromium-aluminum.
  • ferro-alloys are selected from the group consisting of ferro-chromium, ferro-silicon, ferro-nickel, iron-aluminum.
  • said alloys are selected from the group consisting of nickel-chromium and nickel-copper alloys.
  • Process according to claim 1 comprising placing the rail in a horizontal inverted position and quenching the rail in a fluidized medium consisting of a metallic powder of chromium and a fluidizing gas consisting essentially of steam.
  • Process according to claim 13 comprising placing the rail in a horizontal inverted position and quenching the rail in a fluidized medium consisting of a metallic powder of a ferrochromium alloy and a fluidizing gas consisting essentially of steam.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Thermal Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Heat Treatment Of Articles (AREA)
  • Manufacture Of Metal Powder And Suspensions Thereof (AREA)
US825043A 1968-12-30 1969-05-15 Method for quenching steel rails in a fluidized powder medium Expired - Lifetime US3658602A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
FR182073 1968-12-30

Publications (1)

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US3658602A true US3658602A (en) 1972-04-25

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US825043A Expired - Lifetime US3658602A (en) 1968-12-30 1969-05-15 Method for quenching steel rails in a fluidized powder medium

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US (1) US3658602A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
BE (1) BE730539A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CA (1) CA923799A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
CS (1) CS167889B2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
DE (1) DE1947950B2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
FR (1) FR1600086A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB1216801A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
LU (1) LU58644A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

Cited By (8)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4170494A (en) * 1976-06-07 1979-10-09 Kobe Steel, Ltd. Surface treatment for metal according to fluidized bed system
US4547228A (en) * 1983-05-26 1985-10-15 Procedyne Corp. Surface treatment of metals
WO1986001541A1 (en) * 1984-09-04 1986-03-13 Fox Patrick L Shallow case hardening process
US4671496A (en) * 1983-05-26 1987-06-09 Procedyne Corp. Fluidized bed apparatus for treating metals
US4717433A (en) * 1983-03-07 1988-01-05 Rockwell International Corporation Method of cooling a heated workpiece utilizing a fluidized bed
US5037491A (en) * 1986-02-28 1991-08-06 Fox Patrick L Shallow case hardening and corrosion inhibition process
US5645653A (en) * 1993-06-24 1997-07-08 British Steel Plc Rails
US20160348200A1 (en) * 2013-12-10 2016-12-01 Battelle Energy Alliance, Llc Bainitic steel materials and methods of making such materials

Families Citing this family (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
FR2447968A1 (fr) * 1979-01-30 1980-08-29 Celes Sa Procede de trempe superficielle
DE3230531A1 (de) * 1982-08-17 1984-02-23 Ruhrgas Ag, 4300 Essen Verfahren zum zwischenvergueten von werkstuecken
DE3734169A1 (de) * 1987-10-09 1989-04-27 Ewald Schwing Verfahren zum warmbadhaerten von gegenstaenden aus legierten staehlen

Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US854810A (en) * 1906-08-03 1907-05-28 Fred H Daniels Method for the manufacture of wire rods.
US3197346A (en) * 1953-11-27 1965-07-27 Exxon Research Engineering Co Heat treatment of ferrous metals with fluidized particles
NL6714272A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) * 1966-10-24 1968-04-25

Patent Citations (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US854810A (en) * 1906-08-03 1907-05-28 Fred H Daniels Method for the manufacture of wire rods.
US3197346A (en) * 1953-11-27 1965-07-27 Exxon Research Engineering Co Heat treatment of ferrous metals with fluidized particles
NL6714272A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) * 1966-10-24 1968-04-25

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
Jenkins, Controlled Atmospheres for The Heat Treatment of Metals, Chapman & Hall Ltd., London, 1946, pages 115 122 & 293 94 *
Metals Handbook, 1948 Ed., pages 615 618 *

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4170494A (en) * 1976-06-07 1979-10-09 Kobe Steel, Ltd. Surface treatment for metal according to fluidized bed system
US4717433A (en) * 1983-03-07 1988-01-05 Rockwell International Corporation Method of cooling a heated workpiece utilizing a fluidized bed
US4547228A (en) * 1983-05-26 1985-10-15 Procedyne Corp. Surface treatment of metals
US4671496A (en) * 1983-05-26 1987-06-09 Procedyne Corp. Fluidized bed apparatus for treating metals
WO1986001541A1 (en) * 1984-09-04 1986-03-13 Fox Patrick L Shallow case hardening process
US5037491A (en) * 1986-02-28 1991-08-06 Fox Patrick L Shallow case hardening and corrosion inhibition process
US5645653A (en) * 1993-06-24 1997-07-08 British Steel Plc Rails
US20160348200A1 (en) * 2013-12-10 2016-12-01 Battelle Energy Alliance, Llc Bainitic steel materials and methods of making such materials
US9869000B2 (en) * 2013-12-10 2018-01-16 Battelle Energy Alliance, Llc Methods of making bainitic steel materials

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE1947950B2 (de) 1971-10-28
GB1216801A (en) 1970-12-23
LU58644A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1969-08-26
CS167889B2 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1976-05-28
BE730539A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1969-09-01
DE1947950A1 (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1971-10-28
FR1600086A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1970-07-20
CA923799A (en) 1973-04-03

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