Microstructural and thermal characterization of 39NiCrMo3 steel

The microstructure and thermal properties of a 39NiCrMo3 low alloy steel ingot obtained by melting in an electric arc furnace (EAF) and refining by electro-slag remelting (ESR) were experimentally investigated using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal diffusivity measurements and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A phase diagram of the alloy steel investigated was calculated using Thermo-Calc software and a TCFE6 database. It was determined that the steel investigated displays a ferrite-very fine pearlite microstructure. The thermal conductivity of the investigated steel, measured in the temperature range from 25 to 400 °C, decreases from 44.3 to 38.3 W × (m × K)