The demand for super-large plastic mould steel blocks is growing day by day, to reveal the microstructure at different positions of a super-large 1.2738 plastic mould steel block with dimensions of 1 200 mm × 1 300 mm × 2 700 mm during quenching, the cooling rate ranges at various locations of the large block were non-destructively determined using the DEFORM software. On this basis, continuous cooling transformation tests were carried out using a dilatometer. Combined with the test results of metallography, hardness and retained austenite, the phase transformation characteristics of 1.2738 steel at an ultra-low cooling rate of 0.008 °C/s were analyzed. The results indicate that during the “water-air-water” quenching process of the super-large block, the cooling rate at the core is only 0.026 °C/s, which is far lower than that of conventional rolled medium-thick plates and small-to-medium blocks. Considering comprehensive material properties, the quenching cooling rate range of 0.02 °C/s to 0.03 °C/s is the lower limit for controlling the final microstructures of large blocks. When the cooling rate is above this range, the obtained microstructures are dominated by martensite and upper and lower bainite; when the cooling rate falls below this range, granular bainite is the primary phase.
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