Characterization Of Thermally Affected Steels By Nanoindentation

The thermal affectation is the basis of metallurgical modifications of the base metal which can induce fragilities, decreases in mechanical strength, lack of ductility ... These modifications depend on the material examined, the process used, the mode of operation followed ... This research is devoted to the experimental study, whose objective is the study of low-carbon steels who sustained of the various heat treatments. Then, the instrumented nanoindentation test is developed to analyze the characteristic loading and unloading curves of the examined specimens. In this case, we focus on the effect of heat treatments on the metallographic examination and the mechanical properties of the studied steels. At the same time, we study the coherence of the results obtained between the heat treatment and the nanoindentation process in the determination of elasticity modulus and hardness.