Development of a new generation of steel with nanocrystalline structure with carbides

Acronym: NanoCarbain
No.: LIDER/12/0040/L-9/17/NCBR/2018
Program: Lider IX
Financing unit: NCBR
Project leader: MSc Krzysztof Wasiak
Function: leader
Timeframe: 2019-2021

Main goal of the project is development of new heat treatment of commercially available steel, which would lead to obtain microstructure of nanocrystalline bainite or martensite with retained austenite and carbides. That microstructure, thanks to unique morphology will provide high strength and wear resistance combined with high impact toughness and crack resistance. Steel with such properties are required in many industries, which means that the project has high application potential. Main tasks leading to achieving the goal are:

• Research and analysis phase transformations and kinetic of precipitations taking place in selected steel and development of parameters for innovative heat treatments leading to obtain nanocrystalline microstructure strengthen by carbides precipitation,
• carrying out heat treatments of steel,
• characterization of the microstructure,
• characterization of mechanical and functional properties of steel,
• production of prototype elements made of developed steels and testing them in real conditions.

As a result, innovative heat treatments leading to obtain tough and crack resistive nanocrystalline structure as a matrix for fine dispersion of hard carbides will be developed. This technology would allow to obtain advantageous combination of properties of cheap, commercially available steel, without any expensive alloying elements. Such combination isn’t possible to attain with any known technological solution.