Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering

The inter-critical annealing and water quenching heat treatment proposed by us is a practical example of environmental sustainability applied to wear-resistant boron steels. In this research we try to compare the LCAs of two wear-resistant steels, a RAEX450 widely used in the industry today and cheaper 30MnB5 boron steel without alloy elements. The 30MnB5 steel has been given an inter-critical annealing and hardening treatment and the RAEX450 a conventional annealing and hardening treatment. The mechanical properties achieved are similar to or better than those of boron steel; but the energy savings with this steel and its environmental impact are notably more positive for the environment.

The LCA of the heat treatment applied to 30MnB5 is significantly more positive than that applied to RAEX450, without affecting its mechanical properties as wear-resistant steel.