TEQIP Workshop on Microstructure Engineering through Heat Treatments

Surface Hardening of Steels

Dr. Kaustubh Kulkarni

Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Indian Ins=tute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur, U.P. 2080216

Date: 20th October 2015

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 Why is Surface Hardening Required?
•  Some components require good toughness but very hard and wear
resistant surface
–  especially parts rota=ng against each other
–  e.g. gears engaged in each other and rota=ng at several thousand RPM
–  Gear teeth rub against each other and also exert bending forces on each other

The arrows indicate the bending forces

ac=ng on the engaged teeth

F F

•  Different treatments needed for surface than bulk of the component

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Various Surface Hardening Treatments
•  Carburizing and Hardening
–  Carbon is added to certain depth on the surface of a low carbon steel
–  The component is hardened aTer carburizing
•  Induc=on Hardening
–  Selec=ve areas of the component heated by induc=on hea=ng to desired
depth
–  Quenched aTer the induc=on hea=ng
•  Flame Hardening
–  Selected areas heated by oxy-acetylene flame
•  Nitriding
–  Nitrogen content increased on the surface and hard nitrides formed
–  Component exposed to nitrogenous atmosphere or dipped into nitriding salt
bath

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CARBURIZING AND HARDENING

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 Mo=va=on for Carburizing
Varia=on of Strength, Hardness and Duc=lity of a 43XX steel with Carbon Concentra=on

UTS

YS

Hardness (HRC)
Strength (Mpa)

% Elongation
HRC

Carbon Content (wt%) Carbon Content (Wt%)

Data taken from G. Krauss; Materials Science and Engineering A; Vol. 273-275; (1999) 40-57

•  High Carbon Steels have higher strength and hardness

•  Low carbon steels have higher toughness
•  Increasing carbon only on the surface of a low carbon steel can give hard surface
and tough core 5
 Principle of Carburizing
Source of Carbon
T = 860-900°C

Carbon diffuses from

surface into the core

Steel Component

•  At a high temperature, carbon is con=nuously added on the

surface of the component from a solid, liquid or gas source
•  With =me, carbon diffuses into the steel
•  Depth up to which carbon diffuses into steel controlled by
“=me” and “temperature” 6
 Carburizing: A Diffusion Controlled Process
T = 860-900°C
Source of Carbon Diffusion ∂C ∂2C
Equa=on =D 2
∂t ∂x
Ini=al at t = 0, C(x,0) = C for x > 0
Constant Carbon conc. at surface: CS x=0 Condi=on 0

Boundary at x = 0, C(0,t) = Cs
Condi=ons at x = ∞, C(∞,t) = C0
Steel with original
composi=on C0
x=∞

⎡ ⎛ x ⎞⎤ 2 z

C( x ) = C0 + (Cs − C0 ) ⋅ ⎢1− erf ⎜ ) ⎟⎥ ()

erf z =
π
∫ exp (−η )dη
2

⎣ ⎝ 2 Dt ⎠⎦ 0

•  Knowledge of diffusivity of carbon in steel is needed to control the diffusion depth

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 Carburizing: Effect of Time and Temperature
Carbon penetra=on below
Carburizing =me as a func=on
surface at different =mes
of temperature
C0 = 0.2 wt%
CS = 0.8 wt%
t1 C0 = 0.2 wt%
T = 900°C
t2 CS = 0.8 wt%
Carbon Conc. (wt%)

Carburizing time (hr)

C.D. = depth where
t3 carbon is 0.4 wt%

x3
x2
x1
Temperature (°C)
Depth below Surface (mm)

•  At a given temperature, doubling diffusion depth requires four =mes longer

carburizing =me
•  Time required to achieve desired case depth decreases with increasing temperature

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Hardening aTer Carburizing

•  It is necessary to carry out

carburizing at a temperature
above A3 temperature for the
steel

•  It is necessary to quench the

component aTer carburizing to
achieve the desired hardness

•  Tempering is necessary aTer

hardening for reducing briileness

wt% Carbon

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Microstructure Evolu=on in Carburized and Hardened Steel
CCT Diagram for 20MnCr5 Steel
•  Martensite formed at the surface
–  Cooling rate fastest at surface
–  High carbon shiTs the CCT curve towards right
for the surface
–  Easy to miss the baini=c nose

•  Core contains bainite along with small

amount of martensite

•  Thick parts may contain some ferrite and

pearlite along with bainite at the core

The diagram taken from:

hip://www.metalravne.com/steelselector/steels/EC100.html 10
Accessed on 18th Oct 2015
 Microstructure of a Carburized and Hardened Steel
Microstructures at various cross sec=ons of a 0.2%
plain carbon steel, which was carburized and hardened

Surface consists of
martensite and some
retained austenite

Cross sec=on of a gear tooth which Sub-surface consis=ng of

was subjected to carburizing and fine pearlite (dark) and
hardening. The case is clearly martensite with lower C
highlighted by its darker etching than surface

Core consis=ng of
proeutectoid ferrite
(white) and low carbon
martensite

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hip://www.georgesbasement.com/Microstructures/LowAlloySteels/Lesson-4/Specimen03.htm
 Micro-Hardness Profiles on a Carburized Hardened Steel

Micro-Hardness (Hv)
C.D. = 0.92 mm

A typical micrograph showing the

micro-hardness indents from surface
towards the core

Depth below Surface (mm)

•  Hardness decreases from surface to core

•  C.D. is taken as the depth at which hardness falls to 550Hv
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 Some Carburizing Steels and Their Uses
Some carburizing steel grades and their composi=ons in wt%
Steel grade C Si Mn P S Cr Mo Ni
max max max
20MnCr5 0.17- 0.4 1.1- 0.035 0.035 1.0-1.3 --- ---
0.22 1.4
16MnCr5 0.14- 0.4 1.0- 0.035 0.035 0.8-1.1 --- ---
0.19 1.3
20MoCr4 0.17- 0.4 0.7- 0.035 0.035 0.3-0.5 0.4- ---
0.22 1.0 0.5
21NirMo2 0.17- 0.4 0.65- 0.035 0.035 0.4-0.7 0.15- 0.4-
0.23 0.95 0.25 0.7
17CrNiMo6 0.15- 0.4 0.4- 0.035 0.035 1.5-1.8 0.25- 1.4-
0.2 0.6 0.35 1.7

•  Carburizing steels contain low carbon, typically 0.15 to 0.25 wt%

•  Carbon content at the surface raised to ~0.8 wt% aTer carburizing
•  Applica=ons: Transmission components like gears and drive shaTs

* Source: DIN 17210; Standard for Case Hardening Steels 13

 Gas Carburizing Process
•  Most oTen Methane (CH4) is used as carburizing gas
•  Methane is mixed with a carrier gas to avoid soot forma=on
on components
•  Desired carbon poten=al is maintained by adjus=ng the
reac=on equlibira in furnace atmosphere

CO + H2O = CO2 + H2

•  CO/CO2 ra=o adjusted to establish required carbon poten=al

•  H2/H2O ra=o adjusted to maintain the atmosphere reducing for steel

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INDUCTION HARDENING

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 Induc=on Hardening: Principle

hip://www.heaireatmentsservice.com/induc=on-hardening-services-2104452.html
hip://www.alfing-crankshaTs.com/en/
automo=ve/surface-treatment.html

•  The desired part of the component kept inside an induc=on coil

•  A.C. current passed through the coil induces magne=c field around the component
•  The magne=c field induces eddy currents in the component
•  The eddy currents are predominantly generated at or near the surface
•  By adjus=ng the frequency of the A.C. current, depth of hea=ng can be adjusted
•  Heated part is then quenched in water or oil

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 Induc=on Hardening: Materials and Use

•  Induc=on hardening is used where selec=ve parts of a

heavy duty component has to be case hardened
•  Since no carburizing is done, the induc=on hardenable
part has to contain medium carbon, typically
equivalent carbon content of 0.4-0.45 wt%
•  Examples of applica=on are crank shaT, cam shaTs etc.

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NITRIDING

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 Nitriding: Principle
•  Steel is exposed to nitrogenous atmosphere

NH3 = N + 3H (at 525-550°C)

•  The nascent nitrogen reacts with various alloying elements in
the steel (e.g. Al, Mo, Cr etc.) to form nitrides
•  The nitride layer formed on the surface is very hard
•  Usually the ini=al few microns of dense nitride layer (called
“White Layer”) is briile and has to be removed
•  No quenching is done
–  The steel has to be heat treated before nitriding process, typically has
tempered martensi=c structure

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 Nitrided Steel Microstructure

hip://www.gas-nitriding.com/index.php?p=1_6_Technical-Informa=on

•  3-4 microns of white layer has to be removed

•  A nitride layer of a few tens of microns thick on the surface
•  Tempered martensite in the subsurface and core
•  Case Hardness is much higher than in carburized or induc=on hardened steels
–  1200 to 1500Hv compared to 750-800 Hv of carburized steel
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 Nitriding: Materials and Applica=ons
Some Nitriding steel grades and their composi=ons in wt%

Steel grade C Si Mn Al Cr Mo
Nitralloy 135 (G) 0.3-0.4 0.2-0.4 0.4-0.7 0.85-1.2 0.9-1.4 0.15-0.25
Nitralloy 135 0.38-0.45 0.2-0.4 0.4-0.7 0.85-1.2 1.4-1.8 0.3-0.45
(AircraT grade)
Nitralloy N 0.2-0.27 0.2-0.4 0.4-0.7 0.85-1.2 1.0-1.3 0.2-0.3
Nitralloy EZ 0.3-0.4 0.2-0.4 0.5-1.1 0.85-1.2 1.0-1.5 0.15-0.25
(0.15-0.25% Se)

•  Nitriding steel contains 0.2 to 0.4 wt% C and nitride forming elements;
mainly Al
•  Applica=ons of nitrided steels include: Gauges, forming dies, valve slides
and sleeves, thrust washers etc.
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 Helpful References
•  R. C. Sharma; Principles of Heat Treatment of Steels’ New Age
Interna=onal Limited Publishers

•  Donald S. Clark and Wilbur R. Varney; Physical Metallurgy for Engineers;

East-West Press Pvt. Ltd.

•  Sydney H. Avner; Introduc=on to Physical Metallurgy; McGraw-Hill

Educa=on Pvt. Ltd.

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 Thank you

Any Ques=ons????

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