CARBURIZING:

CARBURIZING is a process in which austenitized ferrous metal is brought into contact with an environment of sufficient carbon potential to cause absorption of carbon at the surface and, by diffusion, create a carbon concentration gradient between the surface and interior of the metal. The depth of penetration of carbon is dependent on temperature, time at temperature, and the composition of the carburizing agent. The primary objective of carburizing and hardening gears is to secure a hard case and a relatively soft but tough core. For this process, low-carbon steels (up to a maximum of approximately 0.30% carbon), either with or without alloying elements (nickel, chromium, manganese, molybdenum), normally are used. After case carburizing, the gear teeth will have high carbon at the surface graduating into the lowcarbon core. There are five general methods of carburizing, depending on the form of the carburizing medium. These methods are: Solid or pack carburizing, employing solid carburizing material Liquid carburizing, employing fused baths of carburizing salts Gas or atmosphere carburizing, employing suitable hydrocarbon gases Vacuum carburizing, employing a rough vacuum and a partial pressure of hydrocarbon gas Plasma or ion carburizing, employing both vacuum and glow-discharge technology (carbon-bearing ions are introduced to the surface for subsequent diffusion below the surface)

Carburizing Temperature

The penetration of carbon into the steel depends on the carburizing temperature, the time at temperature, and the carburizing agent. Since the solubility of carbon is greatest above the Ac3 temperature, carburization takes place most readily above this temperature. Furthermore, the higher the temperature is, the greater the rate of carbon penetration will be, since the rate of diffusion is greater. It is thus customary to select a temperature approximately 55 C (100 F) above the Ac3 point. Again, the time at the carburizing temperature is the most influential factor in the control of the depth of carbonpenetration as illustrated in Fig

Quenching and Hardening

After carburizing, gears are quenched in a cooling medium for hardening. Quenching develops a martensitic or a bainitic case with core microstructures other than a mixture of proeutectoid ferrite and pearlite. Thus, the selection of a proper quenchant is of utmost importance, and the cooling rate, ideally, should be just fast enough to produce the desired core structure but not so fast that the case cracks or that an undue amount of austenite is retained. For industrial and automotive gears, however, quenching conditions often are chosen solely on the basis of developing required surface hardness, especially in applications where the core properties are known to have little or no effect on product performance. Depending on part size and shape, and on transformation characteristics of the steel, gears may be quenched in water, oil, or any proprietary fluids. Most often oil is used because it is a suitable quenchant for most carburizing grades of steel, especially for relatively finepitch gears Direct Quenching Most gas-carburized gears are quenched directly after carburizing. Furnace temperature usually is reduced to normal austenitizing temperature (approximately 790 C, or 1450 F) prior to quenching. In certain cases, quenching directly from the carburizing temperature also is acceptable provided this does not induce thermal cracks in gears. Nevertheless, direct quenching has gained wider acceptance, primarily because of economy and simplicity of the procedure. To minimize carbide network in the case, carburizing above the Acm temperature is suggested. Direct quenching reduces the amount of energy used for heating and eliminates or avoids some of the equipment and operating expense of the hardening operation. Labor costs are reduced, and nicks and other part damage are minimized because the parts are handled less frequently

Tempering of Carburized and Quenched Gears Tempering is a process of reheating quenchhardened gears to a temperature below the transformation range of steel and holding at this temperature to

reduce thermal stresses induced during quenching and improve dimensional stability. Normal tempering temperature for carburized and quenched gears varies between 115 and 175 C (240 and 350 F). The surface hardness of quenched gears decreases as the tempering temperature increases as shown in Fig.

In addition, tempering temperature has a significant effect on core hardness Furthermore, higher tempering temperatures reduce both case hardness and case depth. In applications where gears are required to maintain high compressive and bending strengths at an elevated temperature, carburizing steels that are least affected by tempering temperature are preferred. To enhance the effect of tempering, it should follow soon after the quench but not until the gears can be comfortably touched with bare hands. Tempering too early can cause serious problems by interrupting the martensitic transformation. To the other extreme, too long a delay before tempering might create a major distortion problem and even cracking of the gears.

Tempering is a necessary finishing treatment after hardening. However, it also involves heating and cooling. This may again generate new stresses in the gears being processed. Fortunately, the influence of these new stresses ongeometric shapes of gears is very small due to low temperature levels involved. Nevertheless, uniform heating and cooling is advisable during tempering to keep distortion-causing stresses ata minimum.