Effect of Salt Quenching on the Microstructures and Mechanical Properties of AISI 1045 Steel
Imam Basori*, Wiworo Dwi Pratiwi and Siska Titik Dwiyati
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jl. Rawamangun Muka, Jakarta 13220, Indonesia
*unimam_r_one[at]yahoo.com
Abstract
Steel has a very important role in the industrial application, especially for the manufacture of automotive components such as gears. In its application, gear undergoes the compressive and friction loads, so that in the manufacturing process, materials with high hardness and wear resistance are needed. One method to increase steel hardness is by quenching process. In this research, quenching process will be carried out on AISI 1045 steel using the salt water as the cooling media. The austenization process was conducted at a temperature of 850 ° C with the holding time of 15 and 30 minutes. The samples were then salt quenched with the salt concentration of 0, 10 and 23%. The results showed that the salt quenching process on AISI 1045 steel tended to change the combination of ferrite and pearlite phases to be martensite. This process also increases the hardness of AISI 1045 steel, in which the highest hardness value is found in the sample with 30 minutes austenization process and salt concentration of 23%. In contrast, this sample have also the lowest impact resistance value of 0.056 J / mm2.
Keywords: salt quenching; austenization; ferrit; pearlite; martensite
Topic: Material Engineering