Characterization of Cast and Forged (C&F) Gr. 91 Steel in Different Heat Treatment Condition

Abstract

The present research work deals with the results of influence of different heat treatment conditions on the microstructure stability and mechanical properties of high-chromium X10CrMoVNNB9-1(P91) cast and forged (C&F) P91 steel. The C&F P91 steel was subjected to various tempering condition in the temperature range of 350�760 �C and tempering time of 2 h, after the normalizing at 1040 �C for 40 min. The steel was also subjected to furnace cooled and water quenched heat treatment. Tempering at 650 and 760 �C produced the fully tempered lath martensitic structure with M23C6, M7C3, M3C and MX precipitates along the prior austenite grain boundaries, lath boundaries and matrix region. Tempering at 350 and 1000 �C produced the partially tempered columnar laths and untempered columnar laths martensite, respectively. The tempering time was also varied from 2 to 8 h for fixed tempering temperature of 760 �C. The optimum microstructure evolution was obtained for 6 h of tempering at 760 �C that led to improved mechanical properties. � 2017 The Indian Institute of Metals - IIM