Abstract

AISI 4340 steel is ultrahigh strength medium carbon low alloy steel having the strength upto
of 1380 MPa in the heat treated condition. This work focuses on the effect of different heat
treatments i.e. annealing, normalizing and quenching on the microstructure of AISI 4340 steel.
Prior to heat treatment processes, standard test samples were prepared from the as received
specimen for tensile and impact tests. Then the AISI 4340 steel samples were heated upto 850ºC
for annealing, upto 900ºC for normalizing, 870ºC for quenching and held for 30 minutes for
respective treatments. The samples were cooled in furnace for annealing, in air for normalizing
and quenched in brine. After heat treatments, the test samples were subjected to the standard
tests and from the data obtained; hardness, tensile strength, and toughness were calculated and
the effect of heat treatments on these properties was studied. It was observed from the results that
the mechanical properties were strongly influenced by the heat treatment processes. Tensile
strength of normalized samples was observed to be maximum. The hardness of quenched
samples came out to be the maximum amongst all the samples. The toughness of the annealed
samples is maximum amongst all the tested samples. The microstructure of as received and
annealed samples consisted of pro-eutectoid ferrite and pearlite with slight variation in grain size.
The microstructure of normalized sample was martensite and pearlite in a matrix of pro-eutectoid
ferrite because the samples were air hardened. The microstructure of quenched samples consisted
of martensite and retained austenite.