Grain Size of Commercial High Speed Steel

Abstract

The heat treatment of high speed steel tools consists of austenitizing, quenching and tempering. The size of austenite grains formed during the hardening treatment is an important factor in the final microstructure of the steel, and it also affects properties such as wear resistance and toughness. This paper presents the austenite grain size, matrix composition and hardness of commercial AISI M2, AISI T15, VWM3C and Sinter 23 high speed steels that were austenitized and quenched from five distinct temperatures. This study shows that increase in quenching temperature results in grain growth of steels such as AISI M2 and VWM3C, obtained by the conventional method (cast to ingot and worked). The P/M Sinter 23 high speed steel showed a slight grain growth (about 10%). This effect was not observed in AISI T15 obtained by the powder metallurgy process.