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Integration of Experimental Methods for the Correlation of Hardness with the Propagation Velocity of Ultrasonic Signals in Steel: A Proposal for an Undergraduate Material Science Lecture

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Abstract

This work provides the description of an experimental study for assessing the hardness of metallic test samples, subjected to the Jominy End-Quench Hardenability Test, by employing typical microhardness tests. Additionally, experimental measurements of the propagation velocity of ultrasound in the test samples were correlated with the microhardness results. A systematic protocol is presented for undergraduate mechanical engineering lectures, addressing the development of experiments, including the sorting and analysis of the resulting data; also, its impact on the expected competencies and abilities of the students is discussed. Several test samples of AISI 4140 steel were used for three experimental sets: heat-treated with the Jominy End-Quench Hardenability Test, fully tempered, and non-treated samples. All samples were evaluated by using typical microhardness tests and ultrasonic pulse-echo measurements to quantify their hardness at multiple locations. The proposed methodology not only strengthened some of the different required abilities of engineering students but also introduces a new procedure, using ultrasonic signals, to estimate hardness in undergraduate programs. The obtained results show a significant correlation between the experimental data from microhardness and ultrasonic measurements, with a maximum precision of -96.36% (inverse correlation) within the studied range. A discussion is provided regarding the means of improving the skills of undergraduate students in the course of Material Science, including experimental mechanical testing abilities through these systematic methods.

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Data Availability

The authors declare that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the paper and in its supplementary information files.

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Author notes

  1. E. Rojas-Mancera, A. Balvantín, J. A. Diosdado-De-la-Peña and E. Hernández-Rodríguez contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, Tecnológico Nacional de México/ITS de Purísima del Rincón, Blvd. del Valle #2301, Guardarrayas, Purísima del Rincón, Gto, 36413, México

    E. Rojas-Mancera

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Universidad de Guanajuato, Carretera Salamanca- Valle de Santiago km. 3.5 + 1.8km., Salamanca, Gto, 36885, México

    A. Balvantín & E. Hernández-Rodríguez

  3. College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, Youngstown State University, One University Plaza, Youngstown, OH, 44555, USA

    J. A. Diosdado-De-la-Peña

Authors
  1. E. Rojas-Mancera
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  3. J. A. Diosdado-De-la-Peña
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  4. E. Hernández-Rodríguez
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Correspondence to A. Balvantín.

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Rojas-Mancera, E., Balvantín, A., Diosdado-De-la-Peña, J.A. et al. Integration of Experimental Methods for the Correlation of Hardness with the Propagation Velocity of Ultrasonic Signals in Steel: A Proposal for an Undergraduate Material Science Lecture. Exp Tech (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40799-023-00674-w

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