Characteristic study of boron steel during spheroidization and annealing in a bell type furnace for heat treatment

Boron steel alloy is an alloy that includes carbon, HSLA, carbon-manganese, and tool steel in its composition. The major difference between boron steel and carbon steel is the amount of carbon in their composition. It is 0.2%–2.1% of carbon in carbon steel, whereas it is only 0.3% of carbon in boron steel. Basically, steel is an alloy of both carbon and boron, which has high strength and is more resistant to fracture when compared to other forms of iron. A small amount of less than 1% is added to steel, which results in an increase in hardenability, thus making it a boron-steel alloy. The boron added to the steel will be in the form of ferroboron (an alloy of iron and boron that is used to produce boron steels). The quantity of boron is very limited, i.e., >30 ppm. If it increases, that would result in lowering the hardenability, reducing toughness, and causing problems in welding. The factor of hardenability majorly depends upon the behavior of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon present in steel. The toughness of the boron-steel is enhanced by a technique called novel processing, which is a method for effective separation of boron and iron from ludwight ore. These characteristics are determined by the complex interplay of microstructure dynamics and mechanical properties displayed by boron steel during the spheroidization and annealing processes in a bell-type furnace. The parameters like microstructure evolution, phase transition, and mechanical behavior of the boron steel are examined during the heat treatment and mechanical testing. We analyze how these processes drastically alter the material’s intrinsic properties using modern methods such as X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing. Finally, this metallurgical attempt has revealed useful insights for optimizing the qualities of boron steel, which is used in a wide range of industries that rely on its mechanical integrity. These analyses result in revolutionizing heat treatment procedures, which further results in superior and more sustainable boron-steel products for a wide range of applications, improving the field of metallurgy and material research.