Spring steel and its spheroidizing annealing method

A rapid heating and isothermal spheroidizing annealing method for spring steel using a continuous furnace with controlled temperature and time, and nitrogen gas atmosphere, addresses the non-uniformity and hardness issues, achieving high spheroidization and hardness for cold forming suitability.

JP7850861B2Active Publication Date: 2026-04-23DAYE SPECIAL STEEL CO LTD
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
DAYE SPECIAL STEEL CO LTD
Filing Date
2023-07-17
Publication Date
2026-04-23

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Spring steel produced by rolling exhibits non-uniform structure, high hardness, and poor plasticity, which hinders subsequent cold forming processes, and existing spheroidizing annealing technologies fail to achieve the required spheroidization rate and hardness for high elastic limit springs.

Method used

A rapid heating and isothermal spheroidizing annealing method involving a continuous annealing furnace, with specific temperature and time controls, to achieve a high spheroidization rate and hardness suitable for cold forming, using a nitrogen gas atmosphere to prevent surface burning and stress.

Benefits of technology

The method achieves a spheroidization rate of ≥80%, hardness ≤190 HBW, and crystal grain size ≥Grade 6, with no surface burning and a controlled decarburized layer depth, meeting the requirements for high elastic limit springs.

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Abstract

A step of putting a spring steel in a hot-rolled state into a heat treatment furnace and rapidly heating it to a two-phase region temperature, a step of holding the spring steel at the two-phase region temperature, a step of rapidly cooling the spring steel to a first temperature, a step of isothermally spheroidizing the spring steel at the first temperature, and a step of slowly cooling the spring steel after the isothermal spheroidizing treatment together with the heat treatment furnace to a second temperature and then discharging it from the furnace and air-cooling it, and a spring steel and a spheroidizing annealing method thereof including these steps.
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Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of metal heat treatment, and specifically relates to spring steel and its spheroidizing annealing method.

Background Art

[0002] Spring steel is a raw material for manufacturing various parts such as coil springs, leaf springs, torsion springs, etc., and is widely applied in fields such as national defense, industry and agriculture, and daily life, including automobiles, instruments, aviation, spaceflight, electrical products, etc. All kinds of machinery cannot do without the use of spring steel.

[0003] Spring steel, for example, must have good performance and quality in order to meet the needs of spring manufacturing, such as high elastic limit, tensile strength, hardness, plasticity, etc., and be able to have a high fatigue limit and anti-elastic relaxation ability when operating under alternating loads.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Spring steel generally adopts rolling production, but the material after rolling has problems such as non-uniform structure, large residual stress, high hardness, and poor plasticity, which is disadvantageous for subsequent processing such as cold forming. Cold forming technology is used to manufacture springs with high elastic limits, and there are strict requirements for the original structure of spring steel, the spheroidization rate of carbides, and hardness. If the existing general spheroidizing annealing technology is adopted, the spheroidization rate is low and the requirements of cold forming cannot be met.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] In view of the above problems, the object of the present application is to provide spring steel and its spheroidizing annealing method.

[0006] The spheroidizing annealing method of spring steel provided by the present application is characterized by a fast heating rate and a short spheroidizing time. After spheroidizing annealing, the spring steel has a good spheroidizing effect and a high spheroidization rate.

[0007] To achieve the above objective, this application adopts the following technical solution. The first aspect of this application is, A rapid heating step in which hot-rolled spring steel is placed in a heat treatment furnace and rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature, A two-phase region heating step in which the spring steel is heated at the two-phase region temperature, A first cooling step in which the spring steel is rapidly cooled to a first temperature, Isothermal spheroidization is the process of making the spring steel isothermal spheroidal at the first temperature, The present invention provides a method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel, comprising the steps of: slowly cooling the spring steel after the isothermal spheroidizing treatment to a second temperature together with the heat treatment furnace, and then removing it from the furnace and air-cooling it; and a second cooling step.

[0008] In the heating stage, a rapid heating method is employed to heat the spring steel to the two-phase region. When the temperature reaches the two-phase region (between Ac1 and Ac3 temperatures), the ferrite in the pearlescent material austenitizes first, and the carbon elements in the grooves, having a high energy density, readily dissolve into the austenite substrate. During the heat retention process in the two-phase region, the sheet-like carbides gradually break down and dissolve, leaving behind dispersed undissolved particulate carbides. At this point, the material is rapidly cooled to below the Ar1 temperature, and the dissolved carbides undergo non-spontaneous nucleation with the undissolved granular carbides as the core, forming a spherical carbide structure.

[0009] In some embodiments, the spring steel contains, by mass%, C: 0.56-0.64%, Si: 0.17-0.37%, Mn: 0.7-1.0%, P: ≤0.025%, S: ≤0.02%, Cr: 0.7-1.0%, Ni: ≤0.35%, Cu ≤0.25%, with the remainder being substrate Fe and unavoidable impurities.

[0010] In some embodiments, the heating rate of the rapid heating is 120-160°C / h. Rapid heating is employed to increase heating efficiency while simultaneously reducing surface burnout and the depth of the decarbonized layer.

[0011] In some embodiments, the two-phase region temperature is 740 to 760°C, and the holding time for the two-phase region temperature is 96 to 160 minutes.

[0012] Spring steel is similar to eutectoid steel, with a narrow two-phase region. By controlling the temperature to 740-760°C and the holding time to 96-160 min, a good spheroidization effect can be obtained. If the temperature or holding time is lower than this, the amount of sheet-like carbides dissolved is too small, and some carbides remain in sheet form, reducing the spheroidization rate. If the temperature or holding time exceeds this, the amount of carbides dissolved is too large, reducing the nucleation sites and decreasing the spheroidization rate.

[0013] In some embodiments, the heat treatment furnace is a continuous annealing furnace, which consists of five parts: a heating zone, a heat retention zone, a rapid cooling zone, an isothermal zone, and a slow cooling zone, and the heating zone, the heat retention zone, the rapid cooling zone, the isothermal zone, and the slow cooling zone sequentially perform the rapid heating step, the two-phase region heat retention step, the first cooling step, the isothermal spheroidizing step, and the second cooling step on the spring steel.

[0014] In some embodiments, the cooling rate in the first cooling stage is 20-30°C / h.

[0015] The first cooling stage is performed at this rate, which allows for the retention of undissolved granular carbides and promotes spheroidization. If the cooling rate is too fast, the degree of supercooling increases, which is detrimental to spheroidization. If the cooling rate is too slow, the undissolved granular carbides dissolve further, which is also detrimental to spheroidization.

[0016] The first cooling stage is performed in the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the cooling method involves turning on a fan.

[0017] In some embodiments, the first temperature is 700 to 720°C, and the isothermal duration for isothermal spheroidization is 216 to 360 minutes.

[0018] When the first temperature of isothermal spheroidization is controlled within this range, the spheroidization effect is the best. If the temperature is too high or too low, the spheroidization rate of spring steel will decrease. At the same time, it is necessary to reasonably control the isothermal time of isothermal spheroidization so that the spheroidization effect is not poor due to too short spheroidization time and the accumulation of carbides does not become large due to too long spheroidization time.

[0019] In some embodiments, the second temperature is 525 - 595 °C.

[0020] If the second temperature is too high, when air cooling after furnace discharging, the internal and external temperature difference of spring steel is large, the stress is large, and deformation cracking is likely to occur. If the second temperature is too low, the production effect is too low, which affects the roll speed and problems occur in continuous production.

[0021] In some embodiments, the slow cooling is cooling together with the furnace in the slow cooling zone.

[0022] In some embodiments, the heat treatment furnace adopts nitrogen gas atmosphere protection, the height of the material arrangement entering the furnace is 120 mm - 180 mm, and the roller speed is 1.5 - 2.5 m / h.

[0023] Compared with the hydrogen gas atmosphere, the present application adopts nitrogen gas atmosphere protection to improve the production safety.

[0024] The present application adopts rapid heating and isothermal spheroidization annealing by a continuous annealing furnace. The total heating time is about 15 h. For continuous production, the annealing time is greatly shortened and the annealing efficiency is improved. After protection by introducing nitrogen gas, there is no obvious burning loss on the surface, there is no total decarburized layer on the material, and the depth of the total decarburized layer can be controlled within 0.3 mm, reducing the depth of the decarburized layer that requires polishing. At the same time, the present application controls the cooling process after isothermal spheroidization so that no large cooling stress occurs and improves the cold working performance.

[0025] The second aspect of the present application provides spring steel manufactured by the above-mentioned spheroidization annealing method of spring steel.

[0026] In some embodiments, the spheroidization rate of the spring steel produced by the above-mentioned spheroidizing annealing method of spring steel is ≥80%, the hardness is ≤190 HBW, the crystal grain size is ≥Grade 6, there is no obvious burning loss on the surface, there is no total decarburized layer in the material, and the depth of the total decarburized layer can be controlled within 0.3 mm.

[0027] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present application are as follows.

[0028] 1) The present application performs spheroidizing annealing of spring steel using a continuous annealing furnace, and rapidly heats the spring steel to the Ac1 - Ac3 temperature to obtain non-uniform austenite and a large amount of undissolved granular carbides. Then, it is rapidly cooled below the Ar1 temperature, and the carbides non-spontaneously nucleate with undissolved particles and hetero-eutectoid to form spheroidized carbides. This technology is characterized by a fast heating rate and a short spheroidization time.

[0029] 2) By controlling the holding temperature in the two-phase region, the holding time, and the isothermal temperature and isothermal time of the spheroidizing annealing, the spheroidization rate of the obtained spring steel is ≥80%, the hardness is ≤190 HBW, the crystal grain size is ≥Grade 6, there is no obvious burning loss on the surface, there is no complete decarburized layer in the material, the depth of the total decarburized layer can be controlled within 0.3 mm, and the depth of the decarburized layer that requires grinding is reduced. The spring steel produced by the present application meets the raw material requirements of high elastic limit spring steel for cold forming.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0030] [Figure 1] It is a diagram of the spheroidized microstructure of the spring steel produced in one embodiment of the present application. [Figure 2] It is a diagram of the spherical microstructure of the spring steel produced in Comparative Example 1 of the present application.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0031] The following examples further illustrate the content of this application, and the scope of protection of this application includes, but is not limited to, the following examples. Unless specific conditions are stated in the examples, the procedures shall be carried out under normal conditions or conditions suggested by the manufacturer. Unless the manufacturer is specified for the chemicals or equipment used, they are all commonly available commercial products.

[0032] The spring steel of this embodiment is a hot-rolled bar before spheroidizing annealing, with a diameter range of Φ20 to Φ80 mm. The spring steel structure in the hot-rolled state mainly consists of sheet-like pearlite and ferrite.

[0033] The present invention will be described in detail below through specific examples. The hot-rolled spring steel bar material used in the examples was number 60CrMn, and the standard GB / T1222-2016 was followed. The mass percentages of each element are as shown in Table 1. Example 1

[0034] Table 1 shows the composition of the 60CrMn steel bar material used in this example. Table 1: Mass percentage of each element in 60CrMn (the remainder is Fe and unavoidable impurities)

[0035] [Table 1]

[0036] Hot-rolled 60CrMn steel bars were placed in a continuous annealing furnace, and heating, heat retention, rapid cooling, isothermal cooling, slow cooling, and removal were performed sequentially to obtain spheroidized annealed bars. Specifically, (1) After hot rolling, the spring steel bar material is placed on the transmission rollers of the continuous annealing furnace, and the material is positioned at a height of 150 mm. Once the material positioning is complete, it is transmitted at a set roller speed of 2 m / h and enters the continuous annealing furnace for spheroidizing annealing. (2) Rapid heating in which the rod material is rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature of 750°C at a heating rate of 150°C / h, and the spring steel is kept at this temperature for 120 mins, (3) The spring steel, which has finished heating in the two-phase region, is sent to the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the fan is turned on to rapidly cool the bar material from 750°C to 710°C at a cooling rate of 25°C / h, (4) Spring steel is subjected to isothermal spheroidizing annealing at 710°C for an isothermal time of 300 min, (5) Slow cooling in a furnace, in which the spring steel that has completed isothermal spheroidization is slowly cooled to 560°C in the furnace, (6) The process includes the step of removing the spring steel bar material that has been slowly cooled from the furnace.

[0037] Based on the designed continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process, 9 batches of 60CrMn were produced, with specifications of Φ20~Φ80mm and length of 4~7m. Spheroidization rate was measured according to SEP-1520 1998-09, hardness was measured according to GBT231.1-2018, and grain size was measured according to ISO 643.

[0038] Table 2 shows the performance of 60CrMn produced by the continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to this embodiment. As can be seen from Table 2, the 60CrMn spring steel carbide spheroidization rate is 85% to 92%, the hardness is 172 HBW to 181 HBW, the grain size is grade 7 to 8, there is no obvious annealing on the surface, there is no total decarbonization layer in the material, and the depth of the total decarbonization layer can be controlled to within 0.3 mm, thus meeting the requirements. Table 2 Performance of 60CrMn produced by a continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to Example 1

[0039] [Table 2]

[0040] Figure 1 shows the spheroidized microstructure of 60CrMn spring steel manufactured using the spheroidizing annealing process of this application, demonstrating a good spheroidizing effect. Example 2

[0041] The composition of the 60CrMn steel bar in this embodiment is the same as that of the 60CrMn steel bar in Example 1. The spheroidizing annealing method for spring steel provided in this embodiment is basically the same as the spheroidizing annealing method for spring steel in Example 1, except that the heating rate for rapid heating in step (2) is 120°C / h. Specifically, (1) After hot rolling, the spring steel bar material is placed on the transmission rollers of the continuous annealing furnace, and the material is positioned at a height of 150 mm. Once the material positioning is complete, it is transmitted at a set roller speed of 2 m / h and enters the continuous annealing furnace for spheroidizing annealing. (2) Rapid heating in which the rod material is rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature of 750°C at a heating rate of 120°C / h, and the spring steel is kept at this temperature for 120 mins, (3) The spring steel, which has finished heating in the two-phase region, is sent to the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the fan is turned on to rapidly cool the bar material from 750°C to 710°C at a cooling rate of 25°C / h, (4) Spring steel is subjected to isothermal spheroidizing annealing at 710°C for an isothermal time of 300 min, (5) Slow cooling in a furnace, in which the spring steel that has completed isothermal spheroidization is slowly cooled to 560°C in the furnace, (6) The process includes the step of removing the spring steel bar material that has been slowly cooled from the furnace.

[0042] 60CrMn was produced using a continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to this embodiment, with a specification of Φ20mm. The performance of the 60CrMn produced in this embodiment was measured, and the results are shown in Table 3. Example 3

[0043] The composition of the 60CrMn steel bar in this embodiment is the same as that of the 60CrMn steel bar in Example 1. The spheroidizing annealing method for spring steel provided in this embodiment is basically the same as the spheroidizing annealing method for spring steel in Example 1, except that the isothermal time in step (4) is 216 min. Specifically, (1) After hot rolling, the spring steel bar material is placed on the transmission rollers of the continuous annealing furnace, and the material is positioned at a height of 150 mm. Once the material positioning is complete, it is transmitted at a set roller speed of 2 m / h and enters the continuous annealing furnace for spheroidizing annealing. (2) Rapid heating in which the rod material is rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature of 750°C at a heating rate of 150°C / h, and the spring steel is kept at this temperature for 120 mins, (3) The spring steel, which has finished heating in the two-phase region, is sent to the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the fan is turned on to rapidly cool the bar material from 750°C to 710°C at a cooling rate of 25°C / h, (4) The spring steel was isothermal spheroidizing annealed at 710°C for an isothermal time of 216 min, (5) Slow cooling in a furnace, in which the spring steel that has completed isothermal spheroidization is slowly cooled to 560°C in the furnace, (6) The process includes the step of removing the spring steel bar material that has been slowly cooled from the furnace.

[0044] 60CrMn was produced using a continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to this embodiment, with a specification of Φ60mm. The performance of the 60CrMn produced in this embodiment was measured, and the results are shown in Table 3. Table 3 Performance of 60CrMn produced by a continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to Examples 2-3

[0045] [Table 3]

[0046] Comparative Example 1 The composition, pre-annealing condition, and dimensional specifications of the 60CrMn steel bar were the same as in Example 1, and a standard annealing process was employed. A typical annealing process is, specifically, (1) After hot rolling, the spring steel bar material is placed on the transmission rollers of the continuous annealing furnace, and the material is positioned at a height of 150 mm. Once the material positioning is complete, it is transmitted at a set roller speed of 2 m / h and enters the continuous annealing furnace for spheroidizing annealing. (2) Rapid heating, in which the rod material is rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature of 750°C at a heating rate of 150°C / h, (3) After reaching the temperature, the spring steel is kept warm at this temperature for 650 minutes. (4) Slow cooling in a furnace to 560°C in which the spring steel that has been isothermal spheroidized is slowly cooled in the furnace, (5) The steps and process parameters of the furnace used to remove the spring steel bar material after slow cooling.

[0047] Using a conventional annealing process, the spheroidization rate was only about 50%, and as shown in Figure 2, some carbides exhibited a layered or short rod-like distribution, resulting in a hardness of 210-230 HBW, which could not meet the required specifications.

[0048] Comparative Example 2 The composition of the 60CrMn steel bar in this comparative example is as shown in Table 1, and the spheroidizing annealing method for the spring steel is basically the same as in Example 1, except that the rapid heating rate in step (2) is 60°C / h. Specifically, (1) After hot rolling, the spring steel bar material is placed on the transmission rollers of the continuous annealing furnace, and the material is positioned at a height of 150 mm. Once the material positioning is complete, it is transmitted at a set roller speed of 2 m / h and enters the continuous annealing furnace for spheroidizing annealing. (2) Rapid heating by rapidly heating the rod material to a two-phase region temperature of 750°C at a heating rate of 60°C / h, and holding the spring steel at this temperature for 120 mins, (3) The spring steel, which has finished heating in the two-phase region, is sent to the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the fan is turned on to rapidly cool the bar material from 750°C to 710°C at a cooling rate of 25°C / h, (4) Spring steel is subjected to isothermal spheroidizing annealing at 710°C for an isothermal time of 300 min, (5) Slow cooling in a furnace, in which the spring steel that has completed isothermal spheroidization is slowly cooled to 560°C in the furnace, (6) The process includes the step of removing the spring steel bar material that has been slowly cooled from the furnace.

[0049] 60CrMn was produced using a continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to this comparative example, with a specified diameter of Φ30mm. The performance of the 60CrMn produced in this comparative example was measured, and the results are shown in Table 4. As is clear from Table 4, the depth of the decarbonized layer was 0.38mm, which is significantly larger than the Φ30mm 60CrMn in Example 1, and therefore could not meet the requirements for use.

[0050] Comparative Example 3 The composition of the 60CrMn steel bar in this comparative example is shown in Table 1. The spheroidizing annealing method for the spring steel is basically the same as in Example 1, except that rapid cooling to 680°C is performed in step (3). Specifically, (1) After hot rolling, the spring steel bar material is placed on the transmission rollers of the continuous annealing furnace, and the material is positioned at a height of 150 mm. Once the material positioning is complete, it is transmitted at a set roller speed of 2 m / h and enters the continuous annealing furnace for spheroidizing annealing. (2) Rapid heating in which the rod material is rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature of 750°C at a heating rate of 150°C / h, and the spring steel is kept at this temperature for 120 mins, (3) The spring steel, which has finished heating in the two-phase region, is sent to the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the fan is turned on to rapidly cool the bar material from 750°C to 680°C at a cooling rate of 25°C / h, (4) Spring steel is subjected to isothermal spheroidizing annealing at 710°C for an isothermal time of 300 min, (5) Slow cooling in a furnace, in which the spring steel that has completed isothermal spheroidization is slowly cooled to 560°C in the furnace, (6) The process includes the step of removing the spring steel bar material that has been slowly cooled from the furnace.

[0051] 60CrMn was produced using a continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to this comparative example, with a specification of Φ30mm. The performance of the 60CrMn produced in this comparative example was measured, and the results are shown in Table 4. As is clear from Table 4, the spheroidization rates were 68% and 62%, which are significantly lower than the Φ30mm 60CrMn in Example 1, and the hardness was 195 and 197HBW, which are significantly higher than the Φ30mm 60CrMn in Example 1, and thus the requirements for use could not be met.

[0052] Comparative Example 4 The composition of the 60CrMn steel bar material in this comparative example is as shown in Table 1, and the spheroidizing annealing method for the spring steel is basically the same as in Example 1, except that the cooling rate in step (3) is 110°C / h. Specifically, (1) After hot rolling, the spring steel bar material is placed on the transmission rollers of the continuous annealing furnace, and the material is positioned at a height of 150 mm. Once the material positioning is complete, it is transmitted at a set roller speed of 2 m / h and enters the continuous annealing furnace for spheroidizing annealing. (2) Rapid heating in which the rod material is rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature of 750°C at a heating rate of 150°C / h, and the spring steel is kept at this temperature for 120 mins, (3) The spring steel, which has finished heating in the two-phase region, is sent to the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the fan is turned on to rapidly cool the bar material from 750°C to 710°C at a cooling rate of 110°C / h, (4) Spring steel is subjected to isothermal spheroidizing annealing at 710°C for an isothermal time of 300 min, (5) Slow cooling in a furnace, in which the spring steel that has completed isothermal spheroidization is slowly cooled to 560°C in the furnace, (6) The process includes the step of removing the spring steel bar material that has been slowly cooled from the furnace.

[0053] 60CrMn was produced using a continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to this comparative example, with a specification of Φ30mm. The performance of the 60CrMn produced in this comparative example was measured, and the results are shown in Table 4. As is clear from Table 4, the spheroidization rates were 74% and 72%, which are significantly lower than the Φ30mm 60CrMn in Example 1, and the hardness was 192 and 194HBW, which are significantly higher than the Φ30mm 60CrMn in Example 1, and thus could not meet the requirements for use. Table 4 Performance of 60CrMn produced by continuous furnace spheroidizing annealing process designed according to Comparative Examples 2-4

[0054] [Table 4]

[0055] The foregoing are merely preferred embodiments of the present invention and do not limit it. All modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made in the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel, The process involves a rapid heating stage in which hot-rolled spring steel is placed in a heat treatment furnace and rapidly heated to a two-phase region temperature, A two-phase region heating step in which the spring steel is heated at the two-phase region temperature, A first cooling step in which the spring steel is rapidly cooled to a first temperature, Isothermal spheroidization is the process of making the spring steel isothermal spheroidal at the first temperature, The process includes the steps of: slowly cooling the spring steel after the isothermal spheroidizing treatment to a second temperature together with the heat treatment furnace, and then removing it from the furnace and air-cooling it; The spring steel is composed of, by mass%, C: 0.56-0.64%, Si: 0.17-0.37%, Mn: 0.7-1.0%, P: ≤0.025%, S: ≤0.02%, Cr: 0.7-1.0%, Ni: ≤0.35%, Cu: ≤0.25%, with the remainder being the substrate Fe and unavoidable impurities. The heating rate for the rapid heating described above is 120 to 160°C / h. The temperature in the two-phase region is 740 to 760°C, and the duration of maintaining the temperature in the two-phase region is 96 min to 160 min. The cooling rate in the first cooling stage is 20 to 30°C / h. The first temperature is 700 to 720°C, and the isothermal time for isothermal spheroidization is 216 min to 360 min. A method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel, characterized in that the second temperature is 525 to 595°C.

2. The heat treatment furnace is a continuous annealing furnace, and the continuous annealing furnace consists of five parts: a heating zone, a heat retention zone, a rapid cooling zone, an isothermal zone, and a slow cooling zone. The method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel according to claim 1, characterized in that the first cooling step is performed in the rapid cooling zone of the continuous annealing furnace, and the cooling method is performed by turning on a fan.

3. The method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel according to claim 1, characterized in that the slow cooling is performed by cooling together with the furnace in the slow cooling zone.

4. The method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel according to claim 1, characterized in that the heat treatment furnace is protected by a nitrogen gas atmosphere, the height of the material placed in the furnace is 120 mm to 180 mm, and the roller speed is 1.5 to 2.5 m / h.

5. The method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel according to claim 2, characterized in that the heat treatment furnace is protected by a nitrogen gas atmosphere, the height of the material placed in the furnace is 120 mm to 180 mm, and the roller speed is 1.5 to 2.5 m / h.

6. The method for spheroidizing and annealing spring steel according to claim 3, characterized in that the heat treatment furnace is protected by a nitrogen gas atmosphere, the height of the material placed in the furnace is 120 mm to 180 mm, and the roller speed is 1.5 to 2.5 m / h.

Citation Information

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