A Study of the Pack Carburizing Quenching Treatment with Cane Molasses Cooling Medium Effect on the Wear Resistance of Low Carbon Steel

In the present study, various quenching media were added as cooling media for the quenching after pack carburizing treatment. The aim of this research is to get a suitable cooling medium for pack carburizing quenching treatment to increase the wear resistance of low carbon steel. Many cylindrical specimens for the adhesion wear tests were prepared from the used SS400 steel according to ASTM G99-04 specifications. Two heat treatment processes, namely pack carburizing and quenching were done. Firstly, the specimens are pack-carburized at a temperature of 875 °C, soaking time of 2 hours and quenched. The carburizing agent consists of Pinctada maxima shell powder (PMSP) and corn cob charcoal with a weight ratio of 30:70 %. Different cooling media (water, 10 % NaCl solution, 10 % cane molasses) in the pack carburizing quenching treatment are subjected to different kinds of tests. The hardness test was performed using Vickers micro hardness tester, the wear resistance was used in adhesive wear test, the carbon content was determined and microstructure examination was made using a scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDX). The result showed that all cooling media contributed to an increase in mechanical properties (surface hardness number, wear resistance), carbon content and microstructure change. The use of cooling media in the pack carburizing quenching process generally increases the surface hardness number of the specimen. The highest surface hardness number was 595 kg/mm2, respectively using 10 % cane molasses. The work shows that cane molasses can be used as a cooling medium for pack carburizing quenching of SS400 steel and contributed to the improvement of wear resistance