Abstract
The spheroidization behavior of cementite in a SK85 high carbon steel was investigated in this study. Fine and coarse pearlite microstructures were obtained by appropriate heat treatments according to the TTT diagram of SK85 high carbon steel. Hot rolled plates of SK85 steel were austenitized at $800^{\circ}C$ for 2 hrs and then put directly into a salt bath at either $570^{\circ}C$ or $670^{\circ}C$ to obtain a fine pearlite (FP) structure and a coarse pearlite (CP) structure, respectively. Cold rolling was subsequently conducted on those specimens with reduction ratios from 0.2 to 0.4. Spheroidization heat treatments were conducted at the subcritical temperatures of 600 and $720^{\circ}C$ for 1 to 32 hrs to elucidate the effect of initial microstructures, heat treatment temperature, and cold reduction ratios on the cementite spheroidization rate. Spheroidization proceeded with fragmentation of cementite plates, spheroidization of the cementite platelets, and coarsening consecutively. Mechanical fragmentation of cementite by cold rolling expedited the rate of spheroidization. The spheroidization rate of FP was much more rapid than that of CP and the spheriodization rate increased with increases in the cold reduction ratio.
