HEAT TREATMENT

OBJECTIVES OF HEAT TREATMENT

1. To relieve internal stresses, due to hot or cold working

2. To soften the metal
3. To improve hardness of the metal surface
4. To improve machinability
5. To refine Grain structure
6. To improve mechanical properties like, tensile strength, ductility etc.
7. To improve electrical and magnetic properties
8. To increases resistance to wear, tear, heat and corrosion.

PROCESS OF HEAT TREATMENT

1. Heating the metal to a specified temperature

2. Holding the metal at increased temperature for specified temperature
3. Cooling the metal, i.e., quenching according to specified process

TYPES OF HEAT TREATMENT PROCESS

1. Normalising 6. Carburising
2. Annealing 7. Nitriding
3. Spheroidising 8. Cyaniding
4. Hardening 9. Induction Hardening
5. Tempering 10. Flame Hardening

NORMALISING

Objective

 To refine grain structure

 To improve machinability, tensile strength and structure of weld
 To remove strains caused by cold working process like hammering, rolling, bending etc.
 To remove dislocation in the internal structure due to hot working
 To improve certain mechanical and electrical properties

Process

The process of normalising consists of heating the steel 30°C to 50°C above its upper temperature
for hypoeutectoid steel or for hypereutectoid steels. It is held at temperature for about fifteen
minutes and then allowed to cool down in still air.
The process provides a homogeneous structure consisting of ferrite and pearlite for hypoeutectoid
steels, and pearlite and cementite for hypereutectoid steels. The homogeneous structure provides a
higher yield point, ultimate tensile strength and impact strength with lower ductility to steels. The
process of normalising is frequently applied to castings and forgings.

ANNEALING

Objective

 To soften the steel, so that it may be more easily machined or cold worked
 To refine the grain-size and structure to improve mechanical properties like strength and
ductility.
 To relieve internal stresses which may have been caused by hot or cold working.
 To alter electrical, magnetic or other physical properties.
 To remove the gases, trapped in the metal, during initial casting.

Process

 Full annealing: The main objective of full annealing is to soften the metal, to refine its grain
structure, relieve the stresses and to remove gases trapped in the metal. This process consists
of heating the steel 30°C to 50°C above the upper critical temperature for hypoeutectoid and
by the same temperature above the lower critical temperature for hypereutectoid steels. The
steel is then held at this temperature for some time to enable the internal changes to take
place and is then allowed cool at rate of 30°C to 200°C per hour depending upon
composition of steel. The cooling is usually carried out in the furnace.

 Process annealing. The main objective of process annealing is to relive the internal stresses
set up in the metal and for increasing the machinability of the steel. In this process, the steel
is heated to a temperature below or close to the lower critical temperature, held at this
temperature for some time and then cooled slowly. This causes complete recrystallisation
in steels, which have been severely cold worked and a new grain structure is formed. The
process of annealing is commonly used in the sheet and wire industries.

SPHEROIDISING

It is a particular type of annealing in which cementite in the granular form is produced in the
structure of steel. This is, usually, applied to high carbon tool steels, which are difficult to machine.
The operation consists of heating steel up to a temperature slightly above the lower critical
temperature (730°C to 770°C). It is held at this temperature for some time and then cooled slowly
to temperature of 600°C. The rate of cooling is from 25°C to 30°C per hour. The spheroidising
improves the machinability of steels, but lowers the hardness and tensile strength. These steels
have better elongation properties than normally annealed steel.

HARDENING

Objective

 To increase the hardness of the metal, so that it can resist wear.

 To enable it to cut other metals, i.e.t to make it suitable for cutting tools.
Process

The process of hardening consists of heating the metal up to a temperature of 30°C to 50°C above
the upper critical temperature for the hypoeutectoid steels and by the same temperature above the
lower critical point for hypereutectoid steels. The metal is held at this temperature for a
considerable time, depending upon its thickness and then quenched (cooled suddenly) in a suitable
cooling medium.  A rapid cooling from the hardening temperature cases the austenite to be
transformed into another constituent called martensite, which is very hard and brittle. The
hardening of steel depends entirely upon the formation of martensite, because austenite is
comparatively soft and ductile. The hardness obtained from a given treatment depends upon the
rate of cooling, the carbon content and the work size. A very rapid cooling is necessary to harden
low and medium plain carbon steels. Water, brine solution or mineral oil is generally used as
quenching medium. The temperature of the quenching medium must be kept uniform to achieve
uniform results.

Types of Process

 Work Hardening  Air Hardening

 Age Hardening  Hardening

TEMPERING

Objective

 To reduce brittleness of the hardened steels and thus to increase its ductility.
 To remove the internal stresses caused by rapid cooling of steel.
 To make steel sufficiently tough to resist shock and fatigue.

Process

The process of tempering consists of reheating the hardened steel to some temperature below the
lower critical temperature, followed by any desired rate of cooling. The exact tempering
temperature depends upon the purpose for which the article or tool is to be used.
When steel is heated to low tempering temperature (200°C to 250°C), the internal stresses are
removed and ductility increases without changing the structure of steel from martensite or reducing
its hardness.

Types of Tempering Processes

 Austempering: It is a process of tempering in which steel is heated, above the upper critical
temperature, at about 875°C, where the structure consists entirely of austenite. It is then
suddenly cooled by quenching it in a salt bath or lead bath maintained at a temperature of
about 250°C to 525°C, so as to facilitate the transformation of austenite into bainite. After
complete transformation, the steel is cooled air. In this process, a good impact strength is
obtained and the degree of cracking is also reduced.

 Martempering: It is a process of tempering in which the steel is heated above the upper
critical point and then quenched in a bath kept at a suitable temperature, so that it is in the
upper martensite range. After the temperature becomes uniform throughout the steel
 structure, without the formation of bainite, it is further cooled in air. The steel is then
tempered. The martempered steel is free from internal stresses. It avoids cracks and warping
etc., which are usually caused by ordinary hardening. The martempering is mostly used in
case of alloy steels.

SURFACE HARDENING

It is desirable that a steel to be used should have a hardened surface to resist wear and tear. At the
same time, it should ductile so that it is able to absorb any shocks etc. This is achieved by hardening
the surface layers of the article, while the rest of it is left as such. The various methods of surface
hardening are –

 Carburising: The process of introducing carbon, to low carbon steels, in order to give it a
hard surface, is called carburising. The surface is made hard only up to a certain depth.
Following two methods are commonly used for carburizing:
o Pack Carburising: In this process, the article to be carburised is placed in a
carburising box of proper design made of special heat resisting alloy, cast steel or
steel sheet. The space between the article and the box is filled with a solid carburising
compound. The box gradually heated in a furnace to the selected carburising
temperature and maintained there for a specified period. During heating, carbon
monoxide gas is formed which reacts with the article to form carbon and carbon
dioxide gas. The surface of the article absorbs the carbon and gets rich in its carbon
content. The carbon thus absorbed impregnates into the body of the article by the
diffusion process.
o Gas Carburising: In this process, the articles to be case hardened are heated to the
proper temperature in an oven having an atmosphere of gases rich in hydrocarbons.
The gases used for this purpose may be methane, ethane, coal gas etc. The
operation is performed in the oven at 900° to 950°C. The carbon in the gas
combines with lire surface of the article and makes it hard. This is a quicker process
as compared to the pack carburising.

 Nitriding: It is a process of case or surface hardening in which nitrogen gas is employed in

order to obtain hard surface of the steel. This process is commonly used for those steels,
which are alloyed with chromium, molybdenum, aluminium, manganese etc. The steel
article is well machined and finished and placed in an air tight container made of high nickel
chromium, steel and provided with inlet and outlet tubes. The container with the articles is
placed in the furnace and ammonia gas is passed through the inlet and outlet tubes. The
ammonia gas, when comes in contact with steel articles, gets dissociated in the form of
nascent nitrogen, which reacts with the surface of the articles and form nitrides which is
very hard. This process can give surface hardness up to a depth of 0.8 mm.

 Cyanidning: In this process both carbon and nitrogen are absorbed by the metal surface to
get it hardened. The piece of low carbon steel is immersed in a bath of cyanide salt, such as
sodium cyanide or potassium cyanide maintained at 850°C to 950°C. The immersed steel
piece is left in the molten cyanide salt bath, at the above temperature, for about 15 to 20
minutes. It is then taken out of the bath and quenched in water or oil. The cyanide yields
carbon monoxide and nitrogen, which behaves as active carburising agents in hardening the
surface of steel. The process can give surface hardness up to a depth of 0.8 mm.
  Induction Hardening: It is a process of surface hardening in which the surface, to be
hardened, is surrounded by an inductor block which acts as a primary coil of a transformer.
The inductor block, should not touch the surface to be hardened. A high frequency current
is passed through this block. The heating effect is due to induced eddy currents and
hysteresis losses in the surface material. The inductor block, surrounding the heated surface,
has water connections and numerous small holes on its inside surface. As soon as the surface
reaches to the proper temperature (750°C to 760°C for 0.5 per cent carbon steel and 790°C
to 800°C for alloy steel), it is automatically spray- quenched under pressure.

 Flame Hardening: Sometimes, a particular portion of an article is required to be hardened.

This type of local hardening is done by a process of flame hardening. In this process, the
portion, to be hardened, is heated with the help of a flame of oxyacetylene torch above its
critical temperature. The heated portion is then immediately quenched by means of spray of
water, which is directed towards heated portion. Since the heating is localised, therefore no
stresses are developed. As a result of this, the chances of distortion or cracking are reduced.

MAJOR DEFECTS DUE TO FAULTY HEAT TREATMENT

1. Overheating: Prolonged heating of a metal or alloy above a certain temperature leads to the
formation of very large actual grains. On cooling a metal, this yields a structure containing
coarse crystalline martensite. Such a structure has a reduced ductility and toughness.

2. Burning: Heating a metal or an alloy to still higher temperatures near melting point for a
longer time leads to burning. This leads to the formation of iron oxide inclusions along the
grain boundaries. Burnt metal or alloy has a stoney fracture and such a metal or alloy is
irremediable and is rejected.

3. Oxidation: Sometimes a metal or alloy is oxidized due to oxidizing atmosphere in the

furnace. It is characterized by a thick layer of scale on the surface of a metal or alloy. It can
be prevented by using controlled atmosphere in the furnace or using molten salt baths.

4. Decarburization: It is the loss of carbon in the surface layers of the metal or alloy.
Decarburization results in lower hardness and lower fatigue limit. It is caused by the
oxidizing furnace atmosphere. In order to prevent decarburization, the metal or alloy
should be heated in a neutral or reducing atmosphere or in boxes with cast iron chips or in
molten salts baths.

5. Cracks: The cracks occur in quenching when the internal tensile stresses exceed the
resistance of metal or alloy to separation. The tendency of a metal or alloy to crack formation
increases with carbon content, hardening temperature and cooling rate in the temperature
interval. of martensite transformation. To prevent their formation, it is advisable to
a. avoid stress concentrations such as sharp comers on projections acute angles, abrupt
changes from thicker to thinner cross-sections etc. in the component design
b. conduct quenching from the lowest possible temperature
c. cool the metal or alloy slowly in the martensite interval of temperatures by quenching
in two media and stepped quenching
d. apply isothermal quenching.
6. Distortion and Warping: Distortion or deformation consisting in changes in the size and
shape of heat-treated work, is due to thermal and structural stresses. Asymmetrical distortion
of work is often called warping in heat-treating practice. It is usually observed in case of
non- uniform heating or overheating for hardening, when the work is quenched in the wrong
position and when the cooling rate is too high in the temperature interval of martensite
transformation. An elimination of these causes should substantially reduce warping.