Effect of Mn on hardenability of 25CrMo axle steel by an improved end-quench test

With the sixth large-scale railway speed-up, the quality of the axles is essential to the safety of the locomotive. According to the high-speed axle technical standard for the control of alloy elements in axle steel, optimization experiments of 25CrMo steel composition were performed by vacuum inductive melting. In order to study the hardenability of high-speed rail axles, an improved end-quench test was put forward. The advantage is that it enables the heat to transfer along the axial direction, thus avoiding edge effects. The hardenability of 25CrMo axle steels with Mn content of 0.60wt.% and 0.80wt.% was investigated mainly by means of optical microscopy and hardness tests. The experimental results indicate that the Mn has a pronounced effect on the hardenability of the steel. With an increase in Mn content from 0.60wt.% and 0.80wt.%, the hardenability of 25CrMo axle steel increases and the hard microstructure is maintained at an increasing distance from the quenched end. From the surface of the water quenched end to the center of the sample, the microstructure is martensite, martensite with bainite, and bainite.