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Heat Treatments

Heat Treatment
In the process of forming steel into shape and

producing the desired microstructure to achieve the


required mechanical properties, it may be reheated
and cooled several times.

Steps for all HT (anneals):


1.
2.
3.

Heating
Holding or soaking
Cooling

Time and temperature are important


at all 3 steps

Annealing

(Stress-relief)

Full Annealing
heats the steel to a temperature within the austenite

(FCC, ) phase region to dissolve the carbon. (50


deg.F above A3-Acm line)
The temperature is kept at the bottom of this range

to minimize growth of the austenitic grains. Then,


after cooling ferrite () and cementite structures will
be fine as well

Resulting microstructure:
For low-medium carbon steels coarse pearlite and

ferrite
It is easily machined

Why hypereutectoid steels are annealed


intercritically?
To prevent formation of brittle cementite network on

the grain boundaries


This is undesirable condition if machining is to be
done
Annealing is performed at temperatures between the
critical lines A3,1-Acm

Spheroidizing improving machinability


Used on steels with carbon contents above 0.5%
Applied when more softness is needed
Cementite transforms into globes, or spheroids
These spheroids act as chip-breakers easy

machining
Performed by heating to just below A3,1 line,
holding there (about 20h.or more) and then slowly
cooling

Normalizing
Allows steels to cool more

rapidly, in air
Produced structure fine
pearlite
Faster cooling provides
higher strength than at
full annealing

Process Annealing 3 stages


Recovery (stress-relief anneals)
Recrystallization (process anneals)
Grain Growth

Stress-relief Annealing
Heats the steel to just below the eutectoid

transformation temperature (A1) to remove the


effects of prior cold work and grain deformation.
This allows further forging or rolling operations.

Stresses may result from:


Plastic deformation (cold work, machining)
Non-uniform heating (ex. welding)
Phase transformation (quenching)

Stress-relief:
Is held at fairly low temperature
Is held for a fairly short time
So that recrystallization does not occur

Recovery (Stress-relief)
If you only add a small amount of thermal energy

(heat it up at little) the dislocations rearrange


themselves into networks to relieve residual stresses
Ductility is improved
Strength does not change

TS and elongation

Recrystallization
Add more heat and wait some more time, and new

grains start to grow at the grain boundaries.


The new grains have not been strain hardened
The recrystallized metal is ductile and has low
strength

How much time to wait?


Incubation period time needed to accumulate

stored energy from the lattice strain and heat energy


Then lattice starts to recrystallize
At first fast (lots of nucleation sites)
Slower at the end

How hot is hot?


Most metals have a recrystallization temperature

equal to about 40% of the melting point

Tr 0.4Tm ,

Minor factors for recrystallization


Pure metal
If an alloy host atom solvent

foreign atom solute


Solute atoms inhibit dislocations motion, higher
temperature is needed
Insoluble impurities (oxides and gases) become
nucleation sites and refine grains
Smaller initial grain size will recrystallize easier
at less temperature and time

Grain Growth
If you keep the metal hot too long, or heat it up

too much, the grains become large


Usually not good
Low strength

Size of grains vs. temperature


G
R
A
I
N
S
I
Z
E

200

400
600
Temperature, deg.C

Microscope images show:

Cold rolled steel recrystallized after


Grain growth after
90% reduction
2 min.at 830C 2min @ 930C.

Quenching media
Involves the principles of heat transfer
See procedures in ASM Metals Handbook
There are 9 possible choices (air, furnace, tap water,

oil, brine etc.)

3 stages of quenching
Vapor blanket
Vapor transport cooling
Liquid cooling

What is important?
Improved cooling rate (dT/dt) to beat the nose of the

S-curve
Agitate the quenchant reduce the time spend at the
vapor blanket stage
Chose the best fit of quenching media
Consider S/V ratio

Tempering (drawing)
Heating and holding steel below A1 line and slow

cooling to room temperature (1 temper cycle)


Done in the range 150-650C
Temper brittleness should be avoided (loss of
toughness at higher tempering temperature). Can be
avoided by quenching from the tempering
temperature

Martempering (Martquenching)
Martempering permits the transformation of

Austenite to Martensite to take place at the same


time throughout the structure of the metal part.
By using interrupted quench, the cooling is
stopped at a point above the martensite
transformation region to allow sufficient time for
the center to cool to the same temperature as the
surface.
Then cooling is continued through the martensite
region, followed by the usual tempering.

Special Tempering
Problem of retained austenite
That gives us untempered martensite
2 or 3 cycle tempering is a solution
That gives us total of tempered martensite
Different tempered martensites will have different

hardness

Austempering
The austemper process offers benefits over the more

conventional oil quench and temper method of heat


treating springs and stampings that requires the
uppermost in distortion control.

How to austemper?
Quench the part from the proper austentizing

temperature directly into a liquid salt bath at a


temperature between 590 to 710 degrees
Farenheit.
Hold at this quench temperature for a
recommended time to transform the Austenite into
Bainite.
Air cool to room temperature.

Austempering

End product is 100% bainite

Advantages of Austempering:
Less Distortion
Greater Ductility
Parts are plater friendly due to the clean surface

from the salt quench


Uniform and consistent Hardness
Tougher and More Wear Resistant
Higher Impact and Fatigue Strengths
Resistance to Hydrogen Embrittlement

Limitations of Austempering:
Austempering can be applied to parts where the

transformation to pearlite can be avoided.


This means that the section must be cooled fast
enough to avoid the formation of pearlite. Thin
sections can be cooled faster than the bulky sections.

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