Spring steel with excellent fatigue resistance and method of manufacturing the same

1. A spring steel comprising as a chemical composition, by mass %:

C: 0.4% to less than 0.9%;

Si: 1.0% to 3.0%;

Mn: 0.1% to 2.0%;

Al: 0.01% to 0.05%;

REM: 0.0001% to 0.005%;

T.O: 0.0001% to 0.003%;

Ti: less than 0.005%;

N: 0.015% or less;

P: 0.03% or less;

S: 0.03% or less;

Cr: 0% to 2.0%;

Cu: 0% to 0.5%;

Ni: 0% to 3.5%;

Mo: 0% to 1.0%;

W: 0% to 1.0%;

B: 0% to 0.005%;

V: 0% to 0.7%;

Nb: 0% to 0.05%;

Ca: 0% to 0.0020%; and

the balance consisting of Fe and impurities, wherein;

the spring steel includes a composite inclusion of TiN adhered to an inclusion containing REM, O and Al;

a number of the composite inclusion is 0.004 pieces/mm 2 to 10 pieces/mm 2 , and a maximum diameter of the composite inclusion is 2 μm to 40 μm; and

a sum of the number density of an alumina cluster having the maximum diameter of 10 μm or more, MnS having the maximum diameter of 10 μm or more and TiN having the maximum diameter of 1 μm or more is 10 pieces/mm 2 or less.

2. The spring steel according to claim 1 , further comprising as the chemical composition, one or more kinds of elements selected from the group consisting of, by mass %:

Cr: 0.05% to 2.0%;

Cu: 0.1% to 0.5%;

Ni: 0.1% to 3.5%;

Mo: 0.05% to 1.0%;

W: 0.05% to 1.0%;

B: 0.0005% to 0.005%;

V: 0.05% 0.7%;

Nb: 0.005% 0.05%; and

Ca: 0.0001% 0.0020%.

3. A method of manufacturing the spring steel according to claim 1 , the method comprising;

a process of performing a deoxidation by using Al and then performing a deoxidation by using REM for 5 minutes or longer when a molten steel having the chemical composition according to claim 1 is refined in a ladle with vacuum degassing,

a process of performing a circulation of the molten steel in a mold in a horizontal direction at 0.1 m/minute or faster when the molten steel is cast in the mold, and

a process of performing a soaking treatment in which a cast piece obtained by casting is held at a temperature region of 1200° C. to 1250° C. for 60 seconds to 150 seconds and then blooming the cast piece.

4. A spring comprising the spring steel according to claim 1 .