Heat Treatment of

Metals

Heat Treatment
Metallic materials consist of a microstructure of

small crystals called grains" or crystallites

Grain size and composition is one of the most
effective factors that can determine the overall
mechanical behavior of the metal
Heat treatment provides an efficient way to
manipulate the properties of the metal by
controlling rate of diffusion, and the rate of
cooling within the microstructure

Heat Treatment
Involves controlled heating and cooling of the

metal or alloy
This imparts desirable physical characteristics
due to change in microstructure
Improvements
o
o
o
o

Toughness
Hardness
Resistance to shock
Fatigue resistance

Two broad categories with respect to materials

o Heat treatment of ferrous metals
o Heat treatment of non ferrous metals

Broad Categories of Heat Treament

The various heat treatment processes may be broadly classified as:

Hardening process -This process is intended to produce hardened

structure by quench-hardening. Hardening increases wear resistance and
strength of material. However, hardening often results in turning the
structure of the work brittle. Besides, internal stress increases
tremendously while machinability and ductility of the metal decrease.

Softening processes - These processes are intended primarily to soften

the material, such as Annealing; also those intended primarily to remove
stresses either inherent or consequent upon prior operations.

Toughening process- This process is intended to produce a structure

possessing good strength and ductility by means of Normalizing. Results
into improved machinability, grain structure refinement, homogenization and
modification of residual stresses.

Case and Surface-hardening process - This process is employed to

produce a 'case' or surface layer substantially harder than the interior or
core of the work-piece. They include carburizing, nitriding , induction
hardening, selective laser hardening..

Hardening Process
Part is heated to pre determined temperature- Critical

Temperature
o
o

Temperature at which steel will harden is called its critical

temperature
Critical temperature depends on the type of alloy and carbon
content (1400-2400F)

After heating part is quenched in brine, water, oil or air

blast
o
o
o

Water or brine is used to quench plain carbon steel

Oil used to quench alloy steels
Cold air blast is used for high alloy steel

Quenching leaves the steel hard and brittle, this

brittleness needs to be reduced by Tempering or

Drawing

Hardening Processes
In this process steels which

contain sufficient carbon, and

perhaps other alloying elements,
are cooled (quenched) sufficiently
rapidly from above the
transformation temperature to
produce Martensite, the hard
phase already described.
There is a range of quenching

media of varying severity, water or

brine being the most severe,
through oil and synthetic products
to air which is the least severe.

Softening Process
Stress Relieving
Relieves the stresses developed in parts

due to cold work, machining or welding

Parts heated to below critical temperature
ie 1100-1200F
Held at this temperature for 1 hr per inch
of thickness
Cooled slowly in still air at room
temperature or in furnace

Softening Process-Annealing
Annealing reduces the hardness of the part to

make it easy to machine or work

Metal is heated to 50-100F above its critical
temperature (normal hardening temperature)
Holding time depends upon the shape and
thickness of the piece
Slow cooling is performed in some insulating
material such as ashes or a furnace
Primarily used for ferrous metals, but non
ferrous metals can also be annealed after they
become work hardened

Softening Processes-Annealing

Toughening Processes
Tempering Process

After quenching the steel is hard,

brittle and internally stressed. Before
use, it is usually necessary to reduce
these stresses.

Tempering is the process of heating a

martensitic steel at a temperature
below the eutectoid transformation
temperature. This makes it softer
and more ductile.

Tempering increases the toughness

of the work piece. There will also be a
reduction in hardness and the
selection of tempering temperature
dictates the final properties.

Toughening Processes-Normalising
Normalising is used to soften and relieve internal

stresses after cold work and to refine the grain size and
metallurgical structure.
It may be also be used for castings to improve their

machinability and future heat treatment response.

This requires heating to above the Austenitisation

temperature, holding for sufficient time to allow

temperature equalisation followed by air cooling.
Normalising is similar to annealing but with a faster

cooling rate.

Case Hardening
Low carbon steel cannot be effectively hardened

by conventional heat treatment

Part is heated to red heat and small quantity of
carbon or nitrogen is introduced in its surface
This produces a hard shell on the surface
Following three methods
o
o
o

Pack method or carburizing

Liquid salt method
Gas method

Pack Method or Carburizing

Part is buried in a carbonaceous material

in a container
Container is placed in a furnace for 15-60
minutes
Time controls the depth of the case
After removal from the furnace part is
quenched

Liquid Salt Method

Part is heated in molten cyanide salt bath

up to an hour
Cyanide is introduced in surface and
immersion time determines the thickness
of the hard case
After holding for desired time part is
quenched

Gas Method-Nitriding
Part is heated in a special airtight chamber
Ammonia gas is introduced at high

temperature
Ammonia gas decomposes into nitrogen
and hydrogen
Nitrogen enters the steel surface to form
nitride
Surface becomes extremely hard

Part Being Removed from

Cyanide Bath

Padlock Shackles Being Loaded

in Nitriding Furnace

Surface Hardening
Surface hardening is the process that permits

the surface of high carbon and alloy steels to be

hardened without affecting the internal structure
of the metal
Three techniques
o
o
o

Flame Hardening: Surface is heated rapidly by flame

of gas torch and then quenched
Induction Hardening: Heating is performed by high
frequency electrical current and then quenched
Laser Hardening: 3.2 to 15.9 mm Laser beam
focused on area to be hardened. Small area gets self
quenched within few seconds. Part does not get
warped or distorted

Steel Heat Treatment Processes

It should be noted that not all steels will respond to all heat

treatment processes, Table below summaries the response,

or otherwise, to the different processes
Anneal
yes

Normalise
yes

Harden
no

Temper
no

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes

yes
yes
yes
yes
yes

yes
yes
maybe
no
no

yes
yes
yes
yes
no

yes
yes
yes
yes
no

Stainless Steels
(Ferritic eg 405,
430 442)

yes

no

no

no

Stainless Steels
(Martensitic eg
410, 440)

yes

no

yes

yes

Low Carbon
<0.3%
Medium Carbon
0.3-0.5%
High Carbon
>0.5%
Low Alloy
Medium Alloy
High Alloy
Tool Steels
Stainless Steel
(Austenitic eg
304, 306)

Aluminum Alloys Heat Treatment

Preheating or homogenizing, to reduce
chemical segregation of cast structures and to improve
their workability

Annealing, to soften strain-hardened (work-hardened)

and heat treated alloy structures, to relieve stresses, and
to stabilize properties and dimensions

Solution heat treatments, to effect solid solution

of alloying constituents and improve mechanical
properties

Precipitation heat treatments, to provide

hardening by precipitation of constituents from solid
solution.

Preheating or Homogenization
This thermal operation applied to ingots prior to

hot working is referred to as "ingot preheating

Purposes depending upon the alloy, product,
and fabricating process involved are
o
o

Principal objectives is to improve workability

The microstructure of most alloys in the as-cast
condition is quite heterogeneous. Microstructure is
homogenized

Annealing
The distorted, dislocated structure resulting from cold

working of aluminum is less stable than the strain-free,

annealed state, to which it tends to revert
Accompanying the structural reversion are changes in
the various properties affected by cold working
Lower-purity aluminum and commercial aluminum alloys
undergo these structural changes only with annealing at
elevated temperatures
These changes occur in several stages, according to
temperature or time, and have led to the concept of
different annealing mechanisms or processes.

Aluminum Heat Treatment to

Increase Strength
A three-step process
o

Solution heat treatment. Dissolution of soluble

phases

o
o

Quenching. Development of supersaturation

Age hardening. Precipitation of solute atoms either
at room temperature (natural aging) or elevated
temperature (artificial aging)

Quenching
The most critical step in the sequence of

heat treating operations

The objective of quenching is to preserve
as nearly intact as possible the solid
solution formed at the solution heat
treating temperature, by rapidly cooling to
some lower temperature, usually near
room temperature.

Aluminum Copper Alloy

Aluminum Heat
Treatment Designations
F As Fabricated - No special control has been performed to the
heat treatment or strain hardening after the shaping process such as
casting, hot working, or cold working.

O Annealed - This is the lowest strength, highest ductility temper

H Strain Hardened - (applied to wrought products only) Used for
products that have been strengthened by strain hardening, with or
without subsequent heat treatment.

W Solution Heat Treated - This is seldom encountered

because it is an unstable temper that applies only to alloys that
spontaneously age at ambient temperature after heat treatment.

T Solution Heat Treated - Used for products that have been

strengthened by heat treatment, with or without subsequent strain
hardening.

Heat Treatment Temper Codes

T1 - Cooled from an elevated temperature shaping process and naturally

aged to a substantially stable condition.

T2 - Cooled from an elevated temperature shaping process, cold worked,

and naturally aged to a substantially stable condition.

T3 - Solution heat treated, cold worked, and naturally aged to a

substantially stable condition.

T4 - Solution heat treated, and naturally aged to a substantially stable

condition.

T5 - Cooled from an elevated temperature shaping process then artificially

aged.

T6 - Solution heat treated then artificially aged.

T7 - Solution heat treated then overaged/stabilized.
T8 - Solution heat treated, cold worked, then artificially aged.
T9 - Solution heat treated, artificially aged, then cold worked.
T10 - Cooled from an elevated temperature shaping process, cold worked,
then artificially aged.

Strain Hardening Codes

H1 - Strain hardened only
H2 - Strain hardened and partially annealed
H3 - Strain hardened and stabilized
H4 - Strain hardened and lacquered or painted.

Summary
Heat treatment basic concepts
Steel heat treatment Processes
Aluminum Heat Treatment Processes

Questions?

Toughness and Strength

Toughness, in materials science and metallurgy, is the resistance to

fracture of a material when stressed. It is defined as the amount of energy
per volume that a material can absorb before rupturing.
Tests can be done by using a pendulum and some basic physics to
measure how much energy it will hold when released from a particular
height. By having a sample at the bottom of its swing a measure of
toughness can be found, as in the Charpy and Izod impact tests.
Toughness is measured in units of joules per cubic metre (J/m3) in the SI
system and inch-pound-force per cubic inch (inlbf/in3) in US customary
units.
Strength and toughness are related. A material may be strong and tough if it
ruptures under high forces, exhibiting high strains; on the other hand, brittle
materials may be strong but with limited strain values, so that they are not
tough. Generally speaking, strength indicates how much force the material
can support, while toughness indicates how much energy a material can
absorb before rupture.

 Shock resistance is the property by virtue

of which material will withstand impact or

thermal shock without failure
Fatigue resistance is related to number of
stress cycle a material can take before
failure

Phase Diagram
(Understanding Heat Treatment)