Heat Treatment Process for Ceramic-Reinforced Steel-Matrix Composite Material

The invention belongs to the technical field of composite materials, and particularly discloses a thermal treatment process for a ceramic-reinforced steel-matrix composite material, the thermal treatment process comprising the following steps: (1) applying an antioxidant coating on a surface of a ceramic-reinforced steel-matrix composite material to be thermally treated, then placing the composite material into a box furnace, evacuating the same, and charging nitrogen into the furnace such that the oxygen content in the box furnace is less than or equal to 5% and the furnace pressure is maintained at 60-70 mbar; (2) heating the composite material to 380-430°C at a heating rate of 30-50°C/h, and maintaining the temperature for 0.5-1 h; (3) heating the composite material to 680-730°C at a heating rate of 60-80°C/h, and maintaining the temperature for 0.5-1 h; (4) heating the composite material to 930-950°C at a heating rate of 50-60°C/h, maintaining the temperature for 2-6 h, and taking out and air-cooling the composite material to room temperature; and (5) heating the composite material to 200-400°C at a heating rate of 20-35°C/h, maintaining the temperature for 2-3 h, and performing furnace cooling on the composite material. By processing the ceramic-reinforced steel-matrix composite material using the process provided by the technical solution of the invention, the abrasion resistance and toughness of the composite material can be improved, and cracking of the composite material can be effectively avoided during the thermal treatment.