Effect of Ultrasonic-Assisted Casting on Hot Deformation Mechanism and Microstructure of 35CrMo Steel Ingot

Hot compression tests were performed with strain rates (0.01–10 s−1) and temperatures (850–1150 °C). The power law relationship between the critical stress and critical strain and Zener–Hollomon parameters was determined by θ-σ curves. Microstructure was investigated by electron backscattered diffraction. The results showed that the flow behavior and microstructure of 35CrMo steel was affected by ultrasonic-assisted casting. The activation energy of non-ultrasonic and ultrasonic-assisted 35CrMo steel were 410 ± 9.9 and 386 ± 9.4 kJ/mol, respectively, and the activation energy of ultrasonic-assisted specimens was reduced by 6%. In addition, the ultrasonic-assisted treatment refines the grains to some extent and makes the softening process of ultrasonic-assisted samples progress faster, which promoted the development of dynamic recrystallization and the production of Σ3 boundaries. The discontinuous dynamic recrystallization was the main DRX nucleation mechanism of the 35CrMo steel.

The Influence of Magnetic Field on Fatigue and Mechanical Properties of a 35CrMo Steel

The influence of a magnetic field of 1.2–1.3 T on the variation of the fatigue behaviors and the mechanical properties of a 35CrMo steel after fatigue tests are investigated in this paper, in order to provide a basic guidance on the application in the similar environment of electrical machinery or vehicles. The microstructures of samples tested with and without magnetic fields are observed and analyzed by XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques. The fatigue life cycles are slightly increased by about 10–15% under magnetic field of 1.2–1.3 T according to the experimental results. A small increment of yield strength under fatigue life cycles of 10,000, 50,000, and 100,000 times is caused by the magnetic field, although the enhancement is only of 5–8 MPa. The dislocation density of the specimen is increased and the uniformity of dislocations is improved by magnetic fields applied during fatigue tests under the same load and cycles. The formation of micro-defects or micro-cracks will be postponed by the improvement in homogeneity of the material, leading to the increase of mechanical properties. The strengthening mechanisms such as deformation hardening and dislocation hardening effects are enhanced by the dislocation entangled structures and the higher density caused by magnetic field.