HEAT TREATMENT

Dr. Muhammad Riaz Bhatti

7/6/2012

Objective
To know: Why Heat Treatment is required? What is the relationship b/w structure & properties?

How Micro-structure can be changed to obtain the

desired properties?

What are the heat treatment processes used for steels

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Contents
Why Heat Treatment is required?

How Micro-structure can be altered?

Spectrum of heat treatments used for steels Heat Treatment - definition Heat Treatment-processes

Surface Treatment Processes

Phase Diagram for Iron and Carbon

Austenite transformation
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Contents
Graphical summary of the process of heat

treatments of steels on an equilibrium diagram

Heat Treatment-processes in detail Decarburizing of steel during Heat Treating

Hardening of Steel
Mass effect & Hardenability Time-Temperature transformation (TTT ) Jominy End-Quench test Quenching Media
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Contents
Design Concerns, Residual Stresses, Distortion

& Cracking
Tempering of Martensite Symbols used in the Heat Treatment of steel

Micro-structure of different phases of steel

Austenite Pearlite & Ferrite / Cementite transformation

Diffusion of Carbon in Pearlite

Quenching rates &Cooling Rates
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TTT Diagram

Why Heat Treatment is required?

Three reasons for heat treatment To soften before shaping To relieve the effects of strain hardening (stresses) To acquire the desired properties (strength and toughness) in the finished product.
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Spectrum of heat treatments used on ferrous metals

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Definition

Heat Treatment

A combination of heating & cooling operations, timed & applied to metals or alloys in a solid state in a way that will produce desired properties . All basic heat treating processes for steel involve the transformation or decomposition of austenite.

The nature & properties of any transformation products determine the physical & mechanical properties.
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Heat treatment processes

(commonly applied to steels)

Annealing
Normalizing

Quenching
Tempering Spheroidizing

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Surface Treatment Processes

(commonly applied to steels)

Surface Hardening
Carburizing Nitriding Carbonitriding Cyaniding

Induction Hardening
Flame Hardening
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Phase Diagram for Iron & Carbon

Pure iron can have two crystal structures at equilibrium FCC (austenite) above about 910C, BCC (ferrite) below this When we add carbon, a third phase, iron carbide (Fe3C), also called cementite, becomes possible
1. All austenite 2. Ferrite begins to form at the grain boundaries of the austenite 3. The remaining austenite transforms into ferrite plus carbide
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1
2

3
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Austenite transformation

AUSTENITE

QUENCH

MARTNSITE

SLOW COOL

FERRITE + CARBIDE

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Graphical summary of heat treatment processes of steels on an equilibrium diagram

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Heat Treatment of Steel

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Annealing
Heating the steel above upper critical temperature and then cooling in furnace (very slow cooling, cooling rate ~ 10oC / hour). Objective of Annealing

reduces the hardness, stresses and

improves ductility, machinability, electrical & magnetic properties. Structure after annealing is coarse pearlite
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Annealing
Types Process annealing -- to restore some ductility

to work piece allowing it to be worked further

without breaking Full annealing to create entirely new homogeneously & uniform structure resulting more ductile material that has greater stretch ratio & reduction of area properties but with low yield & tensile strength
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Stages of Annealing
There are three stages of recrystallization/ Annealing : Recovery
Removal of defects ( dislocations) & internal stresses

Recrystallization
Nucleation of strain-free grains & their growth to replace the deformed ones

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Grain growth
Microstructure starts to coarsen
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Annealing by way of doing the operation

Box annealing Parts placed in airtight container to prevent oxidation

Bright annealing performed in controlled atmosphere (Ar, N2) to prevent the formation of oxide on the surface , used for medium carbon steel
Diffusion annealing of semiconductor Si wafers are annealed, so that dopant atoms, B, P can diffuse into substitutional positions in the crystal lattice, resulting drastic changes in the 7/6/2012 18 electrical properties of the semiconductor material

Normalizing
Heating the steel 50oC above upper critical temperature and then cooling in air (cooling rate ~100 oC / hour). The Objective of normalizing are: To eliminate coarse grain structure obtained during castings, forgings, rolling & stamping etc To increase strength of medium carbon steel To improve machinability of low carbon steels. To improve the structure of welds. To reduce the internal stresses 7/6/2012
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Normalizing
Process is used by rolling mills, forging/foundry shops to hot worked parts/casting for grain size /alloy uniform distribution Structure after normalizing is fine pearlite. Better surface finish & better mechanical properties Hardness & strength more than the Annealed steel. Improved machinability of hypo-eutectoid steels.

Economical process than annealing

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Normalizing / Annealing

Figure - Schematic summary of the simple heat treatments for (a) hypoeutectoid steels and (b) hypereutectoid steels.
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2003 Brooks/Cole, a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Thomson Learning is a trademark used herein under license.

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Figure - The effect of carbon and heat treatment on the properties of plain-carbon steels.

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Spheroidizing
Prolong heating between 650-700oC (i.e., just below A1 line) for 12 hrs, No phase change, but due to surface energy (surface tension) effects, the cementite layers

of pearlite gradually break up & assume a

globular / Spheroidal form. Objective: Spherodized structure improves machinability
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as well as ductility of high-Carbon steels.

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Spheroidite
If tempered for a long time, Fe3C forms spheres and grows inside Ferrite. Very soft, easy to machine

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Hardening
A process in which steel is heated to the austenitizing temperature and quenched (rapidly cooled) in water, oil or molten salt baths to form hard martensite. Steels with enough Carbon and alloy content will direct harden.
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Hardening
Purpose can be to increase :

Hardness

(e.g., gauge block dimensional invariance 60-65HRC)

requires

Wear resistance (as required by tools) Strength

springs) (Y.S., toughness required for

Physical
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(eg., coefficient thermal expansion & magnetic properties)

properties

of
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Hardening
The hardening process is decomposition of eutectoid. based on the This reaction is dependent upon the following factors:
Adequate Carbon contents to produce hardening Austenite decomposition to produce pearlite, bainite & martensite structures Heating rate & time Quenching medium

Quenching rate Size of part Surface conditions

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Hardening Process
(Heating & Quenching) Heating the steel above upper critical temperature and then cooling in water or in oil (very fast cooling). After quenching, steel is very hard and brittle and practically of no use.
Structure after quenching is fine martensite which is complex, hard and brittle structure. The rate of quenching depends on the fluid media used and the degree of agitation. Water quenches are the most severe, followed by oil, molten salt, and gas quenching. 7/6/2012 28

Determination of hardening temperature for 0.6 % Carbon steel

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Effect of Carbon on the Hardness of Steel

Figure - Formation of quench cracks caused by residual stresses produced during quenching. The figure illustrates the7/6/2012 development of stresses as the austenite transforms 31 to martensite during cooling.

Decarburizing of steel during Heat Treating

Before heat treatment

After heat treatment

Besides oxidizing, steels also preferentially lose some carbon during a

high temperature heat treatment in air (in industry, steel is usually heat
treated under a non-oxidizing atmosphere to prevent decarburization). Grind this decarburized layer away before taking your hardness
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Hardening methods
Quenching in single medium, water
Most extensively used Disadvantage:- cooling rate very high, cracks, distortion & other defects may occur

In order to avoid these defects other hardening methods are: Quenching in two methods First quench to 300-400 C & then transfer to less intensive quenching medium (air or oil). The purpose is to reduce internal stresses associated with austenite to martensite transformation Applied to Carbon steel tools, e.g., taps, dies, milling cutters 7/6/2012 33 etc to avoid cracking / warping

Hardening methods
Hardening with self tempering
Article is held in quenching medium until it is completely cooled, but is withdrawn to retain a certain amount of heat in core which accounts for tempering, Applied for chisels, hammers, centre punches & other tools that required high surface hardness in conjunction with tough core

Stepped quenching or martempering

After heating at the required temp, quenching at 150 to 300C then cooling in air / oil Less Vol change / warping / cracks

Isothermal quenching or austempering

Performed in same manner as martempering but with longer holding time at 250 to 400C (above the martensite point 34 to 7/6/2012 ensure a sufficiently complete austenite decomposition

Tempering process
Reheat the quenched steel up to intermediate temperature (below lower critical temperature) and then cool. The structure is called tempered martensite. After tempering, steel becomes tough and looses some hardness & become useable now. Tempering affects hardness, strength (yield,
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UTS), & % elongation

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Why Tempering is done?

After hardening steel must be tempered to
Reduce brittleness
Relieve the internal stresses modify structure to obtain pre-

determined mechanical properties

Martensite needs to be tempered to get better ductility. This

happens when Fe3C is allowed to precipitate from the supercooled

Martensite.

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Transformation diagram illustrating the formation of tempered martensite

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TEMPERING
If we reheat martensite above the martensite transformation temperature, but below the austenite temperature, it will turn into ferrite plus carbide. However, if the carbide is very finely dispersed, this material will have properties similar to martensite almost as hard and strong, but more ductile.

Heating to slightly above the martensite temperature accomplishes this fine dispersion.
This type of heat treatment is called tempering.
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Figure - The effect of tempering temperature on the mechanical properties of a 1050 steel.

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Spheroidite

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Austenite
Slow Cooling Moderate cooling (AS) Isothermal treatment (PCS)

Rapid Quench

Martensite

Re-heat

Re-heat

Tempered Martensite

coarse 7/6/2012

fine

Pearlite

Bainite

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SUMMARY: PROCESSING OPTIONS

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Summary H/T operations vs properties

Annealing
Hardness Toughness Tensile strength
Low

Normalizing Quenching
Medium High

High

Medium

Low

Low

Medium

High

Ductility
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High

Medium

Low
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Mass effect of Heat-treatment

Mass effect is the variation in hardness across a section of the components having higher thickness through heat treatment. Hardness of carbon steel depends upon: Carbon content & Rate of cooling A part having less thickness will cool more quickly than a part having higher thickness , if both are cooled in a same quenching media Result Outer hard layer of martensite & 7/6/2012 45 Inner core of soft structure

Mass effect of Heat-treatment

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Mass effect of Heat-treatment

Carbon steel can be hardened throughout its x-section uniformally, if it is cooled very rapidly from austenite region to room temperature by ensuring completion of 100 % martensitic transformation. However, for large diameter bars or large forgings such uniformity in hardening is impossible to attain, & interior regions are always softer than the outer portions.

Thus the effect of mass of component undergoing 7/6/2012 47 hardening has to be taken into account.

What is Hardenability?
The hardenability of a metal is its capability to be hardened by heat treatment.

It should not be confused with hardness, which is a measure

of the material's resistance to indentation or scratching. Jominy Bar is used to show how cooling rate affects

hardness
Alloyed steels (Cr, Mo, Ni, etc.) have higher hardenbility at same cooling rates than carbon steels

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Jominy Test

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Typical Jominy Curves

4340: Very hardenable, More expensive 1040: Less hardenable, Less expensive

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Jominy Test
Generally, the faster steel cools, the harder it will be. The Jominy bar measures the hardenbility of a steel.

Softest

Hardest

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Jominy Test

Figure - The set-up for the Jominy test used for 7/6/2012 52 determining the hardenability of a steel.

Jominy Test
To test the hardenability of a ferrous alloy, a Jominy test is used. A round metal bar of standard size is transformed to 100% austenite through heat treatment. It is then quenched on one end with room temperature water. As a result, the cooling rates throughout the material will vary significantly, being highest at the end being quenched. The hardenability is then found by measuring the hardness throughout the bar. The farther away from the quenched end that the hardness exists, the higher the 7/6/2012 hardenability.

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Design modification

Fig. (a) Shape containing nonuniform sections & a sharp interior corner that may crack during quenching. This is improved by using a large radius 7/6/2012 54 to join the section. (b) Original design containing sharp corner holes.

Symbols used in the Heat Treatment of steel

A Furnace Annealed Slow cooled

N - Normalized - Air cooled.

O - Oil Quenched WQ Water quenched. WT(370) Water quenched, tempered at 370C for 1 hour. WT(705) Water quenched, tempered at 705C for 1 hour.
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Quenching Media
The fluid used for quenching the heated alloy affects the hardenability.
Each fluid has its own thermal properties
Thermal conductivity Specific heat

Heat of vaporization

These cause rate of cooling differences

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Quenching Media
Cooling capacities of typical quench media are
Agitated brine Still water Still oil Cold gas Still air
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5. 1. 0.3 0.1 0.02

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Whats a CCT Diagram?

Phase Transformations and Production of

Microconstituents takes TIME.

Higher Temperature = Less Time.

If you dont hold at one temperature and allow

time to change, you are Continuously Cooling.

Therefore, a CCT diagrams transition lines will

be different than a TTT diagram.
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Slow Cooling

Time in region indicates amount of microconstituent

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Medium Cooling

Cooling Rate, R, is Change in Temp / Time C/s

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Fast Cooling

This steel is very hardenable 100% Martensite in ~ 1 minute of cooling!

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Spring Aging
A wound spring can lose its spring tension due to anelastic behavior, which causes the spring to unwind or change its shape over time. To avoid this springs are placed in an oven at 315 -

375 C for 2 hours for spring aging.

Once the springs are treated to spring aging, they do not usually change shape. Good for dimensional accuracy in formed shape
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Steam treating
Steam treating is the controlled oxidation of metals to produce a thin layer of oxide on the surface of a component. This process can be used to provide a component with increased corrosion resistance, better wear resistance, increased surface hardness, an attractive surface finish (producing a blue-gray to a blue-black appearance) and, in the case of porous materials such as powder metal, seal the part porosity and increase the density.

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Cryogenic Treatment
Deep Cryogenic Treatment is an extended process that very gradually "freezes" or removes heat from the items being treated. Typically, the parts are brought down to 300 degrees below zero (F) in a very slow ramp and then held at that temperature for an extended dwell (24 hours), before being returned to ambient temperature.

The last step is a post temper to +300/ +350 degrees F. The entire process takes 48 to 72 hours.
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Cont..

Cryogenic Treatment

Time and temperature promote additional metallurgical transformations to relieve residual stresses, normalize and stabilize metal, increase resistance to wear, and create a modified and uniform grain (or crystal) structure. The benefits of this process are increased part life, less wear, and improved performance. The most popular applications in motor sports include:
Brake Rotors & Brake Pads, Engine & Drive Train Components Spark Plugs, Rear Ends, Transmissions, Bearings

Other Automotive Applications: Blocks, Heads, Rotating Components, Valve Train (incl. Valves), Gears (incl. Transmission), Differential Components, Brake Drums, Discs, Calipers, Pads, Axles, etc.
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Thanks

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Hardenability
A steels hardenability is its ability to transform from austenite to
martensite to a certain depth below the surface. A steel having a high hardenability will form martensite deep

under the surface even though its cooling is relatively slow,

such as an air cool or a furnace cool. High hardenability: high hardness extending well below the

surface of the part, even at slow cooling rates

By contrast, a low-hardenability steel may only partially transform to martensite near the surface even if given a severe quench such as a water quench. Low hardenability: low or moderate hardness even at fast
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TTT Diagrams

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Pearlite Formation
Austenite precipitates Fe3C at Eutectoid Transformation Temperature (727C).

When slow cooled,

this is Pearlite
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Diffusion of Carbon in Pearlite

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Morphology of Pearlite
(a) (b)

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(a) coarse pearlite

(b) fine pearlite 3000X

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