Sumitomo Metal Industries, Inc.

Koji Watari

Toru Kato

Takayuki Nishi

Yasutaka Okada

Hitoshi Matsumoto

Naoki Matsui

Hiroaki Tahira

Yoshihiko Kamada

Masato Kurita

Mitsuo Uno

Harunori Kakimi

Masanori Sakamoto

A steel for machine structural use which comprises, on the percent by mass basis, C: 0.1 to 0.6%, Si: 0.01 to 2.0%, Mn: 0.2 to 2.0%, S: 0.005 to 0.20%, P: not more than 0.1%, Ca: 0.0001 to 0.01%, N: 0.001 to 0.02% and Al: not more than 0.1%, with the balance being Fe and impurities, with a value of [Ca]e defined by [Ca]e=T.[Ca]&#x2212;(T.[O]/(O))&#xd7;(Ca)of not more than 5 ppm or with a proportion of MnO contained in oxide inclusions of not more than 0.05 and a value of Ca/O of not more than 0.8 is excellent in machinability and, therefore, it can be used as a steel stock for various machine structural steel parts, such as in industrial machinery, construction machinery and conveying machinery such as automobiles. It is substantially free of Pb, hence suited for use as a steel friendly to the global environment. [Ca]e is the effective Ca concentration index (ppm by mass), T.[Ca] and T.[O] are the contents of Ca and O, respectively, in ppm by mass, and (O)and (Ca)are the proportions of O and Ca contained in oxide inclusion, respectively.

Steel for machine structural use and method of producing same

Steel for machine structural use

The present invention is directed to a steel product for machine structural use having excellent machinability and to a structural steel part for machinery manufactured from the steel product. More particularly, the invention is directed to a steel product for machine structural use having excellent machinability, particularly bringing about excellent &ldquo;drill life&rdquo; and exhibiting excellent &ldquo;chip disposability&rdquo; in the course of drilling, as well as to a structural steel part for machinery manufactured from the steel product. The steel product for machine structural use has a chemical composition comprising, in mass percent, C: 0.05% to 0.55%; Si: 0.50% to 2.5%; Mn: 0.01% to 2.00%; P: not greater than 0.035%; S: 0.005% to 0.2%; N: not greater than 0.0150%; elements to be added as needed: Cu, Ni, Cr, Mo, V, Nb, Ti, B, Al, Bi, Ca, Pb, Te, Nd, and Se; &minus;23C&plus;Si(5&minus;2Si)&minus;4Mn&plus;104S&minus;3Cr&minus;9V&plus;10&gE;0; 3.2C&plus;0.8Mn&plus;5.2S&plus;0.5Cr&minus;120N&plus;2.6Pb&plus;4.1Bi&minus;0.001&agr; &plus;0.13&agr;&gE;3.0; and balance: Fe and incidental impurities; percentage of ferrite in microstructure being 10% to 80%; and Hv hardness being 160 to 350. In the above expressions, &agr; represents the area percentage in % of a ferrite phase in the microstructure. The structural steel part for machinery can be manufactured relatively easily from the steel product for machine structural use through machining.

Machine structural steel product

The present invention relates to manufacturing methods of nitrided steel parts, having high tensile strength, high fatigue strength, and excellent bending roughness, through nitriding without thermal refining, to thus-manufactured steel parts, and to steel products for nitriding, and steels for nitriding having a specific chemical composition, serving as steel stock for the manufacture of such steel parts. The chemical composition is as follows: C: over 0.20 to 0.60%, Si: 0.05 to 1.0%, Mn: 0.20 to 1.50%, P: 0.08% or less, S: 0.005 to 0.10%, Cu: 0.30% or less, Ni: 0.30% or less, Cr: 0.30% or less, Mo: 0.30% or less, V: 0.20% or less, Nb: 0.05% or less, Ti: 0.003 to 0.03%, Al: 0.08% or less, Ca: 0.005% or less, Pb: 0.30% or less, N: 0.008 to 0.030%, and the balance of Fe and unavoidable impurities. Steel products preferably have the ferrite-pearlite microstructure having a ferrite percentage of not less than 10%. Nitrided steel parts are formed from the steel products serving as steel stock therefor, and have a nitrided case formed in the surface portion thereof.

Steels, steel products for nitriding, nitrided steel parts

The present invention is directed to steel products which exhibit excellent machinability and are suitable for steel stocks of structural steel parts for a variety of machinery, such as transportation machinery including automobiles, machinery for industrial use, construction machinery, and the like; as well as to a variety of machined structual steel parts for machinery such as crankshafts, connecting rods, gears, and the like. The steel products of the present invention are endowed with excellent machinability and have the following composition based on % by weight: C: 0.05% to 0.6%; S: 0.002% to 0.2%; Ti: 0.04% to 1.0%; N: 0.008% or less; Nd: 0% to 0.1%; Se: 0% to 0.5%; Te: 0% to 0.05%; Ca: 0% to 0.01%; Pb: 0% to 0.5%; and Bi: 0% to 0.4%; wherein the maximum diameter of titanium carbosulfide contained in the steel is not greater than 10 .mu.m, and its amount expressed in the index of cleanliness of the steel is equal to or more than 0.05%. The machined parts, according to the present inventions are manufactured by subjecting the steel products of the invention to a machining process, and are useful as structural steel parts for a variety of machinery, such as transportation machinery including automobiles, machinery for industrial use, construction machinery, and the like.

Steel products excellent in machinability and machined steel parts

Growing community of inventors

Kobe, Japan

Koji Watari