Alloy design in the system Fe-C-B

In this study, the Fe-C-B system is used as a basis for alloy development of tool steels. Thereby, boron is used as hard phase forming element. The effect of chromium on the phase stability, microstructure and hard phase properties of Fe-C-B-Cr alloys is investigated. In this manner, thermodynamic equilibrium calculations are performed and experimentally validated. Laboratory alloys were casted and investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Nanoindentation was performed to investigate the effect of Cr on the micromechanical properties of the particular hard phases (elastic modulus and indentation hardness). It is shown, that Cr stabilizes the orthorhombic, Cr-rich M 2 B type boride with a hardness of 22.8 GPa. In addition Cr stabilizes the Cr-rich M 23 (C,B) 6 carboboride, which possess a lower hardness (14 GPa). In a next step, the findings are implemented in an alloy development and alloying additions of chromium, silicon and manganese are used to specifically stabilize the M 2 B type boride with high Cr content to adjust a high hardness of the M 2 B phase. Subsequently, a scratch test is performed to investigate the governing wear mechanisms in the developed alloy.