Air-hardening ductile forging steels

Air-hardening ductile forging steels have the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of forged steel products through a shortened heat treatment and increased strength compared to standard quenched and tempered steels. Such new steels are predominantly alloyed with 4 wt.-% manganese, which enables martensitic transformation by air cooling, thus rendering post-forging quenching and tempering treatment obsolete. The concept was first developed on a laboratory scale and the potentials subsequently verified in industrial pilot testing.