Copyright © 1991 ASM International®
ASM Handbook, Volume 4: Heat Treating
ASM Handbook Committee, p 601-619
Defects and Distortion in Heat-Treated
Parts
Anil Kumar Sinha, Bohn Piston Division
MOST OF THE PROBLEMS in heat-
treated parts are attributed to faulty heat-
treatment practices (such as overheating and
burning, and nonuniform heating and quench-
ing), deficiency in the grade of steels used,
part defect, improper grinding, and/or poor
part design. This article discusses overheat-
ing and burning, residual stresses, quench
cracking, and distortion in some detail and
offers some suggestions to combat them.
Most of these conditions result in a charac-
teristic appearance of the treated parts that
can be easily recognized by simple inspec-
tion. Some of these factors do not produce
any distinguishing features in the semifin-
ished or finished part. In particular, some of
the visual evidence does not recognize the
presence of overheating and burning and the
development of residual stresses leading to
distortion, quench cracking, and eventual
failure of the heat-treated parts; metallurgical
laboratory examination is needed to establish
these problems that contribute significantly to
the service performance of the part. Tool
designers must also be aware of the problems
and difficulties in manufacture, heat treat-
ment, and use.
Overheatin 8 and Burning of
Low-Alloy Steels
When low-alloy steels are preheated to
high temperature (usually > 1200 °C, or 2200
°F), prior to hot mechanical working (such as
forging) for a long period, a deterioration in
the room-temperature mechanical properties
(particularly tensile ductility and impact
strength or toughness) can be obtained after
the steel has been given a final heat treatment
(comprising reaustenitizing, quenching, and
tempering) (Ref 1-3). Linked with the im-
paired mechanical properties is the appear-
ance of intergranular matte facets on the
normal ductile fracture surface of an impact
specimen. This phenomenon is known as
overheating and has been a matter of con-
cern, especially in the case of steel forgings.
Overheating has also been noticed in steel
castings (due to variation in pouring temper-
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ature and effectiveness of the proprietary
grain inoculants applied to the mold surface),
in heavily ground parts, and in affected zones
of welds (Ref 4). The usual practice is to
reject the overheated products as being un-
suitable for service.
It has now been established that over-
heating is essentially a reversible process
caused by the solution of MnS particles in
austenite during heating or reheating at high
temperatures; the amount increases with
temperature, and its subsequent reprecipi-
tation during cooling occurs at intermediate
rates as very fine ( - 0 . 5 i~m) arrays of
a-MnS particles on the austenite grain
boundaries. On subsequent heat treatment
the intergranular network of sulfides may
provide a preferential, lower-energy frac- 166,6 ~rn
ture path in contrast to a normal transgran-
ular fracture path. As a result, when impact
loaded, a ductile intergranular fracture de-
velops due to decohesion of the MnS/matrix
interface and progress of microvoid coales-
cence. Figures 1 (a) and (b) show the usual
appearance of the fracture surface at differ-
ent magnifications (Ref 1).
When the low-alloy steel is preheated
prior to hot working at too high a tempera-
ture (normally > 1400 °C, or 2550 °F), local
melting occurs at the austenite grain bound-
aries as a result of the segregation of phos-
phorus, sulfur, and carbon (Ref 5). During
cooling, initially dendritic sulfides (proba-
bly type II-MnS) form within the phospho-
rus-rich austenite grain boundary, which
then transforms to ferrite. This results in I 12.5 p,rn I
excessively weak boundaries. Subsequent
heat treatment provides a very poor impact Fracture surface of an impact loaded speci-
strength and almost completely intergranu- Fig 1 men. (a) Appearance of intergranular fracture
lar fracture surface after impact failure. of 4.25Ni-Cr-Mo steel containing 0.34% Mn and
This phenomenon is termed burning. Burn- 0.008% S, in fully heat-treated condition but after
cooling from 1400 °C (2550 °F) at 10 °C/min (20 °F/rain).
ing thus occurs at a higher temperature than (b) Same specimen as in (a) but at higher magnifica-
overheating. If this occurs during forging, tion, showing ductile dimples nucleated by MnS par-
the forging will often break during cooling ticles precipitated at austenite grain boundaries.
o r subsequent heat treatment (Ref 4). Courtesy of The Institute of Metals
Detection of Overheating heating, namely, fracture testing and metal-
There are two basic methods for the lography (or etch testing). Overheating may
determination of the occurrence of over- also be detected by a decrease in mechani-
602 / Process and Quality Control Considerations

Table 1 Etching characteristics of overheated and burned steels

Reagent Method Action on overheated steel Action on burned steel

2.5% nitric acid in ethyl
alcohol
Saturated aqueous solution
o f ammonium nitrate
Aqueous 10% nitric acid +
10% sulfuric acid
85% orthophosphoric acid
(Fine's reagent)
Oberhoffer's reagent
Source: Ref 13
Swab surface for 30 s
Electrolytic, specimen anode,
current density 1.0 A cm -2
(6.5 A in. -2)
Etch for 30 s, swab surface;
repeat three times, then
repolish lightly
Electrolytic, specimen anode,
current density 0.15 A cm -2
(1.0 A in.-2), etching time 15
min
Swab surface for 30 s
May produce grain contrast, but White boundaries outlining
not indicative of overheating preexisting austenite grains
White boundaries outlining Black boundaries outlining
preexisting grains preexisting austenite grains
Black boundaries outlining White boundaries outlining
preexisting austenite grains preexisting austenite grains
Does not differentiate between Attacks inclusions at grain
overheated and nonoverheated boundaries
steel
Does not differentiate between Shows phosphorus segregation at
overheated and n o n o v e r h e a t e d grain boundaries
steel

cal properties. But such changes are not
very marked unless overheating tempera-
ture is high or overheating is too prolonged
or severe; in some instances the mechanical
properties do not change, even after the
observation of extensive faceting. Usually
the two methods mentioned above should
be used in conjunction with some measure
of toughness by impact or other testing in
order to get a clear understanding of the
degree and severity of overheating (Ref 2).
Fracture Testing. The direction of fracture
testing is important in steels manufactured
by conventional methods. It has been ob-
served by some workers (Ref 6) that the
longitudinal fracture test specimens parallel
to the rolling direction do not exhibit face-
ring until the corresponding transverse frac-
tures display extensive faceting. However,
the testing direction in electroslag-refined
(ESR) steels has been found to be insignif-
icant (Ref 7).
The scanning electron microscope is con-
sidered to be the best and most convenient
tool to detect the facets on the overheated
fracture surfaces. These facets are charac-
terized by small, well-defined, ductile dim-
ples; each dimple is usually nucleated, pre-
sumably by fine arrays of inclusion
particles: a-MnS particles (Fig 1) in Mn-
bearing steels (Ref 8, 9) or chromium sul-
fides in Mn-free steels (Ref 10, 11).
It is now well recognized that the fracture
test specimen should always be tested in the
toughest possible state (for example,
quenched and highly tempered [in the range
600 to 650 °C, or I 110 to 1200 °F] steels after
high-temperature austenitization) because
this condition is most prone to overheating
effects. Baker and Johnson (Ref 5) have
suggested that an increased proportion of
facets in the fracture specimens with in-
creasing tempering temperature is attribut-
ed to the corresponding increase of the
plastic zone size. In this case a slight
amount of weakening will be sufficient to
impart faceting because the grain boundary
strength becomes lower (Ref 2). It should be
noted that the existence of facets in the
fractured specimens is not always associat-
ed with a lowering of impact strength (Ref
12).
Metallography (or Etch Testing). The most
widely used etchant technique uses
Austin's reagent (aqueous solution of 10%
nitric and 10% sulfuric acids), ammonium
persulfate, molten zinc chloride, saturated
solution of picric acid at 60 °C (140 °F), and
an electrolytic etch based on saturated
aqueous ammonium nitrate. Table 1 shows
the etching characteristics of overheated
and burned steels (Ref 13). The etchant
procedure with Austin's etchant is as fol-
lows: The sectioned specimen is etched for
30 s in the etchant, removed, washed off,
and repeated three times. If the steel has
been overheated, the original austenite
grain boundaries will be preferentially at-
tacked, and a black network of etch pits will
be observed under the microscope (Ref 14).
According to Preece and Nutting (Ref 13),
the best results are obtained when ammoni-
um nitrate etch is applied on the sectioned
steel specimen in the fully heat-treated con-
dition where this etchant preferentially at-
tacks the matrix (original austenite grains),
leaving the grain boundary unaffected
(which appears as a white network).
Bodimeade (Ref 15) concluded that all these
etchants did not cope with mildly overheat-
ed low-sulfur steels. Table 2 is a summary
of the results of potentiostatic etching tech-
niques carried out by McLeod (Ref 12)
using nitric-sulfuric, saturated aqueous pic-
ric acid (at 60 °C, or 140 °F), and ammonium
nitrate etchants. He considered that when
the suitable etching conditions were estab-
lished, the potentiostatic etching method
rendered more reliable and reproducible
results as compared with the conventional
etching techniques. However, the same
problem with mildly overheated low-sulfur
steels still persisted. Hence, the use of etch
tests for low-sulfur low-alloy steels is not
recommended for the detection of mild
overheating.
Detection and Effects of Burning
Burning is not commonly encountered.
The two etchants (namely, nitric-sulfuric
acid and ammonium nitrate solution) used
for overheating can be successfully em-
ployed for detecting burning. When applied
to burned steels, these etchants react in a
manner opposite to that of overheated
steels. Preece and Nutting (Ref 13) found
ammonium nitrate solution to be the ideal
reagent to detect this phenomenon. Other
reagents are Stead's and Oberhoffer's re-
agents, which may also be used to check the
burning effect. However, these etchants are
unable to differentiate between overheated
and nonoverheated steels.
Factors Affecting Overheating
The occurrence and severity of overheat-
ing depend principally on important factors,
notably steel composition, temperature,
cooling rate, and method of manufacture.
Composition. Sulfur is the constituent
that greatly influences overheating. For
steels with less than 0.002 wt% sulfur, over-
heating does not occur; this is because of
the very low volume fraction of sulfides
formed. However, the commercial produc-
tion of such very-low-sulfur steels (for ex-
ample, ESR steels) is expensive. Above this
level of sulfur, the overheating onset tem-
perature rises with the increasing amount of
sulfur. It has now been explained that steels
with low sulfur content (0.01 to 0.02%) are
more prone to this defect than those with
high sulfur content (>0.3%) because the
transgranular strength is high, and therefore
a small amount of grain-boundary sulfide
precipitation is enough to induce intergran-
ular failure (Ref 16). The phosphorus con-
tent has been regarded with the most con-
cern in connection with burning. At
constant phosphorus level, there is an in-
crease in the overheating temperature with
the increase of sulfur content, whereas the
burning onset temperature decreases. Burn-
ing temperature is reduced with the increase
in phosphorus content. At low sulfur con-
tents, a wide gap between overheating and
burning temperatures exists. For example,
in the case of vacuum remelted steels, the
temperature gap between the onset of over-
heating and burning is - 3 0 0 to 400 °C (-570
 Defects and Distortion in Heat-Treated Parts / 603

Table 2 Summaryof potentiostatic etching experiments produces cracking and distortion of the
Best etching conditions
parts (Ref 2).
Anodic loop
Solution voltage, mV Observed effect Voltage, mV Observed effect Comments Reclamation of Overheated Steel
Saturated aqueous -400 Slight general 2200 (for 2 Classic white Operates best in the Severely overheated steels can often be
ammonium etching min) boundaries on a transpassive region at
nitrate dark background >+1500 mV; time at
completely restored by any of the following
any potential is heat treatments:
important
Underetching: random • Repeated normalizing (as many as six)
array of black pits
Overetching: uniform starting at temperatures 50 to 100 °C (90
black surface film to 180 °F) higher than usual, followed by
Aqueous 10% nitric 200 Vigorous None Most aggressive etchant a standard normalizing treatment (Ref 2)
acid + 10% dissolution of the three examined • Repeated oil-hardening and tempering
sulfuric acid of specimen;
formation of
treatments after prolonged soaking at 950
flaky black to 1150 °C (1740 to 2100 °F) in carburizing
film atmosphere. Rehardening more than
-250 Milder attack; About -250 Discontinuous Polish lightly after etching three times is not advisable
large black (for 30 s) array of to eliminate matrix
pits in grain-boundary etching effects
• Soaking at 900 to 1150 °C (1650 to 2100
mildly pits and some °F) for several hours. This causes growth
etched random pits of MnS particles by the Ostwald ripening
matrix within grains process and results in an excessive scale
Saturated aqueous 100 No real, None Anodic loop very weak,
picfic acid at positive necessitating long
formation and a loss of dimensional accu-
60°C (140 °F) indication of etching times because racy of the forgings
overheating current density is very
low; Teepol additions
gave no improvement Residual Stresses
Source: Ref 12 Heat treatment often causes stress- and
strain-related problems such as residual
stress, quench cracks, and deformation and/
to 750 °F) and there is a remote possibility between a temperature low enough for the or distortion. The residual stress may be
of burning occurring within the forging metal to be safe and high enough to be defined as the self-equilibrating internal or
range, unless the overheating is severe (Ref sufficiently plastic. The better the tempera- locked-in stress remaining within a body with
2). However, at high sulfur content the gap ture control, the better the compromise. no applied (external) force, external con-
becomes narrow. Severe overheating can be reduced to straint, or temperature gradient (Ref 18, 19).
Temperature. To avoid overheating, care mild overheating by soaking the steel at There are two types of residual stresses:
must be exercised in choosing a correct 1200 °C (2200 °F); with care, it may be
• M a c r o - or long-range residual stress is a
heating temperature so that uneven heating, removed completely. Hot working through
first-order stress that represents an aver-
flame impingement, and so forth, do not the overheating range to a low finish tem-
age of body stresses over all the phases in
occur (Ref 3). perature is also reported to remove the
polyphase materials. Macroresidual
Cooling Rates. The cooling rate through effects of overheating.
stresses act over large regions as com-
the overheating range affects the size and The alloying additions with a greater sul-
pared to the grain size of the material.
dispersion of intergranular et-MnS particles. fide-forming tendency, such as calcium, zir- Traditionally, engineers consider only
The intermediate cooling rate generally em- conium, cerium ( - 0 . 3 % of the melt), or
this type Of residual stress when design-
ployed, 10 to 200 °C/min (20 to 360 °F/min), mixed rare earth metals (in the form of
ing mechanical parts
gives rise to maximum faceting as well as to misch metal containing 52% Ce, 25% La,
• Microresidual stress, also t e r m e d tesse-
the greatest loss in impact strength. How- and 12% Nd), have been shown to increase
lated stress or short-range stress is a
ever, slow and rapid cooling rates will sup- significantly both the overheating tempera-
second-order or texture stress, which is
press overheating. At very slow cooling ture and mechanical properties of the steel
associated with lattice defects (such as
rates, the sulfide particles become large, (for example, ductility and toughness). Pro-
vacancies, dislocations, and pile-up of
small in number, and more widely dis- vided that a high Ce/S ratio (>2) existed, a
dislocations) and fine precipitates (for ex-
persed, and they have no more deleterious complete change in sulfide morphology oc-
ample, martensite) (Ref 20-22). Microre-
effects than the other inclusions already curred in low-alloy steels where the elon-
sidual is the average stress across one
present. At rapid rates, the sulfide inclu- gated MnS inclusion occurring in the un-
grain or part of the grain of the material.
sions are too fine to produce any damaging treated steel was totally replaced by small This information is indispensable in
effect (Ref 17). globular type-I rare earth sulfides and ox-
studying the essential behavior of materi-
Methods of Manufacture. Electroslag- ysulfides of high thermal stability even after
al deformation
remelted steels are less susceptible than austenitizing at 1400 °C (2550 °F) (Ref 2).
vacuum-remelted steels, presumably due to This treatment does not show intergranular These two types of residual stresses may
the difference in oxygen level. Similarly, faceting. Burning can also be avoided in the also be classified further as a tensile or
nickel steels are more prone to overheating. same way by treating with calcium, zirconi- compressive stress located near the surface
Vacuum-remelted steels have a lower over- um, cerium, or mixed rare earth addition to or in the body of a material. This section
heating temperature than some comparable form refractory, less-soluble sulfides. focuses on the effects, development, con-
air-melted steels. Control of Cooling Rates. Control of cool- trol, and measurement of long-range resid-
ing rates is not a practical method for large ual stresses.
Prevention of Overheating and forgings because extremely slow cooling is
Burning prohibitively time consuming and causes Effects of Residual Stress
F o r preventing overheating of steels, a excessive scaling and decarburization, and The major effects of residual stress in-
properly selected temperature should lie rapid quenching from high temperatures clude dimensional changes and resistance to
604 / Process and Quality Control Considerations

Surface residual stress (root of notch), ks• and nonferrous alloys, and surface harden-
-200 -160 -120 -80 -40 0 40 ing treatments are widely used to produce
1100 8645 notch cold rolled I 8645 notch warm rolled 160 residual compressive stresses at the compo-
0.25 notch radius/~- I 0.25 notch radius nent surface.
~i~ J / 18645 I Residual tensile stresses at the surface of a
1045 j I-"~.~/ I shot peenedI
untempered a~-,,,,L// • j14B35 part are usually undesirable because they
825 I 1045- ~,, " temper~-- 120 can effectively increase the stress levels;
~. tempered ..... may cause unpredicted stress-corrosion
cracking (due to the combined effect of
t e , ~ , e r e d • \ ~\ ~ , temperecl .~ stress and environment), fatigue failure,
._E I 8630-N ~ \ .E_ quench cracking, and grinding checks at
-~
= 550 I I tempered~ 8630 80 °~
N low external stresses; and tend to reduce
Specimen X ~ / o i l quenched fatigue life and strength of a part. In this
case the extent of residual stresses may be
6.75 ~ ~'~1 8660 oil uenched "¢'
i 8645 - - " ~ ~. / closer or even larger than the strength of the
275 -I I tempered [ ~ ' ~ - ~ _ ~ 40 material.
Residual tensile stresses in the interior of
L_ 1.750 in. L1.550 in. diam ~ 8645 oil quenched a component also may be damaging because
60° V-notch 1
diam 0.025 root radiu Compression ~--~-Tension of the existence and consequence of defects
0 i i I I 0 that serve as stress raisers in the interior
-1375 -1100 -825 -550 -275 0 275 part. The uncommon phenomenon of de-
Surface residual stress (root of notch), MPa layed cracking, in the absence of adverse
Effect of surface residual stress on the endurance limit of selected steel. All samples were water environments and large applied stresses,
Fig 2 quenched except as shown, and all specimen dimensions are given in inches. Source: Ref 23, 24 has now been attributed to the action of
residual stresses on minute defects in the
material (Ref 26). For example, a 17.5 cm
crack initiation. Dimensional changes occur with the surface residual compressive stress (6.9 in.) diam × 125 cm (49.2 in.) long steel
when the residual stress (or a portion of it) developed by specific heat treatment and shaft exploded into several pieces while
in a body is eliminated. In terms of crack surface processing. It is also apparent that, lying free of any applied loads, on a labora-
initiation, residual stresses can be either in the presence of high compressive stress, tory floor. Under normal loading, it would
beneficial or detrimental, depending on a poor microstructure in steel samples has a have required a tensile strength larger than
whether the stress is tensile or compressive. small influence on good endurance limit 150 MPa (22 ks•) to rupture the shaft.
Compressive Residual Stress. Because re- fatigue strength (Ref 23-25). These fatigue Hence, the understanding of residual stress
sidual stresses are algebraically summed improvements are of great significance in formation is very important, and this must
with applied stresses, residual compressive components, particularly where stress rais- be given due consideration in the manufac-
stresses in the surface layers are generally ers, such as notches, keyways, oil holes, ture and performance analysis of processed
helpful because the built-in compressive and so forth, are highly desirable in the parts (Ref 26).
stresses can reduce the effects of imposed design of components (for example, crank-
tensile stresses that may produce cracking shafts, half-shafts, and so on) (Ref 26). Development of Residual Stress in
or failure. Compressive stresses therefore Many fabrication methods have been devel- Processed Parts
contribute to the improvement of fatigue oped to exploit this phenomenon. Pre- Variations in stresses, temperature, and
strength and resistance to stress-corrosion stressed parts (including shrink-fits, pre- chemical species within the body during
cracking in a part and an increase in the stressed concrete, interference fits, bolted processing cause the production of mac-
bending strength of brittle ceramics and parts, coined holes, wire-wound concrete roresidual stresses. Various manufacturing
glass (Ref 22). pipe), mechanical surface working pro- processes such as forming, machining, heat
Figure 2 shows that the endurance limit cesses (such as shot peening, surface roil- treatment, shot peening, casting, welding,
fatigue strength of selected steels increases ing, lapping, and so on) of hardened ferrous flame cutting, and plating render their char-
acteristic residual stress pattern to pro-
cessed parts. Table 3 lists a summary of
Table 3 Summary of compressive and tensile residual stresses at the surface of the parts compressive and tensile residual stresses at
created by the common manufacturing processes the surface of parts fabricated by common
Compression at the surface Tension at the surface
manufacturing processes.
I n heat-treated parts, residual stresses
Surface working: shot peening, surface rolling,
lapping, and so on
Rod or wire drawing with deep penetration may be classified as those caused by a
Rolling with deep penetration thermal gradient alone, and a thermal gra-
Rod or wire drawing with shallow penetration(a) Swaging with deep penetration
Rolling with shallow penetration(a) Tube sinking of the outer surface dient in combination with a structural
Swaging with shallow penetration(a) Plastic bending of the shortened side change (phase transformation). When a
Tube sinking of the inner surface
Coining around holes
Grinding: normal practice and abusive conditions steel part is quenched from the austenitizing
Direct-hardening steel (through-hardened)(b) temperature to room temperature, a residu-
Plastic bending of the stretched side Decarburization of steel surface
Grinding under gentle conditions Weldment (last portion to reach room temperature) al stress pattern is established due to a
Hammer peening Machining: turning, milling combination of thermal gradient and local
Quenching without phase transformation Built-up surface of shaft transformation-induced volume expansion.
Direct-hardening steel (not through-hardened) Electrical discharge machining
Case-hardening steel Thermal contraction develops nonuni-
Flame cutting
Induction and flame hardening form thermal (or quenching) stress due to
Prestressing different rates of cooling experienced by
Ion exchange the surface and interior of the steel part.
(a) Shallow penetration refers to ~<1%reduction in area or thickness; deep penetration refers to ~1%. (b) Depends on the efficiency of Transformational volume expansion in-
quenching medium. Source: Ref 22
duces transformation stress arising from
 Defects and Distortion in Heat-Treated Parts / 605

Table 4 Changes in volume during the Table 5 Relevant physical properties in the development of thermal stresses
transformation of austenite into different Coefficient of
phases Modulus of elasticity expansion Thermal conductivity
Change in volume, %, as Metal GPa psi x 10 6 10-6/K 10-6pF W m -1 k -l Btu in./ft 2 • h • ° F
a function of carbon
Transformation content ( % C ) Pure iron (ferrite) 206 30 12 7 80 555
Typical austenitic steel 200 29 18 10 15 100
Spheroidized pearlite - 4 . 6 4 + 2.21 × (% C) Aluminum 71 10 23 13 201 1400
---, austenite Copper 117 17 17 9 385 2670
Austenite ~ 4.64 - 0.53 x (% C) Titanium 125 18 9 5 23 160
martensite
Spheroidized pearlite 1.68 x (% C) Source: Ref 29
martensite
Austenite ~ lower 4.64 - 1.43 × (% C)
bainite
Spheroidized pearlite 0.78 x (% C) ture gradients in good thermal conductors illustration of the distribution of residual
lower bainite (for example, copper and aluminum), but it stress over the diameter of a quenched bar
Austenite ~ upper 4.64 - 2.21 x (% C) is much more likely in steel and titanium due solely to thermal contraction in the
bainite
Spheroidized pearlite 0
(Ref 29). Another term involving thermal longitudinal, tangential, and radial direc-
upper bainite conductivity, called thermal diffusivity tions (Ref 19).
(Dth), is sometimes used in context with The maximum residual stress attained on
Source: Ref 4
temperature gradient. It is defined a s D t h = quenching increases as the quenching tem-
k/pc, where k is the thermal conductivity, p perature and quenching power of the cool-
is the density, and c is the specific heat. It is ant are increased. Tempered glass is made
the transformation of austenite into mar- clear that low Oth (or k) promotes large by utilizing quenching techniques in which
tensite or other transformation products temperature gradient or thermal contrac- glass is heated uniformly to the annealing
(Ref 27). Table 4 lists the changes in vol- tion. It should be emphasized that large size temperature and then surface cooled rapidly
ume during the transformation of austenite of the part and high heating or cooling rates by cold air blasts. This produces compres-
into different structural constituents (Ref (severity) of quenching medium also aug- sive surface stresses to counteract any ten-
28). ment temperature gradients leading to large sile bending stress, if developed during
Thermal Contraction. The relation be- thermal contraction. loading of the glass, thereby increasing its
tween the thermal stress ~th during cooling Table 5 lists some of the relevant material load-carrying capacity (Ref 31).
and the corresponding temperature gradient properties that affect thermal and residual Residual Stress Pattern Due to Thermal
in the component is given by: stresses (Ref 29). and Transformational Volume Changes (Ref
Residual Stress Pattern Due to Thermal 32). During quench hardening of a steel (or
tYth = E- AT" ct (Eq 1)Contraction. Residual stress is developed other hardenable alloy) part, hard martens-
where E is the modulus of elasticity, and tx during quenching of a hot solid part that ite forms at the surface layers, associated
is the thermal coefficient of expansion of involves thermal volume changes without with the volume expansion, whereas the
the material. It is thus apparent that thermal solid-state phase transformation. This situ- remainder of the part is still hot and ductile
stresses are greatest for materials with high ation also exists when a steel part is cooled austenite. Later, the remainder austenite
elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal from a tempering temperature below the A t. transforms to martensite, but its volumetric
expansion. Temperature gradient is also a Figure 3 shows the development of longitu- expansion is restricted by the hardened
function of thermal conductivity. Hence, it dinal thermal and residual stresses in a 100 surface layer. This restraint causes the cen-
is quite unlikely to develop high-tempera- mm (4 in.) diam steel bar on water quench- tral portion to be under compression with
ing from the austenitizing temperature, 850 the outer surface under tension. Figure 4(c)
°C (1560 °F) (Ref 30). At the start of cooling, illustrates the residual stress distribution
Water quenched the surface temperature S falls drastically as over the diameter of a quenched bar show-
100 mm (4 in.)
specimen
compared to the center temperature C (top ing volume expansion associated with phase
1000 left sketch of Fig 3). At time w, the temper- transformation in the longitudinal, tangen-
? c w 1700 ou- ature difference between the surface and tial, and radial directions (Ref 19). At the
core is at a maximum of about 550 °C (1020 same time during the final cooling of the
~ 500
1100 ~ °F), corresponding to a thermal stress of interior, its contraction is hindered by the
~. u 1200 MPa (80 tons/in. E) due to linear differ- hardened surface layers. This restraint in
600
E ential contraction of about 0.6%, if relax- contraction produces tensile stresses in the
~- 0 100 ~- ation does not take place. Under these interior and compressive stresses at the
1 10 103 Time, s conditions, tensile stresses are developed in outer surface. However, the situation as
the case with a maximum value of a (lower shown in Fig 4(c) prevails, provided that the
diagram), corresponding to time w in the net volumetric expansion in the interior,
upper diagram, and the core will contract, after the surface has hardened, is larger
producing compressive stresses with a max- than the remaining thermal contraction. In
imum of b. The combined effect of tensile some particular conditions, these volumet-
and compressive stresses on the surface and ric changes can produce sufficiently large
residual stresses that can cause plastic de-
_

core, respectively, will result in residual

•

e~ e~ stresses as indicated by curve C, where a formation on cooling, leading to warping or

E
o
E
o complete neutralization of stress will occur distortion of the steel part. While plastic
at some lower temperature u. Further de- deformation appears to reduce the severity
D e v e l o p m e n t of thermal a n d residual stresses crease in temperature, therefore, produces of quenching stresses, in most severe
Fig 3 in the longitudinal direction in a 100 m m (4 in.) longitudinal, compressive residual stresses quenching the quenching stresses are so
diameter steel bar on w a t e r q u e n c h i n g from the aus-
tenitizing t e m p e r a t u r e , 850 °C (1560 °F). Transforma-
at the surface and the tensile stresses at the high that they do not get sufficiently re-
tion stresses are not taken into c o n s i d e r a t i o n . Source: core, as shown in the lower right-hand leased by plastic deformation. Consequent-
Ref 30 diagram of Fig 3. Figure 4(a) is a schematic ly, the large residual stress remaining may
606 / Process and Quality Control Considerations
+~
Longitudinal
I L = longitudinal
Tangential
I R = radial
I
Radial
(a)
Schematic illustration of the distribution of residual stress over the diameter of a quenched bar in the
F i g 4 longitudinal, tangential, and radial directions due to (a) thermal contraction and (c) both thermal and
transformational volume changes. (b) Schematic illustration of orientation of directions. Source: Ref 19
reach or even exceed fracture stress of
steel. This localized rupture or fracture is
called quench cracking (Ref 32, 33).
It should be emphasized again that for a
given grade of steel, both large size of the
part and higher quenching speed contribute
to the larger value of thermal contraction,
as compared to the volumetric expansion,
of martensite. In contrast, when the parts
are thin and the quenching rate is not high,
thermal contraction of the part subsequent
to the hardening of the surface will be
smaller than the volumetric expansion of
martensite. Similarly, for a given quenching
rate, the temperature gradients decrease
with decreasing section thickness, and con-
sequently the thermal component of the
residual stress is also decreased (Ref 24).
Figure 5(a) shows the continuous cooling
transformation diagram of DIN 22CrMo44
low-alloy steel exhibiting austenitic decom-
position with the superimposed cooling
curves of the surface and center in round
bars of varying dimensions. If the large-
diameter (100 mm, or 4 in.) bar is water
quenched (that is, for slack quenching),
martensitic transformation occurs at the
surface, and pearlitic + bainitic transforma-
tions occur at the center, resulting in a
residual stress pattern (top of Fig 5) similar
to that due solely to thermal stress (Fig 4a).
I surface transforms before, the stress rever-
Ii
Longitudinal
.~_ T j
I during the tempering and finish-machining
I Residual Stress Pattern after Surface Hard-
i
I temperature (600 to 700 °C, or ll00 to 1300
T= tangential Tang?ntial
I relaxation of any transformation stresses.
t-'--->'
Rad al
(b) (el
During the rapid quenching of the medium-
size (30 mm, or 1.2 in.) bar diameter, the
start of bainite transformation at the center
coincides approximately with the transfor-
mation of martensite on the surface. This
results in compressive stresses at both the
surface and center, with tensile stresses in
the intermediate region (middle of Fig 5).
When the smaller-diameter (10 mm, or 0.4
in.) bar is drastically quenched (for exam-
ple, in brine), the entire bar transforms to
martensite. This is associated with very
little temperature variation between the sur-
face and the center of the part. In this
situation, tensile residual stress is devel-
oped at the surface and compressive stress
at the center of the bar (bottom, Fig 5) (Ref
34, 35).
Although the shallower hardening steels
exhibit higher surface compressive stresses,
deep hardening steels may develop moder-
ately high surface compressive stresses
with severe water quenching. When these
deep hardening steels are through-hardened
in a less efficient quenchant, they may
exhibit surface tensile stresses (Ref 24, 31).
Rose has pointed out the importance of
transformations of core and surface before
and after the stress reversal. According to
him the tensile surface residual stress oc-
curs when the core transforms after, and the
sal (Fig 4c and bottom of Fig 5), whereas
compressive surface residual stress takes
place when the core transforms before, and
the surface transforms after, the stress re-
versal (top of Fig 5). His analysis is capable
of explaining complex stress patterns for
various combinations of part sizes, quench-
ing rate, and steel hardenability (Ref 21).
However, the residual stress pattern in the
hardened steels can be modified either with
different transformation characteristics or
(after hardening) operations.
ening. In general, thermochemical and ther-
mal surface-hardening treatments produce
beneficial compressive residual stresses at
the surface.
Carburized and Quenched Steels. When
low-carbon steels are carburiZed and
quenched, first the core transforms at high
°F) to ferrite and pearlite with the attendant
Later, the high-carbon case transforms to
martensite at much lower temperature (less
than 300 °C, or 570 °F), accompanied by
volume expansion and under conditions of
no (or minimum) stress relaxation. As a
result, residual compressive stress is devel-
oped in the case with a maximum at the
surface.
Large differences in carbon level between
the case and the core determine the se-
quence of phase transformation on cooling
after carburizing and the resultant develop-
ment of compressive residual stress in the
case. Likewise, compressive residual stress
in the case increases as the core carbon
content decreases. Increasing case depth
reduces the contribution from the low-car-
bon core in the development of compressive
stress in the case, thereby adversely affect-
ing the fatigue properties (Ref 36).
In actual practice, a maximum compres-
sive stress develops at some distance away
from the surface (Fig 6 and 7). This effect
occurs because of the presence of retained
austenite, the extent of which depends on
steel composition, carbon content of the
case, quenching temperature, and severity
of quench. According to Koistinen (Ref 38)
and Salonen (Ref 39) the peak compressive
stress takes place at 50 to 60% of the total
case depth corresponding to about 0.5 to
0.6% carbon level, which produces a low
retained austenite content and martensite
hardness around the maximum. Another
factor that might influence this compressive
residual stress profile is that the martensite
formed in the lower-carbon regions of the
case is of the lath type, which also affects
the retained austenite content (Ref 20). The
reversal sign of residual stress takes place at
or near the case/core interface. Later, when
Koistinen's theory was applied to the mea-
sured data, it appeared that the position of
 Defects and Distortion in Heat-Treated Parts / 607

1.0
1000 1830
Distribution of
800 , ~ 1470 residual stresses
+20 +3 c"
o 0.5
600 ~ ~ 1110
8
400 \ ~._ 750

200 " ~ ~ 390

Surface Center -o ,
c.-~_
0 -20 -3
1000 1830 ~ o

800 ~ ~ 1470 m -40 -6

~ Center Surface ~
•~ +20 +3 "~ Tensile
400 - 750 X "o m
E E •"o .-
"~ o o
200 390
er 30 mm
0 Surfacel -20 diam -3 .9_
tt-
1000 1830

800 ( 1470 Center Surface

+20 [ +3 Compressive

600 ~.._.... 1110

Distance from the surface
/ 0 0
400 " ' ~-~,........._. 750 Relationship between carbon content, re-
I~/0 mm Fig 6 tained austenite, and residual stress pattern. It
-20 ~¢ diam -3 shows the development of peak compressive stress
some distance away from the surface. Source: Ref 20
Center Surface
nter
0 + = Tensile stresses
1 10 100 103 - = Compressive stresses strength, which permits the application of
Time, s significantly higher stresses than could nor-
mally be possible in fatigue loading. As in
(a) (b)
the carburizing practice, the surface com-
(a) Continuous cooling transformation diagrams of DIN 22CrMo44 steel showing austenitic decompo- pressive residual stresses are usually found
Fig 5 sition with the superimposed cooling curves of the surface and center during water quenching of round to increase, with depth below the surface
bars of varying dimensions. (b) The corresponding residual stress pattern developed because of thermal and
transformational volume changes. Source: Ref 34, 35
(Ref 45) (Fig 9, Ref 44). A fairly sharp
transition to a tensile state takes place near
the hardness drop-off between the case and
maximum compressive stress depends on trocarburizing, a (macro-) compressive re- unhardened surrounding material. With an
severity of quenching, total case depth, sidual stress is produced in the compound increase in distance from the steep transi-
steel hardenability, and so forth (Ref 21, layer and gamma prime phase (Ref 41). tion, the tensile condition gradually fades
40). Figure 7 shows the details of generation When nitrocarburized parts are rapidly away toward zero stress (Ref 44). In induc-
of axial stress distribution of a carburized quenched, the above properties are further tion hardening, an increase in hardenability
gear (made from deeper hardening steel) enhanced (Ref 42). changes the depth at which transition from
during quenching. In the early stages, the In borided steel processed at 900 °C (1650 compressive to tensile stress occurs. The
contour lines of equal stress were largely °F), a high compressive residual stress is increase in the rate of heating produces an
unaffected by the surface profile. Later a developed at the surface layers (Fig 8), increase in the maximum compressive and
zone of high compressive stress distribution which consists of FeB and Fe2B phases (Ref tensile residual stresses without affecting
occurred in the central portion of the teeth, 43); this is attributed to the lower thermal the mode of stress distribution (Ref 46).
which remained until the end of the quench expansion coefficient and the larger specific Residual Stress in Other ProcessingSteps.
(Ref 37). volume in a borided layer compared to that As welding progresses, the temperature dis-
In nitriding, like carburizing, a compres- in a ferrite matrix (Ref 18, 43). tribution in the weldment becomes nonuni-
sive residual stress is set up in the surface In an induction-hardened steel part, a form and varying as a result of localized
layers. High-temperature nitriding produces compressive surface residual stress is pro- heating of the weldment by the welding heat
a little relaxation of stresses, whereas low- duced when wear-resistant hard martensite source. During the welding cycle, compris-
temperature nitriding imparts a maximum (with slightly lower density) is formed on ing heating and cooling, complex strains
residual stress. In nitrocarburizing, im- the surface of a section concurrently with develop in the weld metal and adjacent
provement in residual surface compressive volume expansion while nonhardened core areas. As a result, appreciable residual
stress and fatigue strength depends on the remains essentially unchanged (Fig 9) (Ref stresses remain after the completion of
hardness and depth of diffusion zone. These 44, 45). The magnitude of the compressive welding. Since the weld metal and heat-
properties, in turn, decrease with increasing stress, which is affected by both thermal affected zone contract on cooling (Fig 10a),
carbon and alloy content (that is, increased contraction and martensite formation, may they are restrained by the cool adjacent
hardenability). During quenching, after ni- be a considerable fraction of the yield part. This produces tensile residual stress in
608 / Process and Quality Control Considerations

Carburized SNC815 Distance from surface, in.

300 0 0.002 0.004 0.006
0300 -900 500
-900 -600 60~j -600
-- 50

i
l
3OO 0 /xA z, /x A 0
Gz = 2 0 0 M P a -600 0 z~ ~
0 #_ - -50
100 ~ -300 -500
- -100

( ~100 -1000 ~ • -150 ~

~ o
--200 "~
'~ -1500 • (b
© FeB - -250 rr
300 300 • • Fe2B
-2000 0 0 /x Ferrite - -300
0
-2500
600 0 0.05 0.10 0.15
Distance from surface, mm
Residual stress distribution of FeB and Fe2B
Fig 8 layers in borided steel processed at 900 °C
t= 3 s 30 s 60 s (1650 °F). Source: Ref 18, 43

Fig 7 Axial stress distribution (given in MPa) in carburized gear during quenching process. Source: Ref 37
the weldment region and compressive resid-
ual stress in the surrounding base metal
region (Fig 10b).
In general, a steep residual stress gradient
is developed because of the steep tendency
of the thermal gradient. This may, in turn,
lead to hot cracking (between columnar
grains) or severe center line cracking in the
weld area (Ref 48). Catastrophic failures of
welded bridges and all-welded ships are
mostly attributed to the existence of large
and dangerous tensile residual stress in
them (Ref 49).
The grinding step in manufacturing is
important, since it is always utilized to
produce the finished surface. It has been
shown that gentle surface grinding, using a
soft sharp wheel and slow downfeed, pro-
duces compressive residual stress at the
surface, whereas conventional (normal
practice) and abrasive grinding result in
surface tensile stresses of very high magni-
tude (Fig l l) (Ref 22, 50). However, the
alloys, and so on, a significant amount of
thermal stress is generated during quench-
gentle grinding method is expensive from ing prior to precipitation hardening. The
the viewpoint of operating time and wear of quenching process in this condition does
the wheel. not invariably involve a phase change; rath-
As a result of temperature gradient during er, this is confined to the postquenching
cooling, castings develop compressive stress- aging treatment. In other nonferrous alloys
es at the surface and tensile stresses in the such as uranium and titanium alloys, the
interior (Ref 22). However, transient temper- final structural condition is not obtained by
ature gradient and phase transformation oc- a slow cool.
curring during the early stages of solidifica- When high-strength titanium alloy is
tion and cooling of continuous steel castings quenched from a solution annealing temper-
in the mold may give rise to the development ature of 850 to 1000 °C (1560 to 1830 °F), it
of harmful residual stresses leading to the develops large residual stress caused by
formation of cracks (Ref 51). poor thermal conductivity of titanium lead-
Chemical processes such as electroplat- ing to high-temperature gradient. This prob-
ing, scale formation, and corrosion of met- lem can, however, be avoided by stress-
als can produce residual stresses due to relief annealing at 650 to 700 °C (1200 to
coherency strains arising from the matching 1290 °F), which produces a slight reduction
tendency of crystal structures of the outer in mechanical properties. When a high-
surface product with the crystal structure of strength aluminum age-hardening alloy is
the adjacent layer (Ref 22). Residual stress- rapidly quenched from the solution temper-
es are also introduced when heat-treated
parts are subjected to successive heating
and cooling cycles during service condi- Depth below surface, mil
tions. 3.15 6.3 9.45 12.6
Residual Stress in the Heat-Treated Non- 800 120

400 (58)
Distance from surface, in.
0.08 0.16 0.24 0.32 0.40
8O
ferrous Alloys. In nonferrous alloys, notably
age-hardenable aluminum alloys, copper- 600
/\. - 9O
500 gm Knoop test beryllium alloys, certain nickel-base super- A
3 m m case I o g_g L~
I I Is ss
A
r~ - 60
200 (29) 60 -r- ~: 400
#_ Residual stress
\ %
-- Abrasive

\
Compression Tension 30
"~ 200
0 40 ~ Conventional

r,~ o 0
-%
-200 (-29) 20 ,~ i i i i i i i i i i I i i ~

/ Hardness - Gentle ,-, . . . .

tr
u,l ~. - 2 0 0 - -30
Yl E
-400 (-58) 0 o
2 4 6 8 10 12 (a) -400 -60
(b)
0 80 160 240 320
Distance from surface, m m
Fig 10 (a) The transverse shrinkage occurring in Depth below surface, pm
F i g 9 A typical hardriess and residual stress profile butt weldments. (b) Longitudinal residual
in induction-hardened (to 3 ram, or 0.12 in., stress patterns in the weldment and surrounding re- Residual stress distribution after gentle, con-
case depth) and tempered (at 260 °C, or 500 °F) 1045 gions. This also shows longitudinal shrinkage in a butt F i g 1 1 ventional, and abrasive grinding of hard-
steel. Source: Ref 44 weld. Source: Ref 47 ened 4340 steel. Source: Ref 22
 Defects and Distortion in Heat-Treated Parts / 609
Table 6 A compiled summary of the maximum residual stresses in surface heat-treated
steels
Residual stress (longitudinal)
Steel Heat treatment MPa ksi
832M13 (type) Carburized at 970 °C (1780 °F) to 1 mm (0.04 in.) case with
0.8% surface carbon
Direct-quenched 280 40.5
Direct-quenched, - 8 0 °C ( - 110 °F) subzero treatment 340 49.0
Direct-quenched, - 9 0 °C (-130 °F) subzero treatment, 200 29.0
tempered
805A20 Carburized and quenched 240-340(a) 35.0--49.0
805A20 Carburized to 1.1-1.5 mm (0.043-0.06 in.) case at 920 °C 190-230 27.5-33.5
(1690 °F), direct oil quench, no temper
805A ! 7 400 58
805A17 Carburized to 1.1-1.5 mm (0.043-0.06 in.) case at 920 °C 150-200 22-29
(1690 °F), direct oil quench, tempered 150 °C (300 °F)
897M39 Nitrided to case depth of about 0.5 mm (0.02 in.) 400--600 58.0-87.0
905M39 800-1000 116.0-145.0
Cold-rolled steel Induction hardened, untempered 1000 145.0
Induction hardened, tempered 200 °C (390 °F) 650 94.0
Induction hardened, tempered 300 °C (570 °F) 350 51
Induction hardened, tempered 400 °C (750 °F) 170 24.5
(a) Immediately subsurface, that is. 0.05 mm (0.002 in.). Source: Ref 29
ature, high thermal and residual stresses are called the dissection method, and the non-
induced due to high coefficient of expansion destructive methods comprising mainly
of aluminum. Uphill quenching from liquid x-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction, ultra-
nitrogen temperature ( - 196 °C, or - 320 °F) sonic, and magnetic methods.
in a steam blast alleviates this problem. This Destructive (or Dissection) Method. This
induces stresses opposite in sign to those method is old but reasonably accurate,
developed on water quenching from the practically nondestructive, uses well-estab-
solutionizing and cancels out their effect. lished methods, and can be employed in
This is followed by aging of the alloy in the confined situations at site (Ref 53). Howev-
conventional manner (Ref 29). er, it is tedious, time consuming, and expen-
Fast polyalkylene glycol (PAG) quench- sive (Ref 54). The other drawbacks are the
ing of solution-treated aluminum alloys destructive, or at best semidestructive na-
tends to reduce residual stress levels be- ture of the method, and its ability to mea-
cause of its more uniform heat extraction sure only the macroresidual stresses. The
rate (thermal shock is smaller, and thereby hole-drilling method is used extensively for
machining is less likely to produce further measuring residual stresses, which depends
distortion), thereby helping solve major and on the dissection approach. It consists of
long-standing distortion problems among the mounting of strain gages or a three-
aluminum workpieces (Ref 52). element strain-gage rosette on the surface
and measurement of strains. Then a rigidly
Control of Residual Stresses in guided milling cutter is used to drill a small,
Heat-Treated Parts straight, circular, perpendicular, and fiat-
Table 6 lists some typical values of max- bottomed hole not exceeding 3.2 mm (0.125
imum residual stresses developed in the in.) at the center of the rosette and into the
surface-hardened steels that have been re- surface of the component being analyzed.
ported in the literature (Ref 29). It is worth Strain redistribution occurring at the sur-
noting that there is a marked influence of face in the surrounding area of the hole
tempering on the residual stress level. Tem- (resulting from the residual stress relief) is
pering must be accomplished at about 150 then measured with the previously installed
°C (300 °F) to maintain 50 to 60% retention strain gages. The residual stress is calculat-
of the residual stress level obtained after ed at a large number of points in a surface
quenching because a higher tempering tem- from the strain measurements using the
perature greatly reduces surface compres- well-established method (Ref 22, 28). To
sive stresses. However, a higher stress- minimize the introduction of spurious
relief temperature (-600 °C, or 1110 °F) is strains by the grinding operation, the rate of
used for mechanically deformed compo- metal removal should be less than 3.125 x
nents (for example, hot-rolled bars) or com- 10-4 m/s (1.23 × 10-2 in./s), and readings
ponents with tensile surface residual stress- are recorded after 15 min of the end of the
es. Alternatively, serious residual tensile grinding process to ensure that any heat
stresses may be avoided effectively by gen- generated has been dissipated (Ref 55).
tle grinding of the surface. Nondestructive Methods. The main diffi-
culty with the nondestructive methods is that
Measurement of Residual Stresses measurements of crystallographic lattice pa-
There are two methods of measuring re- rameters, ultrasonic velocities, or magnetiza-
sidual stresses: the destructive method, also tion changes are made that are indirectly
related to the residual stress. The above
quantities are usually dependent on the stress
and material parameters (such as metallurgi-
cal textures), which are difficult to quantify
(Ref 54, 56).
The x-ray diffraction method is the well-
established technique for measuring both
macro- and microresidual stress nondestruc-
tively. In most instances, the x-ray diffraction
method has been employed to provide quan-
titative values for residual stress profiles in
surface or fully hardened components (Ref
57). This technique depends on the determi-
nation of lattice strains and the stress-induced
differences in the lattice spacing. Macroresid-
ual strain is measured from the shift of dif-
fraction lines in the peak position using the
so-called nonlinear SinZC method from which
residual stress is calculated (Ref 57). For the
measurement of microstrain the Voigt single-
line method is applied (Ref 58). Precision in
lattice strain measurement of the order of
0.2% is possible.
Portable x-ray diffraction equipment is
now commercially available in various
forms that allow stress measurement to be
made very quickly (ranging from 4 to 30 s).
The main drawbacks are that it cannot be
applied to noncrystalline materials such as
plastics, and it is only capable of measuring
residual stresses of materials very close to
the surface under examination. That is, the
measurement is purely surface related (a
depth of 0.01 mm, or 0.4 mil, is commonly
quoted) (Ref 59).
Neutron radiography or diffraction, used
for polycrystalline materials, has a much
deeper penetration than x-rays, but has
major safety problems and the disadvantage
of being nonportable.
Ultrasonic method for evaluating residual
stress involves ultrasonic stress birefrin-
gence or sonoelasticity; this depends upon
the linear variation of the velocities of
sound in a body (that is, ultrasonic waves)
with the stress. This method has the poten-
tial for greater capability, versatility, and
usefulness in the future (Ref 53, 56). How-
ever, this has the disadvantage, in common
with the magnetic methods, that it requires
transducers shaped to match the surface
being inspected (Ref 60).
The magnetic method is based on the
stress dependence of the Barkhausen noise
amplitude. Each time an alternating mag-
netic field induced in a ferromagnetic mate-
rial is reversed, it generates a burst of
Barkhausen noise. The peak amplitude of
the burst, as determined with an inductive
coil near the surface of the component
material, varies with the surface stress lev-
el. Since Barkhausen noise depends on
composition, texture, and work hardening,
it is necessary in each application to use
calibrated standard (reference) samples
with the same processing history and com-
position as the component being analyzed.
This method is used to measure residual
610 / Process and Quality Control Considerations
stresses well below the yield strength of the
ferromagnetic materials. This method is
rapid, and the measurements are made with
the commercially available portable equip-
ment. However, this method is limited to
only ferromagnetic materials (Ref 56).
Thermal evaluation for residual stress anal-
ysis (TERSA) is a new nondestructive meth-
od that is in an experimental stage. It has the
advantage that it is completely independent,
remote, and noncontacting. It consists of
merely directing a controlled amount of ener-
gy from a laser energy source into the volume
of the material being inspected and then mak-
ing a precise determination of changes in the
resulting temperature rise by infrared radiom-
etry. However, the working instrument will
also require some form of display to enable
visual examination to be made of any high-
stressed regions (Ref 60).
Quench Cracking
Anything that produces excessive
quenching stress is the basic cause of crack-
ing. Quench cracking is mostly intergranu-
lar, and its formation may be related to
some of the same factors that cause inter-
granular fracture in overheated and burned
steels. The main reasons for cracking in
heat treatment are: part design, steel
grades, part defects, heat-treating practice,
and tempering practice (Ref 61).
Part Design. Features such as sharp cor-
ners, the number, location, and size of holes,
deep keyways, splines, and abrupt changes in
section thickness within a part (that is, badly
unbalanced section) enhance the crack for-
mation because while the one (thin) area is
cooling quickly in the quenchant, the other
(thick) area immediately adjacent to it is cool-
ing very slowly. One solution to this problem
is to change the material so that a less drastic
quenchant (for example, oil) can be em-
ployed. An alternate solution is to prequench,
that is, to cool it prior to the rest of the part.
This will produce an interior of the hole or
keyway that is residually stressed in compres-
sion, which is always desirable for better
fatigue properties (Ref 61). The third solution
is a design change, and the fourth is to use a
milder quenchant.
Steel Grades. Sometimes this can be
checked by means of a spark test, whereas at
other times a chemical analysis must be
made. In general, the carbon content of steel
should not exceed the required level; other-
wise, the risk of cracking will increase. The
suggested average carbon contents for water,
brine, and caustic quenching are given below:
Method Shape Carbon, %
Induction hardening Complex 0.33
Simple 0.50
Furnace hardening Complex 0.30
Simple 0.35
Very simple, such
as bar 0.40
A decrease in carbon content from 0.72 to
0.61% has been shown to slightly increase
the thermal crack resistance of rim-
quenched railroad wheels (Ref 62).
Because of segregation of carbon and
alloying elements, some steels are more
prone than others to quench cracking.
Among these steels, 4140H, 4145H, 4150H,
and 1345H appear to be the worst. A good
option is to replace the 4100 series with the
8600 series. An additional disadvantage
with the use of 1345H steel is the manga-
nese floating effect, which leads to very
high manganese content in the steel rolled
from the last ingot in the same heat. Simi-
larly, dirty steels (that is, steels with more
than 0.05% S, for example, AISI 1141 and
1144) are more susceptible to cracking than
the low-sulfur grades. The reasons for this
are that they are more segregated in alloying
elements, the surface of this hot-rolled high-
sulfur steel has a greater tendency to form
seams, which act as stress raisers during
quenching, and they are usually coarse
grained (for better machinability), which
increases brittleness and therefore pro-
motes cracking. If these high-sulfur grades
are replaced by calcium-treated steels or
cold-finished leaded steels, this problem
can be obviated (Ref 61).
Part Defects. Surface defect or weakness
in the material may also cause cracking, for
example, deep surface seams or nonmetallic
stringers in both hot-rolled and cold-fin-
ished bars. Other defects are inclusions,
stamp marks, and so forth. For large-seam
depths, it is advisable to use turned bars or
even magnetic particle inspection. The forg-
ing defects in small forgings, such as seams,
laps, flash line, or shearing crack, as well as
in heavy forgings, such as hydrogen flakes
and internal ruptures, aggravate cracking.
Similarly, some casting defects, for exam-
ple, in water-cooled castings, promote
cracking (Ref 50).
Heat-Treating Practice. Higher austenitiz-
ing temperatures increase the tendency
toward quench cracking. Similarly, steels
with coarser grain size are more prone to
cracks than fine-grain steels because the
latter possess more grain-boundary area to
stop the movements of cracks, and grain
boundaries help to absorb and redistribute
residual stresses. An outstanding contribu-
tor to severe cracking is improper heat-
treating practice, for example, nonuniform
heating and nonuniform cooling of the com-
ponent involved in the heat-treatment cy-
cle. It is a good heat-treating practice to
anneal alloy steels prior to the hardening
treatment (or any other high-temperature
treatment, for example, forging, welding,
and so forth) because this produces grain-
refined microstructure and relieves stresses
(Ref 63).
Water-Hardening Steel. The water-hard-
ening steels are most susceptible to cracks if
they are not handled properly. Soft spots
(
Typical appearance of thumbnail check as
Fig 1 2 soft spot onchipping chisel. Source:Ref 64
are most likely to occur in the water-hard-
ening steels, especially where the tool is
grabbed with tongs for quenching. Normal-
ly the cleaned surface shows adequate hard-
ening and the scaled surface insufficient
hardening, which can be examined with a
file. Soft spots may occur from the use of
fresh water, or water contaminated with oil
or soap. Most large tools emerging from
hardening operations contain some soft
spots. However, accidental soft spots in the
wrong place should be investigated, and
steps must be taken to eliminate them.
Figure 12 shows the typical appearance of
a thumbnail check as soft spot on chipping
chisels, which occurs on the bit near the
cutting edge. The cracks enclosing the soft
spots should be avoided by switching to
brine quench (Ref 64).
Air-Hardening Steel. Similarly, when air
hardening steels are improperly handled,
they are likely to crack. For example,
avoidance of tempering treatment or use of
oil quenching in air-hardening steel can lead
to cracking. However, the common practice
in the treatment of air-hardening steels is
initially to quench in oil until "black"
(about 540 °C, or 1000 °F), followed by air
cooling to 65 °C (150 °F) prior to tempering.
As compared to air cooling right from the
quenching temperature, this practice is to-
tally safe and minimizes the formation of
scale.
Polymer quenchants have found well-es-
tablished use in the quenching of solution-
treated aluminum alloys, hardening of plain
carbon steels with less than 0.6% C, spring
steels, boron steels, hardenable stainless
steels, and all carburizing and alloy steels
with section thickness greater than about 50
mm (2 in.), through-hardening and carbur-
izing steel parts, and induction and flame-
hardening treatments because of their nu-
merous beneficial effects, including
elimination of soft spots, distortion, and
cracking problems associated with trace