MSE 3002

3/3/2020
Individual Project #2 – Part a
Surface Heat Treating: Carburization
A 1020 steel (containing 0.20 wt% carbon) plate (40 mm thick) is carburized at 975 ͦC for 5
hours by exposure to a gas mixture containing 16% CO and 5% CO2. This gas mixture will
maintain a carbon content at the plate surface of 0.7 wt %. After 5 hours in the carburizing
atmosphere, the plate is maintained at for an additional hour in a neutral atmosphere.
The average diffusion coefficient of carbon in austenite is

D=0.12exp (−32000
RT )
c m /s 2

Where R = 8.31 J/mol K and T is temperature in Kelvin.

Definition: Carburizing is a surface heat-treating process in which the carbon content of the
surface of a steel is increased by exposure to a gas atmosphere. Subsequent rapid cooling allows
the high-carbon surface layer to transform to martensite, thus producing a hardened surface layer
for wear resistance.
Concentration, C

Cf
Increasing time

Ci

Distance, x

(a.) Compute using relevant relations and plot the carbon distribution in the plate (wt % C vs x,
where x is distance from the surface of the plate in micrometers) at times 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5
hours.
(b.) Compute using the explicit finite difference technique and plot the carbon distribution in the
plate (wt % C vs x, where x is distance from the surface of the plate in micrometers) at times 0,
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, and 6 hours.
Present in a format using the nine-step Engineering Problem Solving Procedure.
 Team Project #2 – Part a
Surface Heat Treating of a Cylindrical Billet: Carburization
Apply the carburization conditions in the above individual project to the cylindrical billet in the
final part of Team Project # 1.
Compute using the explicit finite difference technique and plot the carbon distribution in the
plate (wt % C vs x, where x is distance from the center of the top flat surface of the billet in
micrometers) at times 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, and 6 hours.
Compute using the explicit finite difference technique and plot the carbon distribution in the
plate (wt % C vs r, where r is distance along a radius from the circumferential surface of the
billet at its mid-height micrometers) at times 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, and 6 hours.
Present in a format using the nine-step Engineering Problem Solving Procedure.