Characterization of microstructure of H13 tool steel using ultrasonic measurements

This study presents nondestructive characterization of microstructure of AISI H13 hot work tool steel. Heat treatments were carried out in order to obtain different microstructural phases in the tool steel specimens. The microstructural phases were characterized by metallographic examinations and hardness measurements. Velocities of ultrasonic longitudinal and transverse waves were measured by means of pulse-echo method using contact type normal beam probes. Ultrasonic apparent attenuation also determined in the steel specimens having different microstructural phases. A lower value of ultrasonic velocity was observed for the martensite compared to the other microstructures, while the opposite was observed in ultrasonic attenuation. Results show that the use of ultrasonic measurements in order to correlate them with the microstructures is fast and reliable, permitting nondestructive characterization of microstructure in steels