Numerical modelling of the carburization – quenching process in steels

Salim Ben Ayed - GeePs laboratory (France)

Carburizing-quenching is a thermochemical surface treatment to harden the surface of steels and make them more resistant to friction, wear and corrosion. It consists in the diffusion of carbon atoms at high temperature, followed by a rapid cooling inducing a phase transformation from austenite to martensite [1].

The general objective of this work is to develop a strongly coupled Finite Element model for the simulation of the full carburizing-quenching process [2], based on Abaqus software and User subroutines.

Thanks to the implementation of multi-diffusion features, coupled transient heat transfer and stress-assisted transport of carbon atoms are modelled. Both thermal expansion and carbon-related volumetric expansion are accounted for. From relevant material parameters, the distribution of carbon in the material is predicted and compared to results from the literature [3].

The next step consists in implementing the martensitic transformation driven by temperature and carbon concentration evolution, adding transformation expansion strain and transformation plasticity. Martensite and residual austenite contents, as well as the evolution of internal stresses, are predicted as a function of the distance from the sample surface.

[1] H. Wang, B. Wang, Z. Wang, Y. Tian, and R. D. K. Misra, « Optimizing the low-pressure carburizing process of 16Cr3NiWMoVNbE gear steel », J. Mater. Sci. Technol., vol. 35, no 7, p. 1218 1227, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jmst.2019.02.001.

[2] M. Yaakoubi, M. Kchaou, and D. Fakhreddine, « Simulation of the thermomechanical and metallurgical behavior of steels by using ABAQUSsoftware », Comput. Mater. Sci., vol. 68, p. 297 306, 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2012.10.001.

[3] Huaming Liu, Xing Hu, Jinyuan Tang, Yuhui He, Wen Shao, Beier Sun and Pengkai Zhu., «A novel method for predicting carburizing and quenching deformation of the gear with the mandrel based on carburizing expansion strain and dynamic thermal boundary conditions of quenching », Surf. Coat. Technol., vol. 494, p. 131377, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.surfcoat.2024.131377