HEAT TREATMENT OF STEELS

Chapter 10
History
• Steels can be hardened through time and
temperature induced transformation of their
crystal structure.
• Steels are unique and the most important
engineering material.
• Heat Treating the controlled heating and cooling
of metals for the primary purpose of altering
their properties (strength, ductility, hardness,
toughness, machinability, etc.)
Equilibrium Diagrams
• Phase is a homogeneous component of a metal
alloy.
• Equilibrium Phase Diagram is a graph
showing phase relationships that occur in a
metal alloy as it slowly cools from molten state.
• Equilibrium is said to exist when enough time
is allowed for the occurrence of everything that
wants to occur.
Two main types of Solid Solution
• Interstitial solute atoms located between the
atoms of the host metal.
• Substitutional solute atoms displacing atoms
of the host metal.
• Single phase the metal is completely pure and
there are no other elements present.
• Solute a substance that is dissolved in a solvent
to create a solution.

The phase diagram is a graph with an

ordinate of temperature and an abscissa of
percentage of alloying element. The graph shows
the boundaries of the regions where various
phases are present in a binary alloy, one with two
components, A and B.
• There are no pure metals because our limited
ability to refine metals to high purity.
• The resultant alloy may not have a single melting
point.

A phase diagram of a metal with a single

alloying element that is completely soluble
through all ranges of composition.
The grain structure of the solid solution of A
and B results from the formation of separate
crystallites on solidification.
• Dendrites the grains form from tiny treelike
structures.
• Solubility of metals and other elements depends
on the nature of the host element and the nature
of the intended solute.
• Eutectic or easy-melting alloy, and it has a
single melting point.
• Eutectic alloys typically have a lamellar
structure of the two phases that predominate in
that alloy.
• The composition of iron and carbon that
coincides with this point is called the eutectoid.
• Binary (two elements)
• Ternary (three major elements)
• Quaternary (four major elements)
• Lever law the phase relationships calculations.
• Microstructures used to determine if one metal or
element is soluble in another.
Morphology of Steel
• Steel as an alloy of carbon and steel, when
carbon is within the approximate limits of
0.06% to 2.0%.
• Steels and irons are not usually heat treated
under equilibrium conditions.
• The net result is a distorted crystal structure
called body-centered tetragonal.
• The phase made up of iron-carbon with a body-
centered tetragonal structure is called
martensite.
Principal Stable Phases of Steel
• Ferrite BCC iron w/ carbon in solid solution
(soft, ductile, magnetic)
• Austenite FCC iron with carbon in solid
solution (soft, moderate strength, non-magnetic)
• Cementite Compound of carbon and iron FE3C
(Hard and brittle)
Basic requirements for hardening
Carbon Steels
• Heating to the austenitic temperature range.
• Sufficient carbon content.
• A rapid quench to prevent formation of
equilibrium products.
Microstructures of Carbon Steel
• Ferrite pure iron and low-carbon steel (x100)
• Pearlite an annealed 0.8% C steel is 100%
pearlite.
• Martensite quench-hardened steels (x500).