Workability Study on Austempered AISI 1018

Workability of a material is a complex technological concept that is related to both material and process characteristics. Austempering is a heat treatment process that is applied to ferrous metals, mostly steel and ductile iron. The present work was carried out to study the workability and the properties of AISI 1018 steel in austempering and annealing condition and then comparing with each other. Workability testing was carried out using collar type specimen by compressing it till the crack. Workability diagrams have been plotted as a function of axial and hoop strains at failure. The result shows that, the austempering process increases the tensile strength and hardness as well as the workability. Thus the austempering process has an effect on strength and hardness. (paper)