为明确液析碳化物的形成与工艺的关系和产生机制,以及受添加稀土元素的影响,对添加稀土元素和未添加稀土元素的GCr15系连铸高碳铬轴承钢进行了不同冷却速率下的重熔凝固实验。试样凝固完毕后,采用OM、EPMA、SEM和XRD等表征和分析了铸态轴承钢中的液析碳化物的数量、面积、平均尺寸和化学成分等与冷却速率的关系,以及添加稀土元素的影响效果。结果表明,GCr15系轴承钢液析碳化物的类型为M₃C型渗碳体,Cr含量较高,可达15% (质量分数)以上,并且随冷速增加,其数量明显增加。但是,当冷却速率较快时,初生奥氏体细化,同时因形成碳化物所需的C、Cr元素扩散时间减少,碳化物尺寸显著减小,且分布更加弥散均匀。通过对比分析添加稀土元素对凝固组织的影响,发现稀土元素有细化奥氏体进而细化液析碳化物的作用。根据不同冷速下液析碳化物的特点,提出了高碳铬轴承钢凝固过程一次碳化物形成的动力学机制。

Bearing is one of the most technologically important engineering components in machines. With the development of several advanced steel-refining technologies to suppress the detrimental effect of nonmetallic inclusions on the mechanical properties of materials, the impact of carbides on the service life of bearings has gradually highlighted. The carbides have become a key factor in determining the performance of a bearing, particularly for primary carbides formed during the solidification of high carbon-chromium bearing steel. Therefore, exploring the formation mechanism of primary carbides and their control strategies is vital to improve the manufacturing process of bearing steel as well as the service life and reliability of bearings. To clarify the formation mechanism of primary carbides and the effects of the processing technique, as well as the addition of rare earth elements, a modified type of GCr15 high carbon-chromium bearing steel with and without rare earth elements was remelted and solidified at different cooling rates. After solidification, the quantity, area, average size, and chemical composition of the primary carbide in the as-cast bearing steel were characterized and analyzed via OM, EPMA, SEM, and XRD. The results show that the type of carbide in GCr15 series bearing steel is M₃C cementite with high Cr content (more than 15%, mass fraction). The nucleation rate of M₃C cementite increased with the increase in the cooling rate; thus, the number of carbides increased considerably. However, at very high cooling rates, the primary austenite was refined and the diffusion time of C and Cr elements required to form carbides declined; therefore, the size of carbides was reduced significantly, resulting in more uniform dispersion of the carbides. Moreover, the addition of rare earth elements could refine the primary austenite, and subsequently, refine the carbide to some extent. Considering the properties of the primary carbides at different cooling rates, the kinetic formation mechanism for the primary carbide in high carbon-chromium bearing steel during solidification is proposed.