A novel combination of heat treatment steps includes the steps of carburizing a component fabricated of a medium carbon alloy steel at an elevated temperature for between three and six hours, subjecting the component to an austempering bath and holding it there for between fifteen and two hundred forty minutes and finally cooling the component to room temperature to allow martensitic transformation. These steps may be followed with cryogenic treatment to reduce retained austenite if needed. The process produces components with low distortion, high surface hardness, from HRC 56 to 62, and high surface compressive residual stress.

A novel combination of heat treatment steps includes the steps of carburizing a component fabricated of a medium carbon alloy steel at an elevated temperature for between three and six hours, subjecting the component to an austempering bath and holding it there for between fifteen and two hundred forty minutes and finally cooling the component to room temperature to allow martensitic transformation. These steps may be followed with cryogenic treatment to reduce retained austenite if needed. The process produces components with low distortion, high surface hardness, from HRC 56 to 62, and high surface compressive residual stress.

A non-thermal refined nitrocarburized component with excellent bending straightening and fatigue strength, includes a base metal steel material having a composition consisting of: (mass %), C: 0.35 to 0.50%; Si: 0.10 to 0.35%; Mn: 2.3 to 2.8%; S: 0.01% or less; N: 0.0030 to 0.0250%; Cu: 0 to 1.0%; Mo: 0 to 0.3%; Ni: 0 to 0.5%; Ti: 0 to 0.020%, the balance: Fe, impurities, and 3.10 £ (0.316 C+0.122).Math.(0.7 Si+1).Math.(5.1 Mn−1.12).Math.(0.364 Ni+1).Math.(2.16 Cr+1).Math.(3 Mo+1) £ 6.00. Impurities include P: 0.08% or less, Al: 0.05% or less, and Cr: less than 0.20%. In a stress concentrated region, an HV hardness 0.05 mm from a surface is 410 to 480, an HV hardness 1.0 mm from the surface is 200 or more, a compound-layer depth is 5 mm or less, and a base metal micro-structure is bainite.

A forging process is conducted in a temperature range of 350-600° C. on at least a portion that is required to have a fatigue strength in an intermediate forged product having a ferrite and pearlite texture obtained by conducting a hot forging on a steel in which N is not greater than an amount at which N is unavoidably dissolved as a solid, thereby improving strength of the portion that is required to have a fatigue strength. With this, there is provided a forged product having a good strength and a low price.

A forging process is conducted in a temperature range of 350-600° C. on at least a portion that is required to have a fatigue strength in an intermediate forged product having a ferrite and pearlite texture obtained by conducting a hot forging on a steel in which N is not greater than an amount at which N is unavoidably dissolved as a solid, thereby improving strength of the portion that is required to have a fatigue strength. With this, there is provided a forged product having a good strength and a low price.

A method of manufacturing a sliding camshaft for an internal combustion engine includes providing the sliding camshaft from a steel alloy having a carbon content between 0.25% and 0.60%. The sliding camshaft is then processed with a carbon infusing heat treatment process, such as carburization or carbonitriding. After the sliding camshaft has been processed with the carbon infusing heat treatment process, the sliding camshaft is then processed with a quenching heat treatment process, such as a mar-quenching heat treatment process.

A method of manufacturing a sliding camshaft for an internal combustion engine includes providing the sliding camshaft from a steel alloy having a carbon content between 0.25% and 0.60%. The sliding camshaft is then processed with a carbon infusing heat treatment process, such as carburization or carbonitriding. After the sliding camshaft has been processed with the carbon infusing heat treatment process, the sliding camshaft is then processed with a quenching heat treatment process, such as a mar-quenching heat treatment process.

The high-strength steel for steel forgings according to the present invention has a composition that includes, as basic components, C: 0.35 mass % to 0.47 mass %; Si: 0 mass % to 0.4 mass %; Mn: 0.6 mass % to 1.5 mass %; Ni: more than 0 mass % up to 2.0 mass %; Cr: 0.8 mass % to 2.5 mass %; Mo: 0.10 mass % to 0.7 mass %; V: 0.035 mass % to 0.20 mass %; Al: 0.015 mass % to 0.050 mass %; N: 30 ppm to 100 ppm, and O: more than 0 ppm up to 30 ppm, the balance being Fe and inevitable impurities. The metal structure is mainly bainite, martensite or a mixed structure of bainite and martensite. Among cubic B1-type precipitates, the number of coherent precipitates having a diameter equal to or smaller than 30 nm is equal to or smaller than 50/μm.sup.2.

The invention relates to a device for the impact treatment of transition radii (8) of a crankshaft (4), in particular transition radii (8) between connecting rod bearing journals (5) and crank webs (7) and/or transition radii (8) between main bearing journals (6) and the crank webs (7) of the crankshaft (4). The device comprises an impact device (1) in order to introduce an impact force (FS) into at least one transition radius (8), wherein the impact device (1) has multiple impact heads (21) which are paired with the same transition radius (8).

The steel shaft component consists of C: 0.40 to 0.60%, Si: 0.05 to 1.00%, Mn: 1.00 to 2.00%, P: 0.030% or less, S: 0.005 to 0.100%, Cr: 0.10 to 0.50%, V: 0.10 to 0.30%, Al: 0.005 to 0.050%, N: 0.0050 to 0.0200%, Ti: 0 to 0.050%, and the balance: Fe and impurities. A Vickers hardness Hs of the surface of the shaft part is 620 HV or more. A Vickers hardness Hb at an R/2 position satisfies Formula (1). A depth of the hardened layer Hr (mm) having a Vickers hardness of 620 HV or more satisfies Formula (2). The microstructure at the R/2 position is composed of ferrite and pearlite. Within the hardened layer, the number of density of V-containing precipitates having an equivalent circular diameter of more than 100 nm is 10 particles/276 μm.sup.2 or less.

Hs/2.3≤Hb≤350  (1)

0.05≤Hr/R≤0.40  (2)