Wang Jin, Bai Yun, Liu Wei, Xu Huiyu, Zhang Qingsong, Wang Guangwei, Yang Shufeng, Li Jingshe
School of Metallurgical and Ecological Engineering, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China.
Jiangyin Xingcheng Special Steel Works, Co., Ltd., Wuxi 214400, China.
Materials (Basel). 2025 May 7;18(9):2162. doi: 10.3390/ma18092162.
This work is a continuation of our previous research. We successfully produce low-carbon gear steel containing trace tellurium (Te) through industrial production line (EAF-LF-VD-CC), and we investigate the effects of a trace Te addition on the precipitation of MnS inclusions in sulfur-containing gear steel billets, the machinability of rods, and the high-temperature vacuum carburizing performance of rods. This study demonstrates that the addition of trace Te in steel can be achieved in industrial production without causing disruptions in the steelmaking process. The Te addition effectively induces spheroidization and refinement of MnS inclusions in industrial cast billets, showing good consistency with laboratory Te alloying experimental results. Furthermore, the Te addition reduces the deformation rate of MnS inclusions during industrial rolling processes. Benefiting from the spheroidization of MnS inclusions, the chip-breaking performance during the machining of Te-containing rods is significantly optimized, along with substantial improvement in machined surface roughness. The industrial rods exhibit excellent grain stability during 960 °C high-temperature vacuum carburizing, with carburizing rates significantly enhanced compared to conventional gear steels. This work comprehensively demonstrates the multifaceted effects of Te treatment on gear steel properties, particularly providing valuable references for developing high-temperature carburizing gear steels.
本工作是我们先前研究的延续。我们通过工业生产线(电弧炉-钢包精炼炉-真空脱气-连铸)成功生产出含微量碲(Te)的低碳齿轮钢,并研究了微量Te添加对含硫齿轮钢坯中MnS夹杂物析出、棒材切削性能以及棒材高温真空渗碳性能的影响。本研究表明,在工业生产中添加微量Te可在不影响炼钢过程的情况下实现。添加Te有效地促使工业铸坯中MnS夹杂物球化和细化,与实验室Te合金化实验结果具有良好的一致性。此外,添加Te降低了工业轧制过程中MnS夹杂物的变形率。受益于MnS夹杂物的球化,含Te棒材加工过程中的断屑性能得到显著优化,加工表面粗糙度也大幅改善。工业棒材在960℃高温真空渗碳过程中表现出优异的晶粒稳定性,渗碳速率比传统齿轮钢显著提高。本工作全面展示了Te处理对齿轮钢性能的多方面影响,尤其为开发高温渗碳齿轮钢提供了有价值的参考。