Heat Treatment

Heat-Treatment
Heat treatment is a method used to alter the physical, and
sometimes chemical properties of a material. The most
common application is metallurgical
I t involves the use of
heating or chilling, normally to extreme
temperatures, to achieve a desired result such as hardening
or softening of a material
It applies to the workpiece, where the heating and cooling are
done for the specific purpose of
altering properties
intentionally
Generally, heat treatment uses phase transformation
heating and cooling to change a microstructure in aduring
solid
state.
An overview of important heat treatments

A broad classification of heat treatments possible are given below. Many more specialized
treatments or combinations of these are possible.

HEAT TREATMENT
BULK SURFACE

ANNEALING NORMALIZING HARDENING THERMAL THERMO

&

TEMPERING CHEMICAL
Full Annealing Carburizing
MARTEMPERING Flame
Recrystallization Annealing Induction
Nitriding
Stress Reliet Annealing AUSTEMPERING LASER
Carbo-nitriding
Spheroidization Annealing Electron Beam

Summary of Microstruetures and Mechanical Properties for Iron-Carbon Alloys

Arrangement of Mechanical Properties

Microconstitwent Present Phases (Relative)
a Ferrite + FeC Relatively small FeC sphere-like Soft and ductile
Spheroidite
particies in an a-iernte niatnk

Coarse pearlite a Ferite + FeC Alternating layers of a ferrite

andFeC that are relatively
Harder and stronger tnan
thick
peroc e
ductie as spherovaite

a Ferrite + FeC Alternating layers of a ferrite Harder and stronger than

Pearnte
and FeC that are relatively Drse pearnte, but
not as
thin ductile as Coafse p e a e

Bainite a Ferrite + FeC Very fine and elongated particles Hardness and strength
of FeC in an a-ferrite matrix greater than fine pearite;
hardness less dn
greater than martensite

empered martensate a Ferrile + Fe,CC Very small Fe,C sphere-like Strong, not as hard as
particles in an a-lerrite martensite, but iuc
matrix ductile than martensite

Martensite Body-centered Very hard and very brittle

tetragonal, single Needle-shaped grais
Pnase
 A heat treatment process in which a metal is exposed to an elevated temperature for an extended time
period and then slowly cooled.

Purpose
Relieve stresses of cold working
Increasesoftness, ductility and toughness
Produce specific microstructure
Three Stages of Annealing
Heating to a desired temperature
Holding or soaking at that temperature
Cooling usually to room temperature

a+Fe3C atFesC
Time

Temp Ranges in Fe-C Phase Diagram

LO00

Al. Lower critical Temp

900
A3. Upper critical Temp for -Normalizing-
Hypo- eutectoid stees y+ FeC
Acm. Upper critical Temp for Full annealing
Hyper- eutectoid steels
800 A3
a+7 Eutectoidd

700 A

a+Fesc

600 L
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.
Composition (wt% C)
 Full Annealing
The purpose of this heat treatment is to obtain a material with high ductility. A microstructure with
coarse pearlite (i.e. pearlite having high interlamellar spacing) is endowed with such properties.
The range of temperatures used is given in the figure below.
The steel is heated above A, (for hypo-eutectoid steels) & A, (for hyper-eutectoid steels) (hold)
then the steel is furnace cooled to obtain Coarse Pearlite.
Coarse Pearlite has low (1) Hardness but high (1) Ductility.
For hyper-cutectoid steels the heating is not done above Am to avoid a continuous network of
proeutectoid cementite along prior Austenite grain boundaries (presence of cementite along grain
boundaries provides easy path for crack propagation).

l Am

Recrystallization Annealing
During any cold working operation (say cold rolling), the material becomes harder (due to work
hardening), but loses its ductility. This implies that to continue deformation the material needs to be
recrystallized (wherein strain free grains replace the "cold worked grains').
Hence, recrystallization annealing is used as an intermediate step in (cold) defomation processing.
Toachieve this the sample is heated below A and held there for sufficient time for recrystallization
to be completed.

zat Annealing
 Stress Relief Annealing
Due to various processes like quenching (differential cooling of surface and interior), machining,
phase transformations (like martensitic transformation), welding, etc. the residual stresses develop in
the sample. Residual stress can lead to undesirable effects like warpage of the component.
The annealing is carried out just below A , wherein 'recovery processes are active (Annihilation of
dislocations).

Residual stresses Heat below A Recovery Annihilation of dislocations,

polygonization

Differential cooling
Machining and cold working
maling
Martensite formation
Welding
WrC

Spheroidization Annealing
This is a very specific heat treatment given to high carbon steel requiring extensive machining prior
to final hardening & tempering. The main purpose of the treatment is to increase the ductility of the
sample.
Like stress relief annealing the treatment is done just below A.
Long time heating leads cementite plates to form cementite spheroids. The driving force for this
(microstructural) transformation is the reduction in interfacial energy.

Spheroidization

wI%C
NORMALIZING
The sample is heat above A_ |Aem to complete Austenization. The sample is then air cooled to
obtain Fine pearlite. Fine pearlite has a reasonably good hardness and ductility.
In hypo-eutectoid steels normalizing is done 50'C above the annealing temperature.
In hyper-eutectoid steels normalizing done above Amdue to faster cooling cementite does not
form a continuous film along Grain Boundaries.
The list of uses of normalizing are listed below.

ta
Refine grain structure prior to hardening

Purposes To harden the steel

slightly
To reduce segregation in casting or forgings

w. C

HARDENING
The sample is heated above As |Acm to cause Austenization. The sample is then quenched at a
cooling rate higher than the critical cooling rate (i.e. to avoid the nose of the CCT diagram).
The quenching process produces residual strains (thermal, phase transformation).
The transformation to Martensite is usually not complete and the sample will have some retained
Austenite.
The Martensite produced is hard and brittle and tempering operation usually follows hardening.
This gives a good combination of strength and toughness.

Heat above A, lAmAustenizationQuench (higher than critical cooling rate)

ann

WIsC

6
 Tempering
a' (BCT)
enr a (BCC) Fe,C (OR)
Martensite Ferrite Cementite

A sample with martensitic microstructure is hard but brittle. Hence after quenching the sample
(or component) is tempered. Maternsite being a metastable phase decomposes to ferrite and
cementite on heating (providing thermal activation).
Tempering is carried out just below the eutectoid temperature (heat w a i t slow cool).
I n reality the microstructural changes which take place during tempering are very complex.
The time temperature cycle for tempering is chosen so as to optimize strength and toughness
E.g. tool steel has a as quenched hardness of R,65, which is tempered to get a hardness of R,45-
55.

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MARTEMPERING & AUSTEMPERING

These processes have becn developed to avoid residual stresses generated during quenching.
In both these processes Austenized steel is quenched above M, (say to a temperature T) for
homogenization of temperature across the sample.
I n Martempering the steel is then quenched and the entire sample transforms simultaneously to
martensite. This is followed by tempering.
I n Austempering instead of quenching the sample, it is held at T, for it to transform to bainite.

Pearlite
arite + Bainite

Balnite

Austempering

Martempering Matenle
10 10

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 Surface Hardening
In many situations hard and wear resistance surface is required with the tough core
Because of tough core the components can withstand impact load. The typical
applications requiring these conditions include gear teeth, cams shafts, bearings, crank
pins, clutch plate, tools and dies.

The combination of the these properties can be achieved by the following methods:

1. Hardening and tempering the surface layers (surface hardening)

)Flame Hardening (ii) Induction Hardening

2. Changing the composition at surface layers (chemical heat

treatment or case hardening)

) Carburising (i) Nitriding (ii) Carburising and Cyaniding

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Surface Hardening: Flame Hardening

The flame hardening involves heating the surface of a steel to a temperatu.
above upper critical point (850 C) with a oxyacetylene flame and then immediately
quenched the surface with cold water.

Heating transforms the structure of surface layers to austenite, and the quenching
changes it to martensite.

Gear Flame
Hardening
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 Flame Hardening
The surface layers are hardened to about 50- 60 HRC. It is less expensive and can be
easily adopted for large and complex shapes.

-Flame hardened parts must be tempered after hardening. The tempering

temperature depends on the alloy composition and desired hardness.

The flame hardening methods are suitable for the steels with carbon
contents ranging from 0.40 to 0.95% and low alloy steels.

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Surface Hardening: Induction Hardening

Induction hardening involves placing the steel components within a coil

through which high firequency current is passed. The current in the
coil induce eddy current in the surface layers, and heat the surface layers
uotp austenite state.

Then the surface is immediately quenched with the cold water to

transfer the austenite to martensite. The principle of induction hardening

Magneie
Feedback System
nduced Curent in Part Current in Col

Powef Heat
Co
Supply taton
Part
Typical Induction Fturing
Heating Setup
 SurfaceHardening: Induction Hardening
Advantages of induction hardening over flame hardening is its
speed and ability to harden small parts; but it is expensive.
Like flame hardening, it is suitable for medium carbon and low alloy
steels.

Iypical applications for induction hardening are crank shafts, cam

hafte connastino vode anrs and cylinders.

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Surface Hardening: Carburising

Carburising is carried out on a steels containing carbon less than 0.2%. It
involves increasing the carbon contents on the surface layers upto 0.7 to
0.8%.
In this process, the steel is heated in contact with carbonaceous material
from which it absorbs carbon. This method is mostly used for
securing hard and wear resistance surface with tough core carburising is
used for gears, cams, bearings and clutchplates
2 C o , - C + C0

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 Surface Hardening: Carburising
The Following methods are used to difiuse carbon
nto surface layers:

1) Pack (solid) Carburising,

2) Gas Carburising.

3) Liquid Carburising.
Quench Chamber
PACKHeat toCARBURIZING
carburu n
PROCESS
Part to e
Temperature Chamber
carburized
Heat
ctivated
charcol

Sealed Sfrel
COntalner Carben

Ol Queneh

Gas Carburising Liquid Carburising

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Surface Hardening: Nitriding

Nitriding involves diffusion of nitrogen into the product to form nitrides. The resultin
nitride case can be harder than the carburized steel. This process is used for alloy
steels containing alloying elements (Aluminum, Chromium and Molybdenum) which
form stable nitrides.
Nitriding consists if heating a component in a retort to a temperature of about 500 to 600
C. Through the retort the ammonia gas is allowed to circulate. At this temperature
the ammonia dissociates by the following reaction.

2 NH,2N+ 3M,
The atomic nitrogen diffuses into steel surface, and
combines with the alloying elements (Cr, Mo, W, V etc)
to form hard nitrides. The depth to which nitrides are
formed in the steel depends on the temperature and the
time allowed for the reaction. After the nitriding the job is
allowed to cool slowly. Since there is no quenching
involved, chances of cracking and distortion of the
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Surface Hardening: Nitriding
The depth of nitrided case ranges from 0.2 to 0.4 mm and no machining is done after
nitriding.

Nitriding increase wear and corrosion resistance and fatigue strength of the steel.
Since nitriding is done at low temperature, it requires more time than carburising,
and also the capital cost if the plant is higher than carburising

verical Tan assemby

Surface Hardening: Cyaniding

Similar to carbonitriding, cyaniding also involves the diffusion of carbon and nitrogen
into the surface of steel. It is also called liquid carbonitriding. The components are heated
to the temperature of about 800-9000C in a molten cyanide bath consisting of sodium
cyanide, sodium carbonate and sodium chloride.

After allowing the components in the bath for about 15-20 minutes, they are quenched
in oil or water. Cyaniding Is normally used for low-carbon steels, and case depths
are usually less than 0.25 mm.

It produces hard and wear resistance surface on the steels. Because of shorter time
cycles, the process is widely used for the machine components subjected to moderate
wear and service loads.

The process is particularly suitable for screws, small gears, nuts and bolts.