MATERIAL SCIENCE

Presented By:- MOHITAS CHAUDHARY

HEAT TREATMENT
Content
•Introduction of heat treatment process.
•Purpose of heat treatment.
•Hardening and its concept.
Introduction of heat treatment process

• Heat treatment is the controlled heating and cooling of

metals for the purpose of altering their properties.
• The properties of metals and alloys can be changed as desired
by heat treatment process.
• Heat treatment is defined as an operation involving the
heating and cooling of a metal or an alloy in the solid-state
to obtain certain desirable properties without change
composition.
PURPOSE OF HEAT TREATMENT

(1) To relieve internal stresses ( which are set up in the metal due to welding,
casting, forging etc.)
(2) To reduce hardness
(3) To soften the metal.
(4) To improve machinability
(5) To restore ductility
(6) To improve mechanical properties (like tensile strength, hardness, ductility etc.)
(7) To refine the grains structure
(8) To improve hardness of the metal surface
(9) To reduce distortion
(10)To remove machining stress
(11)To improve magnetic and electrical properties.
(12)To increase resistance to wear, heat and corrosion and much more reason
• Heat treatment consists of heating the metal near or above its
critical temperature, held for a particular time at that finally
cooling the metal in some medium which may be air, water,
etc. The heat treatment process includes annealing, case
hardening, tempering, normalizing and quenching, nitriding,
cyaniding etc.
Micro constituents of steel

FERRITE (BCC)- It is a pure iron containing only 0.06% of carbon. Ferrite is

ductile and strongly magnetic at room temperature and becomes
paramagnetic ( weakly attracted to an applied magnetic) at 770℃ .
CEMENTITE- It is compound of iron and carbon. It is extremely hard and
brittle. It can contains 93.33% iron and 6.67% carbon. It is magnetic at room
temperature and become paramagnetic at 210℃. It is also called Iron-
carbide. It is hard and brittle.
PEARLITE –It is an intimate mixture of ferrite and cementite and made up of
alternate layers of ferrite and cementite. Pearlite contains 88.5% ferrite and
11.5% of cementite. In this stage steel structure change completely.
AUSTENITE (FCC) – It is solid solution of carbon in iron. It con dissolve up to
2% of carbon at 1148℃. It is soft and ductile but stronger and less ductile
than pearlite. It is non magnetic and exists at temperature above 727 ℃.
LEDEBURITE – Similar to pearlite, it consist of mixture of two
phases austenite and cementite and it exists between 1148℃ and
727℃.
Marten site- It is micro constituent of steel, which is obtained when
steel is cooled rapidly from austenite phase to room temperature.
It represents a needle like appearance under microscope and very
hard brittle and magnetic.
BAINITE- It forms when steel is cooled rapidly from austenite phase
to a temperature of 650 to 500℃ and held at the temperature for
a long time. It is an intimate mixture of ferrite and cementite.
Types of Heat Treatment Processes

Different types of heat treatment processes are as follows:

1. Annealing
2. Normalizing
3. hardening
4. Tempering
5. Austempering
6. Martempering
7. Case Hardening
 Types of Heat Treatment
1. Annealing
 Annealing is one of the most important processes of heat treatment. It is one
of the most widely used operations in the heat treatment of iron and steel
and is defined as the softening process.
 Heating of from 30 - 50°C above the upper critical temperature and cooling it
at the very slow rate by seeking it the furnace.
 The main aim of annealing is to make steel more ductile and malleable and to
remove internal stresses. This process makes the steel soft so that it can be
easily machined.
Purpose of Annealing

• It softens steel and to improve its machinability.

• To refine grain size and remove gases.
• It removes the internal stresses developed during the
previous process.
• To obtain desired ductility, malleability and toughness.
• It modifies the electrical and magnetic properties.
Procedure for annealing

• Depending on the carbon content, the steel is heated to a

temperature of about 30°C to 50°C above its critical
temperature range.
• It is held at this temperature for a definite period of time
depending on the type of furnace and nature of work.
• The steel is then allowed to cool inside the furnace
constantly.
• Application of annealing:-It is applied to castings and forgings
• Hot Working is done at temperatures above the recrystallization
temperature of the metal, ex- welding, brazing, soldering etc.
• and Cold Working is done at temperatures below the recrystallization
temperature of the metal. ex- rolling, hammering, drawing etc.
Various types of Annealing

I. Full Annealing
II. Process Annealing
III. Spheroidise Annealing
IV. Recrystallization Annealing
V. Isothermal Annealing
I. Full Annealing
• Full annealing consist of heating the steel to a temperature at or near the critical
point, holding there for a time period and then allowing it to cool slowly in the
furnace itself.
• Heating the steel to about 50°C-75°C above the upper critical
temperature(between 723°C-910°C) for hypo-eutectoid steel and by the same
temperature above the lower critical temperature for hyper-eutectoid steels.
• Slowly cooling it in the furnace.
The object of full annealing are

• To soften the metal.

• To refine its crystalline structure.
• To relieve the stresses.
• The full annealing is specially adopted for steel
casting.
II. Process Annealing

• Process annealing is a heat treatment that is often used to soften

and increase the ductility of a previously strain hardened metal.
• Process annealing is extensively employed for steel wires and sheet
products (especially low carbon steels).
• In process annealing, the low carbon steels (< 0.25%C) are heated to
a temperature slightly below the critical point line (between 550°C-
650°C).
• This process has wide application in preparing steel sheets and wire
for drawing.
III. Spheroidise Annealing

• This process is usually applied to medium and high carbon

steels which are difficult to machine.
• This process consists of heating the steel slightly above the
lower critical point(730°C-770°C) holding at this temperature,
and then cooling slowly to a temperature of 600°C.The rate of
cooling in the furnace is from 25°C to 30°C per hour.
Object of spheroidising are

• To soften steels.
• To increase ductility and toughness.
• To improve machinability.
• To reduce hardness, strength, and wear resistance.
IV) Recrystallization Annealing
• In this heat treatment process, cold worked steel is heated to
a temperature above recrystallization temperature, held at
this temperature for some time, and then cooled.
• It may be noted that the recrystallization process does not
produce new structures. But it produces strain free new
grains.
• This result in increase in ductility as well as decrease in the
hardness and strength.
v) Isothermal Annealing
Recrystallization Temperature
• The temperature at which crystallization takes place i.e., new grains are formed is called
recrystallization temperature.
• The recrystallization temperature is that temperature at which the crystal lattice structure of
the metal becomes reoriented. Consequently, the metal becomes more workable and ductile.
• The term recrystallization may be defined as the process of forming strain free new grains, in
metal, by heating it to a temperature known as recrystallization temperature.
2.Normalizing

• When a metallic job is heated, cooled or hammered then its inner

structure gets changed. The process of regaining its original state is
called normalizing.
• Normalizing: The main aim of normalizing is to remove the internal
stresses developed after the cold working process.
• In this, steel is heated 30 - 50°C above its upper critical temperature
and cooling it in the air.
• It improves mechanical and electrical properties, machinability &
tensile strength.
• Normalizing is the process of heat treatment carried out to restore
the structure of normal condition.
Purpose of Normalizing

• To refine the grain structure.

• To increase the strength of the steel.
• To provide a more uniform structure in casting and forging.
• To achieve certain mechanical and electrical properties.
Application of normalizing
It is applied castings and forgings to refine grain structure and to
relieve stresses.
It is applied after cold working such as rolling, stamping and
hammering.
Effect of Normalizing on Grain Size
• Normalizing refines (reduces) the grains of a steel that
have become coarse (long and irregular) as a result of
heavy deformations as in forging or in rolling
• The fine grains have higher toughness than coarse grains,

Steel
with
0.5% C
3. Hardening

• Hardening: The process of heating and then cooling a steel job for making it
hard is called hardening.
• The main aim of the hardening process is to make steel hard tough.
• In this process, steel is heated 30° - 40°C above the upper critical temperature
and then followed by continues cooling to
room temperature by quenching in water or oil. It is the opposite process of
annealing.
• Heated upto750°C to 850 °C
• Quenching:- The process of cooling a steel piece in oil or water after heating it
up to upper critical point is called quenching.
Purpose of hardening:-
• By hardening, it increases the hardness of steel.
• To resist to wear
• Allows the steel to cut other metals
Procedure for hardening
The steel is heated above 30°C- 40°C its critical temperature
range. It is held at that temperature for a definite period of time.
The steel is then rapidly cooled in a medium of quenching.
Application of hardening
It is applied for chisels, sledgehammer, hand hammer, Centre
punches, taps, dies, milling cutters, knife blades and gears.
4. Tempering

• After completion of hardening heat treatment, it becomes brittle

and has high residual stress. So it is usually desirable to increase the
ductility of the steel.
• This is accomplished by tempering, which consists of heating the
hardened steel to some temperature below lower critical
temperature and cooling back to room temperature.
• All hardened steels must be tempered immediately after hardening.
• The temperature here varies from 100°C to 700°C.
Application of Tempering:- It is applied to cutting tools, tool and gears,
which are hardened by the hardening process.
Residual stresses are those stresses that remain in an object
(in particular, in a welded component) even in the absence of
external loading or thermal gradients
Procedure for tempering

• The steel after being quenched in the hardening process is

reheated to a temperature slightly above the temperature
range at which it is to be used, but below the lower critical
temperature. The temperature here varies from 100°C to
700°C.
• The reheating is done in a bath of oil or molten lead or molten
salt. The specimen is held in the bath for a period of time till
attains the temperature evenly, the time depends on the
composition and desired quality of steel. Now the specimen is
removed from the bath and allow to cool slowly in still air.
Purpose of Tempering

• To relieve internally stressed caused by hardening.

• To reduce brittleness.
• Improve ductility, strength and toughness.
• To increase wear resistance.
• To obtain desired mechanical properties.
Quenching

• The process of cooling a steel piece in oil or water after

heating it up to upper critical point is called quenching.
• Quenching refers accelerated or rapid cooling.
• The cooling can be accomplished by contact with a quenching
medium which may be a gas, liquid, or solid.
• Most of times, liquid quenching media is widely used to
achieve rapid cooling.
Application of quenching medium

Quenching medium Application

• Mineral oils
• Water or aqueous solution
of NaOH or NaCl.
• Water and air
• Used in hardening alloy
steel.
• Used for quenching carbon
and low alloy steels.
• Used for rails, pipes, and
heavy forgings.
Interrupted quenching

• The quenching has it own disadvantages. Some of the

disadvantages of continuous rapid cooling are.
1) Setting up several quenching stresses,
2) Warping or distorting the object
3) Promoting crack formation in steel.
 In order to overcome the disadvantage of continuous
quenching, a modified quenching procedure known as
interrupted quenching is usually used.
 Two forms of interrupted quenching are:
1) Astempering
2) Martempering
5. Austempering

• Austempering is another type of interrupted quenching that

forms bainite structure.
• The austempering is an isothermal heat treatment process,
usually used to reduce quenching distortion and to make a
tough and strong steel.
• Austempering is a heat treating process for medium-to-high
carbon ferrous metals which produces a metallurgical
structure called bainite. It is used to increase strength,
toughness, and reduce distortion.
• Application:-
• Austempering is widely applied on small tools, automobile
seat belt components, link chains and various machinery part.

• Advantage:-
1) Improved ductility
2) Decrease distortion of the quenched material
6. Martempering

• Martempering, also known as marquenching, is a interrupted

cooling procedure used for steel.
• To minimize the stresses, distortion and cracking of steels that may
develop during rapid quenching.
 Process:-
• Austenitizing the steel, i.e., heating the steel above its critical range
to make it all austenite.
• Quenching the austenitized steel in hot oil or molten salt at a
temperature just slightly above the martensite start temperature.
• Cooling at moderate to room temperature ( usually in air) to
prevent large temperature difference between centre and surface.
• The martempering process is mostly used in alloy steels.
Advantages of Martempering

• Minimized quenching stress.

• Minimized chances of formation of quenching cracks.
• Less distortion
7. Case Hardening

• Case hardening may be define as a process for hardening a ferrous

material in such a manner that the surface layer known as case is
substantially harder than the remaining material known as core.
• In many applications, it is desirable that the surface of the
components should have high hardness, while the inside or core
should be soft. The treatments given to steels to achieve this are
called surface or case hardening.
 Purpose of Case hardening
• To obtain a hard and wear resistance to machine parts.
• By case hardening, it obtains a tough core.
• To obtain a higher fatigue limit and high mechanical properties in
the core.Ex- Gears surface, bearing surface, cam and shaft.
Types of case hardening

1) Nitriding
2) Cyaniding
3) Carburising
4) Flame hardening
5) Induction hardening
Types of case hardening
1) Nitriding:-
 This is the process of case hardening or surface hardening in which
nitrogen gas is employed in order to obtain hard surface of the steel.
 This process is commonly used for those steels which are alloyed
with chromium, molybdenum, Aluminium, manganese etc.
 In nitriding, the steel parts are heated and maintained at about
500°C for between 40 and 100 hours. The treatment takes place in a
gas-tight chamber through which ammonia gas is allowed to
circulate.
 The nitriding process is used in the production of machine parts
which required high wear resistance at elevated temperature. EX-air
craft engine parts, aero crank shaft, crank pin gear etc.
2.Cyaniding:-
 The cyaniding is a case or surface hardening process in which carbon
and nitrogen both are absorbed by the metal surface to get it.
 In this process, the piece of low carbon steel is immersed in a bath
of cyanide salt (consisting of sodium cyanide, sodium chloride and
sodium carbonate in equal proportions) maintained at 850°C to
950°C.
 The immersed steel piece is left in the molten cyanide salt bath, at
the above temperature, for about 15 to 20 minutes.It is then taken
out of the bath and quenched in water or oil.
 This process is mainly applied to the low carbon steel parts of
automobile.
3.Carburising:-
 Carburising is the process in which carbon atom are
introduced onto the surface of low carbon steels to produce a
hard case of surface, while the interior or core remains soft.
 Steel for carburizing should have carbon from 0.10 to 0.20%.
 In carburizing, when a piece of low carbon steel is placed in a
carbon saturated temperature, then the carbon will diffuse or
penetrate into the steel and carburizing it.
4. Flame hardening
 Sometimes only those portion of an article are to be hardened which are liable to be subjected to
wear, abrasion or shocks. This local hardening is done by a process known as flame hardening.
 In this process, the portion to be hardened are heated with a flame of oxy-acetylene torch above
its critical temperature.
 The heated portion is immediately quenched by means of spray of water directed on the surface.
 It is used to improve wear resistance and surface hardness of teeth of gears, wheels, bushing,
spindles hand tools etc.
Flame hardening
5.Induction hardening:-
 The mechanism and purpose of induction hardening are the same as for flame
hardening. The main difference is that in induction hardening the source of heat input
is an induced electric current instead of using flame.
 In other words, the induction hardening using resistance to induced eddy currents as
the source of heat.
 Induction heating is done by passing a high frequency alternating current trough a
water cooled coil or indicator around the workpiece.
 The cyclic magnetic field that is generated induces alternating currents that heat the
workpiece.
 Application of induction hardening
 The induction hardening is employed for hardening the
surface of gears, tool drivers, crank shaft, machine tool ways,
pump shaft etc.
 U ! !
K YO
A N
TH
1. Full annealing is applied to which kind of materials?
a) Steel castings
b) Steel wires
c) High carbon steels
d) Sheet products
2. For full annealing of hypo eutectoid steels, they are heated in a range above __________
a) 153-250oC
b) 273-350oC
c) 551-770oC
d) 723-910oC
3. The purpose of normalizing steel is to
a) remove induced stresses
b) improve machinability
c) soften the steel
d) increase the toughness and reduce Brittleness
• 1.Answer: a
Explanation: When we refer to annealing, usually we only talk about
full annealing. This method is used to soften the material, to refine
crystalline structure, and relieve stresses. This method is applied to
steel castings and steel ingots.
• View Answer
• 2.Answer: d
Explanation: Hypo eutectoid steels contain carbon content which
is less than 0.77%. For full annealing of this steel, it is heated 30-
60oC above the A3 line. It is held at this temperature for a period
of time, and then slowly cooled to room temperature.
• 3.Correct Answer- (a)
4. A carbon steel piece is heated just above 730°C, maintained at that
temperature for a few hours and then slowly cooled. What heat treatment
process is carried out?
a) Normalizing
b) Casehardening
c) Hardening
d) Annealing
5. Case hardening is a method of producing hard skin on the surface of steel
are
a) High-carbon steel parts
b) Cast iron (heavy parts)
c) Low-carbon steel parts
d) Alloy steel parts
• 4.Correct Answer- (d)
• 5.Correct Answer- (C)
6. To reduce internal stresses of a hardened tool, the method of heat
treatment generally applied is
a) Stabilising
b) Annealing
c) Normalising
d) Tempering
7. The toughness in a steel is increased and brittleness is decreased
by a heat treatment operation called as
a) Annealing
b) Normalizing
c) Tempering
d) Case hardening
• 6.Correct Answer- (D)
• 7. Answer- (C)
8. In a case hardening process, ammonia gas is introduced on steel;
the process is known as
a) Cyaniding
b) Nitriding
c) Carburizing
d) Ammonising
9. Cyaniding “and “Nitriding” are two methods of
e) Hardening
f) Case hardening
g) Tempering
h) Normalising
• 8.Correct Answer- (B)
• 9. Answer- (B)
10. Heat treatment of metals is necessary
a) To produce certain desired properties
b) To make good appearance on the component
c) To increase strength of the metal
d) To make the metal rust-proof
11. The external surface of the part made of mild steel can be
hardened by
e) Tempering
f) Normalising
g) Case hardening
h) Hardening
• 10. Answer- (A)
• 11.Answer- (C)
12. Which one of the following processes is used for hardening the surface of tool steel?
a) Carburizing
b) Cyaniding
c) Induction hardening
d) Hardening
13. How many types of annealing are there?
e) 3
f) 4
g) 5
h) 6
14.In case of full annealing of hypo-eutectoid steel, it is heated to a
temperature___________
i) Above upper critical temperature
j) Above lower critical temperature
k) To a critical temperature
l) Recrystallization temperature
 
• 12. Answer- (C)
• 13.Answer- (C)
• 14. Answer- (a)