The Influence of a Cooling Rate on the Evolution of Microstructure and Hardness of the Steel 27MnCrB5

The aim of the performed experiments was to determine the influence of a cooling rate on the evolution of microstructure and hardness of the steel 27MnCrB5. By using dilatometric tests performed on the plastometer Gleeble 3800 and by using mathematical modelling in the software QTSteel a continuous cooling transformation diagram for a heating temperature of 850°C was constructed. Conformity of diagrams constructed for both methods is relatively good, except for the position and shape of the ferrite nose. The values of hardness, temperatures of phase transformations and the volume fractions of structural phases upon cooling from the temperature of 850°C at the rate from 0.16°C · s^-1 to 37.2°C · s^-1 were determined. Mathematically predicted proportion of martensite with real data was of relatively solid conformity, but the hardness values evaluated by mathematical modelling was always higher.