Relation between magnetic Barkhausen noise and hardness for jominy quench tests in SAE 4140 and 6150 steels

he nondestructive Magnetic Barkhausen Noise (MBN) technique was applied for the evaluation of SAE 4140 and SAE 6150 steels after a Jominy end-quench test. Microstructures were also characterized by SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) and hardness tests. MBN measurements were performed on the same sample regions at three excitation frequencies. Different parameters of the measured signals (signal peak position and height, and Root mean square) were calculated. A relationship between mechanical hardness and MBN parameters was found for both materials, with the best correlation coefficient being found in low excitation frequency range.The authors would like to thank the State of São Paulo Research Foundation, FAPESP (Process 05/57146-0). M.F. de Campos and L.R. Padovese thank CNPq. We thank Dr. Martin Sab- lik for the critical reading of the manuscrip