Structure and properties of layer, surfaced on HARDOX 450 steel by boron containing wire

Analysis of structure phase states and properties of the layers formed on HARDOX 450 low alloy steel by welded-on wires with boron content of 4.5 and 6.5 % wt. was made by the methods of modern physical material science. In the initial state HARDOX 450 steel has the structure of tempered martensite, in the volume and along the boundaries of crystals of it the cementite particles are located. The particles located in the volume have acicular shape and those along boundaries are mainly round. The presence of extinction bend contours has been revealed, indicative of the curvature torsion of crystal lattice of the material’s portion. They originate and finish on the interfaces of martensite crystals. Scalar density of chaotically located dislocations and forming the netlike substructure is 6.2·1010 cm–2. The layer welded on HARDOX 450 steel has microhardness increasing by more than two-fold that of the base. Analysis of state diagrams of Fe – C, Fe – B, B – C systems and polythermal cross–sections in Fe – C – B system has shown that the rapid cooling of Fe23C6 – Fe23B6 alloys from liquid state would facilitate the formation of multiphase structural states. It is stated by the methods of transmission electron diffraction microscopy that the reasons for the high microhardness level of the surface layers are the following: formation of iron borides and crystals of ultafine-dispersion (up to 100 nm) packet martensite with high level (~1011 cm–2 ) of scalar density of dislocations; presence of nanodimentional particles of iron and boron carbides in the volume and on the boundaries of martensite crystals; high level of curvature torsion of crystal lattice of iron borides and α-phase grains, caused by the internal stress fields along interphase (interface of iron boride crystals and α-phase grains) and intraphase boundaries (interface of iron borides and martensite crystals packet). Increase in boron concentration from 4.5 to 6.5 % is accompanied by the sufficient increase (by 1.2 – 1.5 times) in hardness of welded layer. It is caused by the increase of dimensions and relative content of iron boride regions by 1.5 – 2.0 times.

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