EXPERIMENT NO.

OBJECT: To conduct heat treatment process of Annealing, Normalizing and Quenching and
see the difference of hardness before and after the heat treatment.

APPARATUS: Mild steel specimen, Heat treatment furnace (Electrical), and hardness tester

MACHINE SPECIFICATION (Muffle furnace):

Maximum temperature - 12000c

Max. Power- 3.5kW
Temperature Sensor- Thermocouple
Chamber Insulation- Ceramic fiber blanket for maximum thermal efficiency
Chamber size- 6” x 6” x 12”
Temperature indicator- Digital temperature indicator

THEORY:
Annealing:
It is a process of heating of material in solid state and then cooling it to improve the mechanical
properties of the material. It is performed in order to
a. Relieve the internal stresses
b. Soften the material
c. Improve mechanical properties
Properties of metals and alloys can be changed by heat treatment process. In an heating, it
is heated upto 8000C and the specimen is cooled inside the furnace.

PROCEDURE:
1. First determine the hardness of the given specimen
2. Keep the specimen inside the furnace
3. Set the temperature of the furnace and keep the specimen about 60 minutes in the said
temperature so that the heat penetrates the specimen completely.
4. Then switch off the furnace
5. It is then allowed to cool slowly in the furnace at rate about 30 – 150 C per hour
6. Take the specimen out and check its hardness.

OBSERVATION:

Conduct heat treatment process of annealing

Heating temperature- 8000 C
Cooling medium- Inside furnace
Hardness before annealing- …………………….
Hardness after annealing- …………………….
THEORY:

Quenching:
In this process of heating the material is heated above the upper critical temperature (900) then
suddenly dipped into a cooling medium such as oil, cooled water, blend c f water and socable oil,
brine (cold water + 5-10% gel)
The hardness of steel depends essentially on quenching rate. Quenching is commonly
done in water. For high carbon steel and alloy steels, oil is generally used as quenching medium.
For entrance cooling, brine or water spray is most effective. Faster the cooling rate, greater will
be the hardness of steel.
If the steel is slowly cooled in furnace the structure obtained will be pearlite. If cooled in
atmosphere, the structure will be Sorbite. Troastile is obtained when the steel is quenched in oil.
Martensite is obtained when the steel is quenched in water drastically.

PROCEDURE:
1. First determine the hardness of the given specimen
2. Keep the specimen inside the furnace
3. Set the temperature of the furnace and keep the specimen about 15 minutes in the said
temperature so that the heat penetrates the specimen completely.
4. Then switch off the furnace
5. Take the specimen out of the furnace and cool it suddenly into the water.
6. Take the specimen out and check the hardness.

OBSERVATION:

Heating temperature- 9000 C

Quenching medium- Water
Hardness before - …………………….
Hardness after - …………………….

THEORY:

Normalizing:
Normalizing is a process of heating steel 30-500C above the critical temperature for about 15
minutes and then allowing it to cool in the surrounding atmosphere at room temperature.
The main object of normalizing are :
1. To refine the grain structure completely.
2. To improve the machinability.
3. To remove strains caused by cold working process like hammering, rolling, bending etc.
 4. To enhance the toughness, normalizing is usually performed on rolled and cast steel on
components subjected to high stress and high carbon steel. During normalizing , the
cementite present at the grain boundaries dissolved in austenite.

PROCEDURE:
1. Determine the hardness of the given specimen.
2. Keep the specimen inside the furnace.
3. Set the temperature of furnace and keep the specimen about 15 minutes.
4. Then switch off.
5. Take out the specimen and keep in the surrounding atmosphere at room temperature.
6. Take the specimen out and check its hardness.

OBSERVATION:

Heating Temperature- 8500C

Cooling Medium- In air
Hardness before normalizing- ……………….
Hardness after normalizing- ……………….

RESULT:
1. The effect of annealing, the hardness is decreased from ……………….. to
……………….
2. The effect of quenching increased the hardness from……………….. to ……………….
3. The effect of normalizing is to increase the hardness from………………
to………………………

PRECAUTION:
1. Set the temperature range carefully.
2. Cooling of specimen should be done properly.
3. The oven is electrically heated. Therefore, take care to avoid burning from heat of the
furnace and shock due to electric current.
4. Do not hold the specimen by hand. Always use tong.
TTT Curve

Heat Furnace