Steel Alloys with Lower Bainite Microstructures for Use in Railroad Cars and Track R-8009/RR-819 6
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Steel Alloys with Lower Bainite U.S. Department of Transportation Microstructures for Use in Railroad Federal Railroad Cars and Track Administration Office of Research and Development Washington, DC 20590 DOT/FRA/ORD-01/15 Final Report This document is available to the public through the National January 2002 Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. This document is also available on the FRA web site at www.fra.dot.gov Notice This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. Notice The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the objective of this report. Form Approved REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503. 1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank) 2. REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED January 2002 Final Report 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS Steel Alloys with Lower Bainite Microstructures for Use in Railroad Cars and Track R-8009/RR-819 6. AUTHOR(S) Roger K. Steele * 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION U.S. Department of Transportation REPORT NUMBER Research and Special Programs Administration DOT-VNTSC-FRA-98-11 John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center Cambridge, MA 02142-1093 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORING/MONITORING U.S. Department of Transportation AGENCY REPORT NUMBER Federal Railroad Administration Office of Research and Development 1120 Vermont Avenue, NW DOT/FRA/ORD-01/15 Mail Stop 20 Washington, D.C. 20590 11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES *Metallurgical Consulting Services, Inc. 487 Bolton Road Vernon, CT 06066 12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. This document is also available on the FRA web site at www.fra.dot.gov. 13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words) In-line hardening of railroad rails to produce a very fine pearlite microstructure has become a commercial reality. A question that this report seeks to answer is whether or not it is possible to find an alloy composition that will permit the development of lower bainite microstructures by in-line hardening in rails, wheels, and tank car plate. The application of the in-line hardening process becomes more difficult in the production of lower bainite microstructures because of the need to quench in a controlled fashion to lower “isothermal” transformation temperatures. Use of the computer program SteCalTM has suggested that the addition of molybdenum with boron will achieve the needed development of a bainite nose accompanied by suppression of the pearlite transformation. This approach appears to be applicable to rails and tank car plates. It is not clear, however, that wheels, which can undergo rapid heating and quenching during extreme service braking, would benefit from the same approach. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES Alloy, bainite, bainite nose, hardenability, in-line hardening, isothermal, martensite, 96 microstructures, pearlite, quench and transformation temperature 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT OF REPORT OF THIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT Unlimited Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. 239-18 298-102 METRIC/ENGLISH CONVERSION FACTORS ENGLISH TO METRIC METRIC TO ENGLISH LENGTH (APPROXIMATE) LENGTH (APPROXIMATE) 1 inch (in) = 2.5 centimeters (cm) 1 millimeter (mm) = 0.04 inch (in) 1 foot (ft) = 30 centimeters (cm) 1 centimeter (cm) = 0.4 inch (in) 1 yard (yd) = 0.9 meter (m) 1 meter (m) = 3.3 feet (ft) 1 mile (mi) = 1.6 kilometers (km) 1 meter (m) = 1.1 yards (yd) 1 kilometer (km) = 0.6 mile (mi) AREA (APPROXIMATE) AREA (APPROXIMATE) 1 square inch (sq in, in2) = 6.5 square centimeters 1 square centimeter (cm2) = 0.16 square inch (sq in, in2) (cm2) 1 square foot (sq ft, ft2) = 0.09 square meter (m2) 1 square meter (m2) = 1.2 square yards (sq yd, yd2) 1 square yard (sq yd, yd2) = 0.8 square meter (m2) 1 square kilometer (km2) = 0.4 square mile (sq mi, mi2) 1 square mile (sq mi, mi2) = 2.6 square kilometers 10,000 square meters (m2) = 1 hectare (ha) = 2.5 acres (km2) 1 acre = 0.4 hectare (he) = 4,000 square meters (m2) MASS - WEIGHT (APPROXIMATE) MASS - WEIGHT (APPROXIMATE) 1 ounce (oz) = 28 grams (gm) 1 gram (gm) = 0.036 ounce (oz) 1 pound (lb) = 0.45 kilogram (kg) 1 kilogram (kg) = 2.2 pounds (lb) 1 short ton = 2,000 pounds = 0.9 tonne (t) 1 tonne (t) = 1,000 kilograms (kg) (lb) = 1.1 short tons VOLUME (APPROXIMATE) VOLUME (APPROXIMATE) 1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 milliliters (ml) 1 milliliter (ml) = 0.03 fluid ounce (fl oz) 1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 15 milliliters (ml) 1 liter (l) = 2.1 pints (pt) 1 fluid ounce (fl oz) = 30 milliliters (ml) 1 liter (l) = 1.06 quarts (qt) 1 cup (c) = 0.24 liter (l) 1 liter (l) = 0.26 gallon (gal) 1 pint (pt) = 0.47 liter (l) 1 quart (qt) = 0.96 liter (l) 1 gallon (gal) = 3.8 liters (l) 1 cubic foot (cu ft, ft3) = 0.03 cubic meter (m3) 1 cubic meter (m3) = 36 cubic feet (cu ft, ft3) 1 cubic yard (cu yd, yd3) = 0.76 cubic meter (m3) 1 cubic meter (m3) = 1.3 cubic yards (cu yd, yd3) TEMPERATURE (EXACT) TEMPERATURE (EXACT) [(x-32)(5/9)] °F = y °C [(9/5) y + 32] °C = x °F QUICK INCH - CENTIMETER LENGTH CONVERSION 0 1 2345 Inches Centimeters 0126 3 4 5 7138 9 10 1112 QUICK FAHRENHEIT - CELSIUS TEMPERATURE CONVERSION °F -40° -22° -4° 14° 32° 50° 68° 86° 104° 122° 140° 158° 176° 194° 212° °C -40° -30° -20° -10° 0° 10° 20° 30° 40° 50° 60° 70° 80° 90° 100° For more exact and or other conversion factors, see NIST Miscellaneous Publication 286, Units of Weights and Measures. Price $2.50 SD Catalog No. C13 10286 Updated 6/17/98 PREFACE This report was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT), and the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of Research and Development. Metallurgical Consulting Services, Inc., of Vernon, Connecticut, prepared this study for the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center (Volpe Center), which administered the project for the FRA. This study focuses on the question of whether or not it is possible to find an alloy composition that will permit the development of lower bainite microstructures by in-line hardening in rails, wheels, and tank car plate. The computer model SteCalTM is used to show, semiquantitatively, the effect of alloy element variations upon key transformation parameters and on the time- temperature and continuous-cooling transformation diagrams. The study has suggested that the addition of molybdenum with boron will encourage the development of a bainite nose accompanied by suppression of the pearlite transformation. This approach appears to be applicable to rails and tank car plates. It is not clear, however, that wheels, which can undergo rapid heating and quenching during extreme service braking, would benefit from the same approach. iii iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page PREFACE...................................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... ix TRANSLATIONS ...........................................................................................................................x EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ......................................................................................................... xiii 1. INTRODUCTION ...............................................................................................................1 2. BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................3 2.1 The In-line Hardening Process ................................................................................3 2.2 The Value of Bainitic Microstructures ....................................................................4 2.3 The Character of Bainite and Its Transformation ..................................................17 2.4 Hardenability.........................................................................................................29 3. COMPUTATIONAL EXERCISE.....................................................................................35 4. APPLICATIONS ...............................................................................................................65 4.1