Heat Treatment of Steels

PRESENTED BY

DEEPAK KUMAR NAYAK 07318

VAIBHAV SRIVASTAVA 07319
ANURAG BHARDWAJ 07320
MAYANK SHARMA 07321
ABHINAV KAPILA 07323
RAJAT MAHAJAN 07324
ANKIT SOOD 07325
VIPAN KUMAR 07203
 Topics to be discussed
• Heat treatments
Annealing
Normalizing
Tempering

• Martensitic transformations
• Critical temperature on heating and cooling
 Annealing
Annealing is a heat treatment wherein a
material
is altered, causing changes in its properties
such
as strength and hardness. In it a previously
cold
worked metal is softened by allowing it to
crystalline.

In the cases of copper, steel, silver, and brass

this
process is performed by substantially heating
the
material (generally until glowing) for a while
 Purpose

• The purpose of annealing has following

aims:

• To soften the steel and to improve

machinability.

• To relieve internal stresses induced by some

previous treatment (rolling, forging, uneven
cooling).
• To remove coarseness of grain.
 Stages
There are 2 stages in the annealing process :

• The recovery phase

• The recrystallization
 The Recovery Phase
• In this step softening of the metal through
removal of crystal defects takes place and
the internal stresses which are caused by
these defects.

• Recovery phase covers all annealing

phenomena that occur before the
appearance of new strain-free grains.
 The recrystallization

New strain-free grains nucleate and grow

to replace those deformed by internal
stresses.

If annealing is allowed to continue once

recrystallization has been completed,
grain growth will occur, in which the
microstructure starts
to coarsen and may cause the metal to
have less than satisfactory mechanical
FULL ANNEALING
Full annealing is the process of slowly raising
the temperature about 500C(900F) above the
Austenitic temperature line A3 or line ACM in the
case of Hypoeutectoid steels (steels with <
0.77% Carbon) and 500C (900F) into the
Austenite- Cementite region in the case of
Hypereutectoid steels (steels with > 0.77%
Carbon).
It is held at this temperature for sufficient time
for all the material to transform into Austenite
or Austenite- Cementite as the case may be. It is
then slowly cooled at the rate of about 200C/hr
(360F/hr) in a furnace to about 500C (900F) into
the Ferrite- Cementite range. At this point, it can
be cooled in room temperature air with natural
convection.
PROCESS ANNEALING

It is used to treat work-hardened parts made out of

low-Carbon steels (< 0.25% Carbon). This allows the
parts to be soft enough to undergo further cold working
without fracturing. Process annealing is done by raising
the temperature to just below the Ferrite-Austenite
region, line A1on the diagram.
This temperature is about 7270C (13410F) so heating
it to about 7000C (12920F) should suffice. This is held
long enough to allow recrystallization of the ferrite
phase, and then cooled in still air. Since the material
stays in the same phase through out the process, the
only change that occurs is the size, shape and
distribution of the grain structure.
This process is cheaper than either full annealing or
normalizing since the material is not heated to a very
high temperature or cooled in a furnace.
 Spheroidization

It is an annealing process used for high carbon steels (Carbon > 0.6%)
that will be machined or cold formed subsequently. This is done by one of
the following ways:

 1. Heat the part to a temperature just below the Ferrite-Austenite line, line
A1 or below the Austenite- Cementite line, essentially below the 727 0C
(1340 0F) line. Hold the temperature for a prolonged time and follow by
fairly slow cooling.
2. Cycle multiple times between temperatures slightly above and slightly
below the 7270C (13400F) line, say for example between 700 and 7500C
(1292 – 13820F), and slow cool.
3. For tool and alloy steels heat to 750 to 8000C (1382-14720F) and hold for
several hours followed by slow cooling.

All these methods result in a structure in which all the Cementite is in

the form of small globules (spheroids) dispersed throughout the ferrite
matrix. This structure allows for improved machining in continuous cutting
operations such as lathes and screw machines. Spheroidization also
improves resistance to abrasion
 
Normalizing
 DEFINITION

A heat treatment process that has the

object of relieving internal stresses,
refining the grain size and improving the
mechanical properties. The steel is
heated to 800-900oC according to
analysis, held at temperature to allow a
full soak and cooled in still air to room
 HOW IT DIFFERS FROM
ANNEALING
It differs from annealing in that :-
1.The metal is heated to a higher
temperature and then removed from
the furnace for air cooling.

2.Thin pieces cool faster and are harder

after normalizing than thick ones. In
annealing (furnace cooling), the hardness of
the two are about the same.

3.Normalized steels are harder and stronger

than annealed steels. In the normalized
condition, steel is much tougher  than  in  any
 other  structural  condition
PURPOSE OF NORMALIZING
To produce a harder and stronger steel than
full annealing
To improve the machinability
To modify and refine the grain structure
To obtain a relatively good ductility without
reducing the hardness and strength
To homogenize the structure in order to
improve the response to hardening
operations.
Normalizing is applied to castings and
forgings
• Because of increased
cooling rates as
compared to furnace
cooling affects the
transformation of
austenite. Since there
is less time for the
formation of the
proeutectoid
constituent,
consequently there
will be less
proeutectoid ferrite in
normalized
hypoeutectoid steels
and less proeutectoid
 COMPARISON
BETWEEN
NORMALIZED AND
ANNEALED STEELS
Ductility of annealed and
normalized steels.
• Annealing and
normalizing do not
present a significant
difference on the
ductility of low carbon
steels.
• As the carbon content
increases,
-annealing maintains
the % elongation
around 20%.
-the ductility of the
normalized high
Tensile strength of normalized and
annealed steels.
• Tensile strength of the
normalized steels are
higher than the
annealed steels.
• Normalizing and
annealing do not show
a significant difference
on the tensile strength
of the low carbon
steels.
• Normalized high carbon
steels has much higher
tensile strength than
Hardness of normalized and
annealed steels.
• Low and medium
carbon steels can
maintain similar
hardness levels when
normalized or
annealed.
• When high carbon
steels are normalized
they maintain higher
levels of hardness
than those that are
annealed.
Yield point of annealed and
normalized steels
• Yield point of the
normalized steels are
higher than the
annealed steel.
• Normalizing and
annealing do not show
a significant difference
on yield point of the
low carbon steels.
• Normalized high carbon
steels present much
higher yield point than
those that are
 Martensitic Transformation
Under slow cooling rate, the carbon atom
diffuses out of austenite structure. The Iron atoms
then move to become B.C.C.
The gamma to alpha transformation takes place
by a process of nucleation and growth and is time-
dependent.
With a still further increase in cooling rate,
insufficient time is allowed for the carbon to diffuse
out of the solution, although some movement of
iron atoms takes place, the structure cannot
become B.C.C. while the carbon is trapped inside
the solution.
The resultant solution is called Martensite, is a
super saturated solid solution of carbon trapped in
a body centered tetragonal structure.
 Purpose of hardening
The basic purpose of hardening is to produce a
fully martensitic structure, and the minimum
cooling rate (0F per second )that will avoid the
formation of any of the softer products of
transformations is known as the critical cooling
rate.
The critical cooling rate, determined by chemical
composition and austenitic grain size, is an
important property of a steel since it indicates
how fast a steel must be cooled in order to form
only martensite
 Hardening Mechanism

• Two dimensions of the unit cell are equal, but

the third is slightly expanded because of the
trapped carbon.
• The axial ratio c/a increases, with carbon
content to a maximum of 1.08%.
• The highly distorted lattice structure is the
prime reason for the High hardness of
martensite.
Mechanism of hardening
Microstructure of martensite

• After drastic
cooling
(quenching),
martensite
appears
microscopically
as a white
needlelike
structure
described as pile
of straw.

• In most steels,
the martensitic
 Martensitic transformation
characteristics
• 1. Various microstructures occur depending on
Carbon content of steel
~0.2 wt% C well-defined laths of martensite
~0.6 wt% C plates of martensite form, mixed with
laths
~1.2 wt% C well-defined plates of martensite

• 2. Martensitic transformation is diffusion less (no

time for atoms to intermix)

• 3. No compositional change to parent phase

(relative position of carbon atoms with respect
to iron atoms identical to austenite parent)
.6% c .2%
c

1.2%
c
 Continued….
• 4. Crystal structure changes from BCC to body
centered tetragonal as carbon content increases
(solid solubility difference of C in FCC austenite
and BCC ferrite)
• 5. Martensitic transformation begins at definite
temperature called Ms being dependent on
chemical composition only.
• 6.The most significant property of martensite is its
potential of being very hard. The hardness of
martensite increases rapidly at first reaching upto
about 0.4% carbon. Its also a result of severe
lattice distortions by its formation, since the
amount of carbon present is many times more
than can be held in solid solutions
 Martensitic
transformation temperature
Tempering
 Definition
Tempering is a heat treatment process
accomplished by heating steel to a temperature
below the eutectoid temperature for a specified
period of time.

According to ASME Metals Handbook,

Reheating hardened steel to some temperature
below the eutectoid temperature to decrease
hardness and/or increase toughness is called
tempering.

Generally, it is studied for martensite structure of

steel.
Eutectoid Reaction
Martensite
Of all the microstructures that can be produced for a given
steel alloy, martensite is the
•Hardest
•Strongest
•Most Brittle

Applications: crankshafts, spanners, high-tension bolts.

Martensite needs to be tempered to obtain better

ductility.
This happens when ferrite is allowed to precipitate from the
supercooled Martensite.
 Structure

Martensite has Body

Centered Tetragonal
Structure(BCT).

The circles represent

iron atoms and
crosses represent
carbon atoms.

Martensite is formed
by the rapid cooling
of FCC Austenite to
ambient
Normally, tempering is carried out at temperatures
between 250 °and 650 °C (480 °and 1200 °F) even though
internal stresses may be relieved at temperatures as low as
200 °C (390 °F).

Significant Points-

5. The microstructure of tempered martensite consists of

extremely small and uniformly dispersed cementite
particles embedded within a continuous ferrite matrix.
6. Tempered martensite may be nearly as hard and strong
as martensite, but with substantially enhanced ductility
and toughness.
7. The hard cementite phase reinforces the ferrite matrix
along the boundaries, and these boundaries also act as
barriers to dislocation motion during plastic deformation.
8. The continuous ferrite phase is also very ductile and
relatively tough, which accounts for the improvement of
 Martensite (BCT, single phase) Tempered martensite (α +
Fe3C phases)

Tensile and yield strengths and ductility (%RA) versus tempering temperature for an oil-
quenched alloy steel.
The changes during the tempering of martensite can be
categorized into stages.

•During the first stage, excess carbon in solid solution

segregates to defects or forms clusters within the solid
solution. It then precipitates, either as cementite in low-
carbon steels, or as transition iron-carbides in high-carbon
alloys. The carbon concentration that remains in solid
solution may be quite large if the precipitate is a transition
carbide.

•Further annealing leads to stage 2, in which almost all of

the excess carbon is precipitated, and the carbides all
convert into more stable cementite. Any retained austenite
may decompose during this stage.

•Continued tempering then leads to the coarsening of

 Temper Embrittlement

Tempering is frequently necessary to reduce the

hardness of martensite and increase toughness,

But

The heat-treatment can lead to embrittlement when

the steel contains impurities such as phosphorus,
antimony, tin and sulphur.
This is because these impurities tend to segregate
to the prior austenite grain boundaries and reduce
cohesion across the boundary plane, resulting in
intergranular failure.
Tempering at temperatures around 650o promotes the
segregation of impurity elements such as phosphorous to the
prior austenite grain boundaries, leading to intergranular
failure along these boundaries.
 Critical temp. on heating and
cooling

Definition- The temperatures at which the

transformations in the solid state takes place are
called critical temperatures.
there are two types of transformation :
On heating
On cooling
• At a temperature just
above AC1 , the structures
of steel being considered
will be composed of grains Heating
of pro eutectoid ferrite and transformation
the grains of austenite.
• As the temperature is raise
above AC1 the ferrite will be
transformed to austenite
gradually until, at the a
temperature, the
transformation will be
completed.
• in hypo eutectoid steels
the transformation of steel
begins at the AC3,1
temperature by the
transformation of pearlite
to austenite. Heating the
steel above to temperature
above AC3,1 will bring about
the solution of pro
eutectoid cementite in the
austenite. At the ACM
 Cooling transformations
• Steel containing .3% carbon is cooled slowly
from above the AC3 temperature, pro
eutectoid ferrite will begin to precipitate
from the austenite at Ar3 point.
• Upon slow cooling a hypereutectoid steel,
proeutectoid cementite will begin to
precipitate at the ACM temperature.
• Also, the transformation of austenite of
eutectoid composition involves the
simultaneous transformation of gamma to
alpha iron and the precipitation of cementite
due to the low solubility of carbon in alpha
 References
•Introduction to physical Metallurgy
- by Sidney H Avener

•Physical Metallurgy for Engineers

- by Donald S Clark and Wilbur R Varney

•Material Science and Engineering

- by William D Callister

Images taken from web resources.