Effect of quenching temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of Fe–B–Ti alloy

Abstract The effects of quenching temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties of a cast Fe – B – Ti alloy containing 2.0 wt.% of boron and 1.0 wt.% of titanium were investigated. No clear influence on microstructure has been observed unless the quenching temperature is above 900 °C. As the quenching temperature exceeds 950 °C, most of the boride networks are broken and a large quantity of irregular borides appears. When the quenching temperature reaches 1050 °C, the networks disappear completely. The mechanical properties of the cast Fe – B – Ti alloy begin to improve when the quenching temperature increases. The hardness, impact toughness and bend strength have no obvious change when the quenching temperature exceeds 1000 °C. The cast Fe – B – Ti alloy quenching at 1000 °C has excellent comprehensive mechanical properties, its hardness, bend strength and impact toughness are 58.3 HRC, 2.39 GPa, 17.5 J cm−2 respectively.