Heat treatment method for producing boundary-layer hardened long products and flat products of unalloyed or low-alloy steel

摘要

In a heat treatment method for producing boundary layer-hardened long products and flat products of unalloyed or low-alloy steel, the workpiece is cooled for producing a martensitic grain within a boundary layer of the workpiece by repeating several sequential cooling process steps. Each sequential cooling process step has a cooling phase, in which the workpiece is cooled to a temperature below a martensite starting temperature for martensitic conversion of only a portion of the boundary layer of the workpiece, and a temporal stress-relief phase for relieving stress within already formed martensitic grain areas and already formed martensite/austenite boundary areas. Subsequently, the workpiece is cooled at a cooling rate below a lower critical cooling rate for cooling the workpiece core.