INVESTIGATINGTHEMICROSTRUCTURE-ULTRASONICPROPERTY.pdfVIP

INVESTIGATING THE MICROSTRUCTURE-ULTRASONIC PROPERTY RELATIONSHIPS IN STEELS 1 2 C.H.Gür , B.O.Tuncer 1 Middle East Technical Univ., Metallurgical Materials Eng. Dept., Ankara, Turkey; 2 Middle East Technical Univ., Welding Tech. NDT Center, Ankara, Turkey Abstract: Microstructural characterization by ultrasonic measurements and effect of microstructural phases on the ultrasonic properties were studied on AISI/SAE 1040 and 4140 steels. By rapid cooling and isothermal heat treatments, the specimens having martensite, tempered martensite, bainite, fine pearlite and coarse pearlite were obtained. Microstructures were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, and hardness tests. Sound velocity and attenuation measurements were performed using the pulse-echo technique. The relationships among sound velocity, sound attenuation, microstructure and hardness were investigated. Introduction: Controlling the mechanical properties of steel components is important because the they may change considerably even in the same batch, or after application of deformation/heat treatment processes not all parts have to be the same mechanical properties, or faulty heat treatment may change these properties drastically. In order to prove that the properties are the same as the design stage, mainly destructive testing techniques like tensile testing and metallographic inspection are carried out. These traditional methods are performed by cutting a representative sample from the material and performing tests on that sample. However, in some cases precise knowledge of the actual material properties used in the structure should be known, and quality control by sampling may not support the safety requirements. Therefore, determination of the mechanical properties of materials by nondestructive techniques becomes a challenging task. Papadakis reported a comprehensive set of data on the attenuation and velocity of both longitudina