* Technical contribution to the 70º Congresso Anual da ABM – Internacional and to the 15º ENEMET - Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Engenharia Metalúrgica, de Materiais e de Minas, part of the ABM Week, August 17 th -21 st , 2015, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. OUTSTANDING HARDENING OF PYROWEAR ® ALLOY 53 WITH LOW PRESSURE CARBURIZING* Maciej Korecki 1 Emilia Wolowiec-Korecka 2 Michal Bazel 3 Michal Slut 4 Thomas Detlef Kreuzaler 5 Abstract Pyrowear ® Alloy 53 steel is an excellent material for the construction of drive transmission components (gears, shafts, etc.) which have to operate in difficult conditions primarily in the aviation industry (Fig. 1.). Among the properties of such items is a high case hardness and abrasion-resistance, while the core remains flexible and is capable of carrying large impact loads. They can work at elevated temperatures with limited lubrication. The thermal treatment of such materials is based on case hardening by means of carburizing. This paper presents the technology of vacuum carburizing of Pyrowear ® Alloy 53 steel. It discusses the methods of establishing different profiles of carbon concentration in a layer and their influence on the hardness profile. The effects of sub-zero treatment and tempering on the properties of the hardened case are also considered. It also presents a SimVaC® simulator of vacuum carburizing, designed especially for Pyrowear ® Alloy 53 steel, which provides highly accurate predictions of the outcome of the process as the profile of carbon concentration in the layer, or vice versa: establishes the process parameters which will guarantee the required profile. Keywords: Pyrowear; carburizing; simulation; vacuum 1 PhD, Vicepresident Vacuum Technologies, Holding Management, SECO/WARWICK S.A., Swiebodzin, Poland. 2 PhD, Lodz University of Technology, Poland / Worcester Polytechnic Institute, UK. 3 Graduated Engineer, head of R&D laboratory. SECO/WARWICK Europe S.p.z.o.o., Swiebodzin, Poland. 4 Graduated Engineer, R&D team, SECO/WARWICK Europe S.p.z.o.o., Swiebodzin, Poland. 5 Graduated Engineer, Managing Director, SECO/WARWICK do Brasil, Jundiai, Brazil. 1311 ISSN 1516-392X