STRUCTURAL STEELS

EFFECT OF SELENIUM ON THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES

OF SULFUR STEELS WITH HIGH MACHINABILITY

Ya. E. Gol'dshtein, A. Ya. Zaslavskii, UDC 620.18:620.17:669.14.018.298'776

and Z. F. Guseva

T h e a d d i t i o n of 0 . 0 7 - 0 . 1 5 % Se to p e a r l i t i c s t r u c t u r a l s t e e l s s u b s t a n t i a l l y i m p r o v e s the m a e h i n a b i l i t y
with m i n i m a l i m p a i r m e n t of t h e m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s [1-3]. H o w e v e r , t h e high c o s t of s e l e n i u m m a k e s
s u c h s t e e l s e x p e n s i v e , and t h e s c a r c i t y Of s e l e n i u m d o e s not p e r m i t w i d e u s e of s t e e l s with s e l e n i u m .

S e l e n i u m b e l o n g s to t h e s a m e g r o u p of e l e m e n t s a s s u l f u r . Its c o m p o u n d s - s e l e n i d e s - c o m b i n e
with s u l f u r , f o r m i n g s u l f o s e l e n i d e s [4, 5]. T h i s w o r k c o n c e r n s t h e p o s s i b i l i t y of r e p l a c i n g p a r t of the
s e l e n i u m with s u l f u r in s t r u c t u r a l s t e e l s with high m a c h i n a b i l i t y .

F o u r h e a t s w e i g h i n g 150 kg of s t e e l 40 with d i f f e r e n t c o n c e n t r a t i o n s of s u l f u r and s e l e n i u m w e r e t e s t e d

( T a b l e 1).* E a c h h e a t w a s c a s t in a s i n g l e ingot and f o r g e d to a d i s k 70 m m in d i a m e t e r and t h e n to a b a r
60 m m s q u a r e . In t h e l a t t e r c a s e t h e f o r g i n g r e d u c t i o n r a t i o w a s 11, which m a d e it p o s s i b l e to d e t e r m i n e
the m e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s both in t h e l o n g i t u d i n a l and t r a n s v e r s e d i r e c t i o n s to c o m p a r e t h e e f f e c t s of s u l f u r
and s e l e n i u m on t h e a n t s o t r o p y .

M e c h a n i c a l t e s t s showed ( F i g . 1) t h a t l a r g e a d d i t i o n s of s u l f u r and s e l e n i u m do not l o w e r the s t r e n g t h

of l o n g i t u d i n a l s a m p l e s in t h e n o r m a l i z e d c o n d i t i o n o r a f t e r h e a t t r e a t m e n t , but do a f f e c t t h e d u c t i l i t y , p a r -
t i c u l a r l y the r e d u c t i o n in c r o s s s e c t i o n a l a r e a a f t e r h e a t t r e a t m e n t . D e s p i t e t h a t f a c t , t h e d u c t i l i t y m e e t s
t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r s t e e l 40 (GOST 1050-60). S u l f u r , and s e l e n i u m to a m u c h s m a l l e r e x t e n t , h a s the

* S. I . - R o d i o n o v a t o o k p a r t in the e x p e r i m e n t a l w o r k .

Ob,O T , k g / m m 2 4 ~ % a n, k g - m / c m ~

123~ 123# 1234 an, k g - m / c m 2

a ~,g', ~ z,7-

10 1o

01 5"//g I V/A
t Z 34 I 234 I 2 3 e~ 7 2 3 .4. 1 2 3 ~' 1 2 ~ 4.
b
Fig. 1 Fig. 2
F i g . 1. M e c h a n i c a l p r o p e r t i e s of s t e e l 40 with d i f f e r e n t c o n c e n t r a t i o n s of
s u l f u r and s e l e n i u m , a) N o r m a l i z e d ; b) q u e n c h e d and t e m p e r e d . T h e h e a t
n u m b e r s a r e g i v e n on t h e b a r s .
F i g . 2. E f f e c t of s e l e n i u m and s u l f u r on t h e a n i s o t r o p y of the d u c t i l i t y and
t o u g h n e s s of s t e e l 40. T h e h e a t n u m b e r s a r e g i v e n b e l o w the b a r s and the
a n i s o t r o p y c o e f f i c i e n t s a b o v e t h e m . I) L o n g i t u d i n a l s a m p l e s : II) t r a n s v e r s e
samples.

NIIM. Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya O b r a b o t k a M e t a l l o v , No. 4, pp. 16-19,

A p r i l , 1973.

9 1973 Consultants Bureau, a division o f Plenum Publishing Corporation, 227 glest ITth Street, New York,
N. Y. 10011. All rights reserved. This article cannot be reproduced for any purpose whatsoever without
permission o f the publisher. A copy o f this article is available from the publisher for $15.00.

286
 an, kg-m/cm 2 ~ % l a r g e s t n e g a t i v e e f f e c t on t h e t o u g h n e s s of the s t e e l in t h e h e a t
t r e a t e d c o n d i t i o n . With t h e s a m e t o t a l a m o u n t s of s u l f u r and s e l e -
n i u m in the s t e e l ( 0 . 1 4 - 0 . 1 6 % ) t h e t o u g h n e s s is r e d u c e d m o s t f o r
the s t e e l with s u l f u r a l o n e . T h u s , t h e a d d i t i o n of 0.14% Se to t h e
'ir L / s t a n d a r d s t e e l with 0.02% S l o w e r s the t o u g h n e s s f r o m 18.0 to 14.6
k g - m / c m ~ (heat 1), while the r e p l a c e m e n t of 0 . 0 8 % Se with 0.08%
o: q S l o w e r s t h e t o u g h n e s s to 12.5 k g - m / c m 2 (heat 3), and c o m p l e t e
-100 -80 -60 -~0 -ZO 0 -80 -60 -40 -20 #
Testing temperature r e p l a c e m e n t of s e l e n i u m with s u l f u r l o w e r s t h e t o u g h n e s s to 10 kg
-nl/cm 2 .
F i g . 3. E f f e c t of s e l e n i u m and
s u l f u r on s u s c e p t i b i l i t y to c o l d Raising the sulfur content of the steel has a larger effect on
b r i t t l e n e s s of s t e e l 40 a f t e r q u e n c h - the anisotropy of the reduction in cross sectional area than on the
ing and t e m p e r i n g . T h e h e a t n u m - elongation (Fig. 2). Sulfur and selenium have a still greater effect
b e r s a r e g i v e n on t h e c u r v e s . on the coefficient of the anisotropy of the toughness Kan. It should
TABLE 1 be noted that the addition of 0.14% Se hardly changes the value of
the toughness anisotropy coefficient, while the replacement of
selenium with an equal amount of sulfur raises the anisotropy co-
C Mn $I Cr Ni $ Se P AI
efficient from 2.69 to 5.1. Intermediate values of the anisotropy
1 0 38 }0,$8 0,33] 0,08]0 1 2 0 02 -- 0 010'0 030
coefficient are obtained with partial replacement of selenium with
2 0 37 [ 0,59 0 32 0 09} 0'12 0'02 0 14 0,011[ 0,028 sulfur.
0 37 0,37 0 07 0 1II0:10 0,0610,010t0,03.5
43 0~380,670'68 o,34 o,o8 0,120,14 -- o,o,o] <02
T h e t o u g h n e s s d e c r e a s e s a s the s u l f u r c o n t e n t of t h e s t e e l is
i n c r e a s e d ( F i g . 3). H o w e v e r , s u l f u r and s e l e n i u m h a v e d i f f e r e n t
e f f e c t s on the t y p e of f r a c t u r e ( s u s c e p t i b i l i t y to b r i t t l e f r a c t u r e ) . If the d u c t i l e - b r i t t l e t r a n s i t i o n t e m p e r -
a t u r e is t a k e n a s t h e t e m p e r a t u r e w h e r e 50% of the f r a c t u r e is c r y s t a l l i n e t h e n i t is - 7 0 ~ f o r t h e s t e e l
in which s e l e n i u m p a r t i a l l y r e p l a c e d with s u l f u r (heat 3), - 5 0 ~ f o r the s t e e l with s e l e n i u m , - 4 0 ~ f o r t h e
o r i g i n a l s t e e l , and - 1 0 ~ f o r the s t e e l with 0.14% S. if the d u c t i l e - b r i t t l e t r a n s i t i o n t e m p e r a t u r e i s t a k e n
a s the t e m p e r a t u r e at which t h e t o u g h n e s s i s 50% of t h e t o u g h n e s s at +20 ~ t h e n t h e d u c t i l e - b r i t t l e t r a n s i t i o n
t e m p e r a t u r e i s the s a m e f o r a l l the s t e e l s i n v e s t i g a t e d ( - 7 0 ~

T h i s d i f f e r e n c e in t h e d u c t i l e - b r i t t l e t r a n s i t i o n t e m p e r a t u r e in t e r m s of the t o u g h n e s s and t h e t y p e
of f r a c t u r e was r e p o r t e d in [6] and e x p l a i n e d by the l a c k of c o r r e s p o n d e n c e b e t w e e n the e n e r g y a b s o r b e d in
t h e i m p a c t t e s t s and the o u t w a r d a p p e a r a n c e of the f r a c t u r e . E v i d e n t l y t h i s i s due t o t h e e f f e c t of s u l f u r
and s e l e n i u m on t h e s h a p e of n o n m e t a l l i c i n c l u s i o n s ( s e l e n i d e s and s u l f i d e s ) . E v e n in the c a s t m e t a l one
n o t e s a s u b s t a n t i a l d i f f e r e n c e in t h e s h a p e and d i s t r i b u t i o n of s u l f i d e and s e l e n i d e p a r t i c l e s ( F i g . 4). T h e
s u l f i d e s a r e l o c a t e d p r e f e r e n t i a l l y in t h e b o u n d a r i e s of p r i o r a u s t e n i t e g r a i n s and f r e q u e n t l y have a e u t e c t i c
c h a r a c t e r , while s e l e n i d e s (with t h e s a m e c o n c e n t r a t i o n of s e l e n i u m as s u l f u r ) a r e r a t h e r e v e n l y d i s t r i b u t e d
a s s e p a r a t e r o u n d e d i n c l u s i o n s . T h e a d d i t i o n of s e l e n i u m to s t e e l with s u l f u r f a v o r s s p h e r o i d i z a t i o n of t h e
s u l f i d e s . T h i s e f f e c t of s e l e n i u m on the s h a p e of s u l f i d e s ( s u l f o s e l e n i d e s ) was f i r s t noted in [7] and c o n -
f i r m e d in [8].

The c h a r a c t e r ( s h a p e , d i s p e r s i t y ) of t h e i n c l u s i o n s in t h e c a s t s t e e l i s r e s p o n s i b l e f o r t h e i r s h a p e
and d i s t r i b u t i o n in the s t e e l a f t e r hot p l a s t i c d e f o r m a t i o n ( F i g . 5). The s e l e n i d e s ( s u l f o s c l e n i d e s ) in t h e

0,
i

Fig. 4. Selenides and sulfides in the east steel (300

• a) 0.14% Se, 0.02% S; b) 0.14% S.

287
 . 9ii:i

Fig. 5. Selenides and sulfides in the deformed steel (300 x). a)

0.14% Se, 0.02% S, forging reduction 13%; b) 0.14% Se, 0.02% S,
forging reduction 35%; c) 0.14% S, forging reduction 29%.

TABLE deformed steel are oval or spindle-shaped, while the finer sulfides
are greatly elongated during deformation of the metal, f o r m i n g c o l -
onies of fine tapering inclusions. It should be noted that the atomic

~
Z

Q)
~

~>~
~

u.~j
weights of ~elenium and sulfur differ greatly, and the lattice c o n -
stants of selenides and sulfides are almost identical, and t h e r e f o r e
with the same percentage of sulfur and selenium in the steel the
number of sulfides is approximately double the number of selenides.
135 1,00 60
This leads not only to e m b r i t t l e m e n t of the steel with sulfur
Y I
165 I, ~2 160 2,40 and a sharp i n c r e a s e in the anisotropy of the ductility and tough-
%- n e s s but also to lower machinability as compared with the steel con-
30
taining selenium.
66 1,47 27
165 1,22 145 2,7.~0 With the same composition of the steel, including the sulfur
W Y 17 content, the shape of the sulfide particles (ratio of length to width)
Note. Numeratorsrefer to cutting tools of has a considerable effect on the machinability [9]. A change in the
hard alloy TSK10, denominators to tools of
shape of the sulfides f r o m threadlike to spindle-shaped or globular
high-speed steel R18.
i m p r o v e s the maehinability by 15-25% and 20-30% respectively.
Our studies of the effects of sulfur and selenium on the machinability, * made by Kondratov's method
[10] (Table 2), showed that both e l e m e n t s i n c r e a s e the cutting speed v60 almost equally in turning with h a r d -
alloy tools (by 22%) and turning with high-speed steel tools (by 47%). The durability of h a r d - a l l o y c u t t e r s
i n c r e a s e d 2 . 4 - 2 . 7 t i m e s in both e a s e s . However, in machining with high-speed tools at a constant cutting
speed of 70 m / m i n the durability of the c u t t e r s i n c r e a s e d 30 t i m e s in turning the steel with selenium, 27
t i m e s for the steel with 0.1% S and 0.06% Se, and only 17 t i m e s for the steel with 0.14% S. Thus, the data
obtained c o n f i r m the fact that the shape of the nonmetallic inclusions has a strong effect on the machinability
of steel (turning). The sulfide (sulfoselenide) inclusions must have a ratio of length to width around 5-8.
Such inclusions are easy to obtain in the stem with selenium or selenium + sulfur.
The r e s u l t s of l a b o r a t o r y t e s t s were confirmed in production t e s t s at the Altai T r a c t o r Factory~ with
specially melted o p e n - h e a r t h steels 40Kh and 45Kh with selenium additions (0.05-0.06%) and sulfur (0.07-
0.08%). The p r o p e r t i e s of the experimental heats met the r e q u i r e m e n t s of GOST 4543-61. The high m a -
chinability of these steels made it possible to i n c r e a s e the cutting speed by 50%, which shortened the m a -
chining time for parts by a factor of 2.5 and increased the durability of the cutting tools by three to five
times.

CONCLUSIONS
I. Steel alloyed with selenium or selenium + sulfur is superior to steel with sulfur alone in mechan-
ical properties (ductility and toughness) and anisotropy, and is less susceptible to brittle fracture.

* This work was done at the Kurgansk Machine Construction Institute by Yu. A. Rozenberg and L. M.
Sedinkin.
G. A. Bogdanova and S. V. Y a s n o g o r o d s k a y a participated in this work

288
 2. The i m p r o v e m e n t of the ductility and toughness of cast and s t r u c t u r a l sulfur steel after small
selenium additions (<_ 0.15%) is due to the substantial change in the size and distribution of sulfoselenides
in m i c r o v o l u m e s .
3. Alloying with selenium or selenium + sulfur m a k e s it possible to i n c r e a s e labor productivity and
reduce labor c o s t s and c o s t s f o r cutting tools in turning.

LITERATURE CITED
i. F. Boulger, TASM, 52, 698-712 (1960).
2. W. Clarke, Metalwork Product, 108, No. 37, 68-71 (1964).
3. Ya. E. Gol'dshtein, Yu. A. Rozenberg, and A. Ya. Zaslavskii, "Machinability of steel alloyed with
selenium and lead, " Stanki i Instrumenty, No. 9 (1966).
4. K. Kilssling et al., J. Iron Steel Inst., 205, 531-535 (1967).
5. A. Ya. Zaslavskii, Ya. E. Gol'dshtein, and R. I. Shenk, "Metallography of steel with selenium,
tellurium, and lead, " Metal. i Term. Obrabotka Metal., No. 9, 52-55 (1967).
6. R.T. Arone et al., "Estimating the brittleness of steel from the type of fracture, " Metal. i Term~
Obrabotka Metal., No. i, 70-72 (1970).
7. Ya. E. Gol'dshtein and O. D. Zhizhakina, "Selenium in cast structural steel, " Sial', No~ 9 (1961).
8. E. Almand, Revue de Metallurgie, No. ii, 749-763 (1969).
9. A. Khautman, Chernye Metally, No. 2 (1968).
I0. A.S. Kondratov, "Method for experimental determination of cutting conditions in high-speed turn-
ing, " Vestnik Mashinostroeniya, No. 4, 49-60 (1963).

289