COURSE:

MATS-1021

COURSE NAME:
METALLURGY

FERROUS

SECTION NUMBER:

02

EXPERIMENT NO:

10

EXPERIMENT TITLE:
TREATMENT OF ALLOY SEEL

HEAT
AND JOMINY

TESTING
PARTICIPANTS NAME:
PANNU

JAGDEEP SINGH

STUDENT NUMBER:

0808578

CLASS:

PEM1.1

SUBMISSION DATE:

30/11/2016

 Metallography
1. Microstructure of AISI 4140 annealed
AISI 4140 normalised

2. Microstructure of

Ferrite

Pearlite

3. Microstructure of AISI 4140 tempered

-Tempered martensite

4. Microstructure of AISI 4140 quenched

The specimen available was mislabeled and hence the microstructure could
not be sketched.

 Tables
Table 1: Rockwell hardness test values for AISI 4140 heat
treated specimens
Sr. no.

Annealed Normalised Quenched

(HRC)
(HRC)
(given by
the
instructor)

Tempered
(HRC)

(HRC)
1

19.5

30

54.5

45.1

19.4

29.7

55.3

47.1

18.2

28.7

54

47.2

18.8

30.2

51.2

46.8

Average
(HRC)

18.975

29.65

53.75

46.55

Table 2: Hardness Values for AISI 1040 in Jominy Testing

Distance, J (1/16
inch)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

Rcmax
58
55
48
36
30
28
28
27
27
26
26
25
25
24
24
23
23
23
22.5
22
22
22
21.5
21
21
21
20.5
20
20
20
19.5
19

Experimental
HRC
51.1
45.5
29.5
27.4
26.6
25.6
25.1
23.8
22.7
22.4
21.4
20.9
20.3
19.6
18.3
18.1
18.1
17.4
17.2
16.8
16.7
16.3
15.5
15.4
15.5
14.7
14.2
13.4
13.7
13.6
13
12.9

Rcmin
50
35
28
24
23
22
22
22
21
20
19
19
18
18
17
17
16.5
16
16
16
15.5
15
15
15
14.5
14
14
14
13.5
13
13
13

Graph 1: Hardenability curve for AISI 1040

70
60
50
40

HRC

Rcmax

Experimental HRC

Rcmin

30
20
10
0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Distance J (1/16 inch)

Graph 2: Hardenability curve for AISI 4140

70
60
50
40

HRC

Rcmax

Experimental HRC

Rcmin

30
20
10
0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32

Distance J (1/16 inch)

Table 3: Hardness Values for AISI 4140 in Jominy Testing

Rcma
Rcmi
Distance, J (1/16 inch) x
Experimental HRC n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

60
60
60
59
59
58
58
57
57
56
56
55
55
54

53.5
54.8
54.4
53.4
52.8
52.3
51.6
50.8
48.8
46.9
45
43.2
41.3
39.3

53
53
52
51
51
50
48
47
44
42
40
39
38
37

15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

54
53
52.5
52
51.5
51
50
49
48.5
48
47.5
47
46.5
46
45.5
45
44.5
44

38.9
38
36.7
35.7
35
34.5
33.9
33.4
33
32.5
32.2
32.1
31.9
31.8
31.2
31.2
31.2
31.1

Questions
Ques1: What is the chemical composition of the steels used?
Ans:
Table 4: Chemical composition of AISI 1040 steel
Element
Iron, Fe
Manganese, Mn
Carbon, C

Content (%)
98.6-99
0.60-0.90
0.370-0.440

Sulfur, S

0.050

Phosphorous, P

0.040

36
35
34.5
34
33.5
33
33
33
32.5
32
32
32
31.5
31
31
31
30.5
30

Table 5: Chemical composition of AISI 4140 steel

Element

Content (%)

Iron, Fe

96.785 - 97.77

Chromium, Cr

0.80 - 1.10

Manganese, Mn

0.75 - 1.0

Carbon, C

0.380 - 0.430

Silicon, Si
Molybdenum, Mo
Sulfur, S

0.15 - 0.30
0.15 - 0.25
0.040

Phosphorous, P

0.035

Ques 2: For each steel you were given, explain whether it had
high, medium or low hardenability.
Ans:
Graph 3: Hardenability curve for AISI 1040 and AISI 4140
60
50
40

HRC

AISI 1040

30

AISI 4140

20
10
0

J no.

From the graph 3, and tables 2 and 3, it can be seen that for the J
no. 3 the HRC value for AISI 1040 fell dramatically to 28 from 55.8

at J no. 1. While its counterpart, AISI 4140, experienced a very

shallow drop from 55.1 at J 1 to 54 at J3. This allows us to conclude
that the hardenability for AISI 1040 is greater than that of AISI
4140.

Conclusion
Ques 1: (a) Discuss whether the phases produced by the four heat treating
operations are what you expected.
(b ) Discuss whether the hardness values obtained make sense in terms of
the expected order of hardness that should be obtained with these heattreating operations.
Ans: 1(a) Yes, the phases produced were the same as I expected from my
knowledge of lecture notes. The annealed AISI 4140 specimen had coarse
mixture of ferrite and pearlite. This was due to the fact that the trapped
carbon in Martensite phase diffused out on heating at austenizing
temperature and then cooling at a very slow rate within the furnace. The
coarse microstructure also leaded to the lowest hardness values.
Much like the annealed microstructure the normalized microstructure had
a mixture of ferrite and pearlite phases but the grains were finer. This was a
result of faster cooling rate which did not allowed as much carbon to diffuse
out as much in annealing. The hardness value was also better than the
annealing but due to slow cooling it was below among the other heat
treatment operations.
The quenched heat treated specimen was expected to produce a martensite
microstructure but due to the mislabeling of the specimen, the
microstructure observed was not what was expected. The specimen had the
highest hardness as expected. This could be associated with the fast cooling
rate in the brine.
The tempered specimen had needles like microstructure and is known by
tempered martensite. It had the second most hardness values. In tempering
we immediately heat a quenched specimen in order to relieve stresses, this

results in softening of metal and hence its hardness is lower as compared to

quenched specimen. And so is reflected in our values.

Ques 2: For the Jominy specimens, comment on how well the actual values
fell between the maximum and minimum values for each steel.
Ans: From the table 2 and 3, as well as the graphs 1 and 2, it can be
acknowledged that for the specimen AISI 1040, 28 out of 32 i.e. 87.5%
values are within the hardenability band.
Likewise, for the AISI 4140, 32 out of 32 i.e. 100% readings are within the
hardenability band.

References
1. http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6525
2. http://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=6769
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_treating#Techniques
4. Lecture notes (Lesson 7, lesson 8)