Influence of thermal cycle on the spring steel performance

• Grant number: 15/07358-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2015
• End date: August 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Transformation Metallurgy
• Principal Investigator: Lauralice de Campos Franceschini Canale
• Grantee: Vinícius Richieri Manso Gonçalves
• Supervisor: Vojteh Leskovšek
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Institute of Metals and Technology (IMT), Slovenia
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/16714-2 - Influence of the thermal cycle on the spring steel performance, BP.IC

Abstract

The spring steels are the materials most commonly used in car suspensions and are subject to heavy efforts in terms of load, impact and also under intense fatigue solicitation. Required mechanical performance depends mainly on the chemical composition and heat treatments. After a year of research funded by FAPESP, important results have been achieved showing the influence of cryogenic treatment on the mechanical properties of spring steels. As an extension of the project, new fatigue and impact tests will be performed to investigate the variations in the mechanical behavior provided by cryogenic treatment in combination with the shot peening process. In addition, a comparative study will be performed among different treatments and their influence on the surface residual stress. In this scenario, there is an opportunity to develop a research project in the IMT (Institute of Metals and Technology) in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on spring steel, where an alternative technique to measure the fracture toughness has been applied in an innovative way. Thus, this project aims to complement the studies on the influence of thermal cycle on the performance of SAE 5160 and SUPERCLEAN steels regarding fracture toughness through this measurement technique, which after this training will be applied in other research projects developed by group in Brazil. (AU)