Accelerating Cementite Precipitation during the Non-Isothermal Process by Applying Tensile Stress in GCr15 Bearing Steel

In this work, the non-isothermal process of GCr15 bearing steel after quenching and tempering (QT) under different tensile stress (0, 20, 40 MPa) was investigated by kinetic analysis and microstructural observation. The Kissinger method and differential isoconversional method were employed to assess the kinetic parameters of the microstructural evolution during the non-isothermal process with and without applied stress. It is found that the activation energy of retained austenite decomposition slightly increases from 109.4 kJ/mol to 121.5 kJ/mol with the increase of tensile stress. However, the activation energy of cementite precipitation decreases from 179.4 kJ/mol to 94.7 kJ/mol, proving that tensile stress could reduce the energy barrier of cementite precipitation. In addition, the microstructural observation based on scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) shows that more cementite has formed for the specimens with the applied tensile stress, whereas there is still a large number of epsilon carbides existing in the specimens without stress. The results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) also verify that carbon in martensite diffuses more and participates in the formation of cementite under the applied tensile stress, which thus are in good agreement with the kinetic analysis. The mechanisms for the differences in cementite precipitation behaviors may lie in the acceleration of carbon atoms migration and the reduction of the nucleation barrier by applying tensile stress.