What is heat treatment?

The combination of heating and cooling operations

timed and applied to metals and alloys in the solid
state to get the desired properties.

Followings are important Heat Treatment processes :

1-Annealing
2-Normalizing
3-Quenching and Tempering
4-Surface Hardening like carburizing, Nitriding,
Induction and Flame Hardening etc.
 Comparison between Annealing, Normalizing and
quenching Processes :-
Annealing Normalizing Quenching
1-Temperature of 30oC to 50oC 30oC to 50oC 30oC to 50oC
Heating above UCT for above UCT for above UCT for
  hypoeutectoid both hypoeutectoid hypoeutectoid
  steel and the same and hypereutectoid steel and the same
amount above LCT steels amount above LCT
for hypereutectoid   for hypereutectoid
steels   steels
2-Haeting and 1 min. per mm 15 min 1 min. per mm
Soaking Time thickness from   thickness from
  centre to surface   centre to surface
  of largest section   of largest section
   
   
3-Rate of Cooling Very slow like Cooling in air Rapid cooling like
  furnace cooling   in water,oil or salt
    bath
4-Structural Soft pearlite mixed Finer pearlite,  Formation of
Changes with ferrite or relatively lesser “martensite”
  cementite amount of  
    proeutectoid  
Martensite: It is non-equilibrium phase which forms on
quenching of austenite. Transformation is rapid which is
carried out through rapid cooling. Interstitial solid solution of
C in Fe with BCT crystal structure. It is very hard and brittle
structure. The amount of austenite transformed into
martensite depends on the temperature not on time.
Bainite: Fine needles of Fe3C in ferrite matrix. It is the product
of Austempring. Pearlite and bainite are the mixture of same
two phases but are different microconstituents due to shapes
and distribution of these phases.

Pearlite Bainite
 Tempering
► Quenching results in sever distortion and
internal stresses.To remove them,quenched
steels are heated upto 400oC to 500oC to
remove those internal stresses.This process
of reheating is called “tempering”.It
decreases the hardness to some extent only
but make the component serviceable. And it
is the essential process after quenching.
Carburizing
It is the oldest and cheapest method of case
hardening. A low carbon-steel, usually about 0.2%
carbon is placed in an atmosphere that contains
substantial amount of carbon monoxide. The usual
carburizing temp. is 1700F. At this temperature
following reaction takes place:
Fe+2CO Fe(C) + CO2
After heating the steel is cooled rapidly by
quenching, the higher carbon content on the
outer surface becomes hard via the
transformation from austenite to martensite,
while the core remains soft and tough as a
ferritic and/or pearlite microstructure.
 Cyaniding and carbonitriding
Cases that contain both carbon and nitrogen are
produced in liquid salt baths (cyaniding) or by use of
gas atmosphere (carbonitriding).The temperature used
are generally lower than those used in carburizing,
being between 1400 and 1600F. Exposure is for
shorter time, and thinner cases are produced, up to
0.01in. For cyaniding and up to 0.03in for
carbonitriding. The decomposition reaction of
cyaniding reaction is as follows:
Chemical reaction of carbonitriding is as follows:
The cooling medium for flame hardening process are water, oil or
even air for some steels. After quenching, the part should be stress
relieved by heating in the range 350 to 400F and air cooled.
 Alloy Steels
► Alloy steels are the types of steels in which
elements other than carbon and iron are
present in sufficient amount to modify the
properties of the materials.
► The utility of alloy steels lies in the fact that
they permit a much wider range of physical
and mechanical properties that is not possible
in plain carbon steels in which increas in
strength and hardness by an increased
carbon content or heat treatment is liable to
be accompanied by a relative loss of
toughness and ductility.
► But in alloy steels these loses are not there.
Purpose of Alloying:-
► 1-increase hardenbility
► 2-improve strength at ordinary temperature
► 3- to improve mechanical properties at
higher and lower temperatures
► 4-improve toughness
► 5-increase wear resistance
► 6-increase corrosion resistance
► 7-improve magnetic properties
 Types of Alloy Steels
► Low alloy steels
<5 % by wt. alloying additions
►Medium alloy steels
5-10 % by wt. alloying additions
►High alloy steels
>10 % by wt. alloying additions
 Low Alloy Steels
Iron‑carbon alloys that contain additional alloying
elements in amounts totaling less than  5%
by weight
► Mechanical properties superior to plain carbon
steels for given applications
► Higher strength, hardness, hot hardness, wear
resistance, toughness, and more desirable
combinations of these properties
► Heat treatment is often required to achieve
these improved properties
 Stainless Steel (SS)
Highly alloyed steels designed for corrosion
resistance
► Principal alloying element is chromium, usually
greater than 15%
 Cr forms a thin impervious oxide film that protects
surface from corrosion
► Nickel (Ni) is another alloying ingredient in
certain SS to increase corrosion protection
► Carbon is used to strengthen and harden SS,
but high C content reduces corrosion
protection since chromium carbide forms to
reduce available free Cr
 Tool Steels
A class of (usually) highly alloyed steels
designed for use as industrial cutting tools,
dies, and molds
► To perform in these applications, they must
possess high strength, hardness, hot
hardness, wear resistance, and toughness
under impact
► Tool steels are heat treated
 Cast Irons
Iron alloys containing from 2.1% to about 4%
carbon and from 1% to 3% silicon
► This composition makes them highly suitable as
casting metals
► Tonnage of cast iron castings is several times that
of all other cast metal parts combined, excluding
cast ingots in steel-making that are subsequently
rolled into bars, plates, and similar stock
► Overall tonnage of cast iron is second only to steel
among metals
 Types of Cast Irons
► Most important is gray cast iron
► Other types include ductile iron, white cast
iron, malleable iron, and various alloy cast
irons
► Ductile and malleable irons possess
chemistries similar to the gray and white
cast irons, respectively, but result from
special processing treatments
 Cast Irons
► Iron-Carbon alloys of
2.11%C or more are cast
irons.
► Typical composition: 2.0-
4.0%C,0.5-3.0% Si, less
than 1.0% Mn and less
than 0.2% S.
► Si-substitutes partially for
C and promotes
formation of graphite as
the carbon rich
component instead Fe3C.
 Gray Cast Iron

► Composes of: 2.5-4.0%C,

1.0-3.0%Si and 0.4-1.0%
Mn.
► Microstructure: 3-D graphite
flakes formed during eutectic
reaction.
 Gray Cast Iron
► Properties: excellent compressive
strength, excellent machinability, good
resistance to adhesive wear (self
lubrication due to graphite flakes),
outstanding damping capacity ( graphite
flakes absorb transmitted energy), good
corrosion resistance and it has good
fluidity needed for casting operations.
► It is widely used, especially for large
equipment parts subjected to compressive
loads and vibrations.
 White Cast Iron
► Composes of: 1.8-3.6%C, 0.5-1.9%Si and
0.25-0.8%Mn.
► All of its carbon is in the form of iron-
carbide (Fe3C). It is called white because of
distinctive white fracture surface.
► It is very hard and brittle (a lot of Fe3C).
► It is used where a high wear resistance is
dominant requirement (coupled hard
martensite matrix and iron-carbide). Thin
coatings over steel (mill rolls).
 Malleable Cast Iron
► Formed by extensive heat
treatment around 900 degC,
Fe3C will dissociate and form
irregular shaped graphite
nodules.
► :10% EL,35 ksi yield strength,
50 ksi tensile strength. Excellent
impact strength, good corrosion
resistance and good
machinability.
 Ductile Cast Iron
► Without a heat treatment by addition of
ferrosilicon (MgFeSi) formation of smooth
spheres (nodules) of graphite is promoted.
► Properties: 2-18% EL, 40-90 ksi yield
strength, 60-120 ksi tensile strength.
► Attractive engineering material due to:
good ductility, high strength, toughness,
wear resistance, machinability and low
melting point castability.