Thermal Stresses during and

Residual Stresses after Heat

Treatment
Residual Stress in Heat-
Treatment
• Heat treatment of steel, especially martensitic
hardening, is usually accompanied by the
evolution of large residual stresses. Causes for
such stresses include:
• Thermal expansion or contraction of a homogeneous
material in a temperature gradient field.
• Different thermal expansion coefficients of the various
phases in a multiphase material.
• Density changes due to phase transformations in the
metal.
• Growth stresses of reaction products formed on the
surface or as precipitates, for example, external and
internal oxidation.
Residual Stress
Macro-Residual
Stress

Residual
Stress

Pseudo-Macro Micro-Residual
Residual Stress Stress
 Principle of Thermal Stress (1)
At “w” → T-Different → specific volume
is greater in the core than in the surface

The volume contraction in

the surface is prevented
C- core by the higher specific
S-Surface volume in the core.

The thermal stress is

approximately
proportional to the
temperature difference
and is tensile in the
surface and compressive
in the core

Formation of thermal stresses on cooling in a 100 mm (4 in.) steel specimen

(water quenched from the austenitizing temperature of 850 °C (1560 °F)
Principle of Thermal Stress (2)
Effect of transformation of austenite to martensite
Principle of Thermal Stress (3)
Effect of transformation of austenite to martensite
Principle of Thermal Stress (4)
Principle of Thermal Stress (5)
Residual stress on Hardening
Residual stress on Hardening
Residual stress on Hardening
Residual stress on Hardening
Residual stress on Case
Hardening
Residual stress on Case
Hardening