Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Canadian Metallurgical Quarterly, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
The present study was designed to investigate the effects of different quenching temperatures on the microstructure and wear resistance of Ductile Iron (DI) subjected to the Quenching and Partitioning (Q&P) heat treatment process. For this purpose, DI samples were cast into Y-block sand molds, and heat treatment studies were conducted on both wear test specimens and reference samples extracted from the Y-blocks. Following austenitizing at 900°C for 20 minutes, the samples were quenched at 110°C, 135°C, and 160°C for 5 minutes. Subsequently, a partitioning process was applied at 345°C for 60 minutes, followed by air cooling. The microstructural and mechanical characterisations of the samples were carried out using a ball-on-disc tribometer, hardness testing, X-Ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, optical microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and optical profilometry. The Q&P-treated DI samples exhibited a multiphase microstructure consisting of austenite, bainitic ferrite, and tempered martensite. The quench temperature was found to have a significant effect on the phase volume fractions. The lowest austenite volume fraction, approximately 26%, was observed in the sample quenched at 110°C, which also displayed the highest martensite content, as predicted by Koistinen-Marburger (K-M) equation. As the quenching temperature increased, the martensite volume fraction decreased, while the austenite fraction increased. All Q&P-treated samples demonstrated enhanced wear resistance compared to the as-cast condition. Notably, the sample quenched at 110°C exhibited the lowest weight loss, the lowest average coefficient of friction value of 0.64, and the highest hardness value of 458 HBW, along with the lowest wear rate of 21(m3(N.m)−1×10−15) and wear loss of 60 × 10−4 g.