HEAT TREATMENT OF CARBON STEEL

I am appointed as a process engineer in Antara Steel Sdn. Bhd. My company

is planning to produce carbon steels with various mechanical properties. In
general this can be obtained from different microstructures which can be
controlled by heat treatment of carbon steel. Certain suggestions of heat
treatment of carbon steel are full annealing, normalizing, quenching,
martempering, austempering and spheroidizing.
The purpose of heat treatment of carbon steel is to change the mechanical
properties of steel, usually ductility, hardness, yield strength, or impact
resistance. Note that the electrical and thermal conductivity are only slightly
altered. As with most strengthening techniques for steel, Young's modulus
(elasticity) is unaffected. All treatments of steel trade ductility for increased
strength and vice versa. Iron has a higher solubility for carbon in the
austenite phase; therefore all heat treatments, except spheroidizing and
process annealing, start by heating the steel to a temperature at which the
austenitic phase can exist. The steel is then quenched (heat drawn out) at a
high rate causing cementite to precipitate and finally the remaining pure iron
to solidify. The rate at which the steel is cooled through the eutectoid
temperature affects the rate at which carbon diffuses out of austenite and
forms cementite.
Generally speaking, cooling swiftly will leave iron carbide finely dispersed
and produce a fine grained pearlite (until the martensite critical temperature
is reached) and cooling slowly will give a coarser pearlite. Cooling a
hypoeutectoid steel (less than 0.77 wt% C) results in a lamellar-pearlitic
structure of iron carbide layers with -ferrite (pure iron) between. If it is
hypereutectoid steel (more than 0.77 wt% C) then the structure is full
pearlite with small grains (larger than the pearlite lamella) of cementite
scattered throughout. The relative amounts of constituents are found using
the lever rule. Below are the iron-carbon phase diagram, showing the
temperature and carbon ranges for certain types of heat treatments.

Production Of Antara Steel Sdn.Bhd

# Billets
Configuration of size:
type A: 120 mm X 120 mm

# Angle Bar
Size Range :

25mm - 50 mm (Rolling Mill 1)

50mm - 100mm (Rolling Mill 2)

# U-Channel

type B: 140 mm X 140 mm

Configuration of size:

UC 76mm x 38mm x 5.1mm

UC 100mm x 50mm x 5mm

UC 100mm x 52mm x 6mm

UC 125mm x 65mm x 6mm

Spheroidizing
Full Annealing
Normalizing
Quenching
Martempering
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Full Annealing
Full annealing is the process of slowly raising the temperature about 50 C
(90 F) above the Austenitic temperature line A3 or line ACM in the case of
Hypoeutectoid steels (steels with < 0.77% Carbon) and 50 C (90 F) 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 20 C/hr (36 F/hr) in a
furnace to about 50 C (90 F) into the Ferrite-Cementite range. At this point,
it can be cooled in room temperature air with natural convection. The grain
structure has coarse Pearlite with ferrite or Cementite (depending on
whether hypo or hyper eutectoid). The steel becomes soft and ductile. The
process is illustrated as in figure below.

Normalizing
Normalizing process for steels is defined as heating the steel to austenite
phase and cooling it in the air. It is carried out by heating the steel
approximately 50 C above the upper critical temperature (AC for
hypoeutectoid steels or Acm in case of hypereutectoid steels, Fig 1) followed
by cooling in air to room temperature, or at no greater than 1 bar pressure
using nitrogen if the process is being run in a vacuum furnace. Normalizing
temperatures usually vary from 810 C to 930 C. After reaching the soaking
temperature the steel is held at that temperature for soaking. The soaking
time depends on the thickness of the work piece and the steel composition.
Higher temperatures and longer soaking times are required for alloy steels
and larger cross sections.
In normalizing, steel is uniformly heated to a temperature which causes
complete transformation to austenite. Steel is held at this temperature for
sufficient time for the formation of homogenous structure throughout its
mass. It is then allowed to cool in still air in a uniform manner. Air cooling
results into faster cooling rate when compared with the furnace cooling rate.
Thus, the cooling time in normalizing is drastically reduced as compared to
annealing.
Soaking periods for normalizing are usually one hour per 25 mm of thickness
of the work piece but not less than 2 hours at the soaking temperature. The
mass of the work piece can have a significant influence on the cooling rate
and thus on the resulting microstructure. Thin work pieces cool faster and
hence are harder after normalizing than the thicker work pieces. This is
different than in the case of annealing where the hardness of thin and thicker
work pieces is same after furnace cooling.
Normalization eliminates internal stresses, strains and improves the
mechanical properties of the steel, such as improving its toughness and
machinability. A better ductility can also be obtained without compromising
the hardness and strength.
Since the cooling rate in the normalizing heat treatment is not controlled, the
resulting structure is dependent on the thickness of the steel work piece.
Therefore the effect of increased mechanical properties is greater in thin
work pieces.

Normalized steel has higher hardness and strength than annealed steel due
to the amount of pearlite in the normalized steel is more than that in the
annealed steel having the same carbon content, due to the shifting of the
eutectoid composition to a lower value, the dispersion of pearlite and ferrite
phases is finer and the pearlite of normalized steel is finer and has a lower
interlamellar spacing than that of annealed steel.

Quenching
Hardening of steel is obtained by a suitable quench from within or above the
critical range. The temperatures are the same as those given for full
annealing. The soaking time in air furnaces should be 1,2 min for each mm of
cross-section or 0,6 min in salt or lead baths. Uneven heating, overheating
and excessive scaling should be avoided. The quenching is necessary to
suppress the normal breakdown of austenite into ferrite and cementite, and
to cause a partial decomposition at such a low temperature to produce
martensite. To obtain this, steel requires a critical cooling velocity, which is
greatly reduced by the presence of alloying elements, which therefore cause
hardening with mild quenching (e.g. oil and hardening steels).
Hardening of steel is obtained by a suitable quench from within or above the
critical range. The temperatures are the same as those given for full
annealing. The soaking time in air furnaces should be 1,2 min for each mm of
cross-section or 0,6 min in salt or lead baths. Uneven heating, overheating
and excessive scaling should be avoided.
The quenching is necessary to suppress the normal breakdown of austenite
into ferrite and cementite, and to cause a partial decomposition at such a
low temperature to produce martensite. To obtain this, steel requires a
critical cooling velocity, which is greatly reduced by the presence of alloying
elements, which therefore cause hardening with mild quenching (e.g. oil and
hardening steels). Steels with less than 0,3 % carbon cannot be hardened
effectively, while the maximum effect is obtained at about 0,7 % due to an
increased tendency to retain austenite in high carbon steels.
Water is one of the most efficient quenching media where maximum
hardness is required, but it is liable to cause distortion and cracking of the
article. Where hardness can be sacrificed, whale, cotton seed and mineral

oils are used. These tend to oxidise and form sludge with consequent
lowering of efficiency.
The quenching velocity of oil is much less than water. Ferrite and troostite
are formed even in small sections. Intermediate rates between water and oil
can be obtained with water containing 10-30 % Ucon, a substance with an
inverse solubility which therefore deposits on the object to slow rate of
cooling. To minimise distortion, long cylindrical objects should be quenched
vertically, flat sections edgeways and thick sections should enter the bath
first. To prevent steam bubbles forming soft spots, a water quenching bath
should be agitated.
Fully hardened and tempered steels develop the best combination of
strength and notch-ductility.

Martempering
Martempering is also known as stepped quenching or interrupted ilse
quenching. In this process, steel is heated above the upper critical point and
then quenched in a salt bath kept at a temperature of 150-300 C. The
workpiece is held at this temperature above (Ms) until the temperature
becomes uniform throughout the cross-section of workpiece. After that it is
cooled in air or oil to room temperature. The steel is then tempered.
Martempering is a heat treatment for steel involving austenitisation followed
by step quenching, at a rate fast enough to avoid the formation of ferrite,
pearlite or bainite to a temperature slightly above the martensite start (Ms)
point.
In the martempering process, austenitized metal part is immersed in a bath
at a temperature just above the martensite start temperature (Ms). By using
interrupted quenching, the cooling is stopped at a point above the
martensite transformation region to ensure sufficient time for the center to
cool to the same temperature as the surface. The metal part is then removed
from the bath and cooled in air to room temperature to permit the austenite
to transform to martensite. Martempering is a method by which the stresses
and strains generated during the quenching of a steel component can be
controlled.
Martempering is used to produce martensite without developing the high
stresses that usually accompany its formation. The casting is quenched from

above the transformation range in a salt, oil, or lead bath: held in the bath at
a temperature slightly above the range at which martensite forms only until
the casting has reached the bath temperature; and then cooled to room
temperature.

Austempering
Austempering is an isothermal heat treatment that, when applied to ferrous
materials, produces a structure that is stronger and tougher than comparable
structures produced with conventional heat treatments. Conventional heat
treaters heat the parts to "red heat" in a controlled atmosphere and then
quench them in a bath of oil or water that is near room temperature. (Maybe
even as high as a few hundred degrees Fahrenheit). This produces a
crystalline structure known as Martensite, a hard, brittle phase. The parts are
then tempered in another furnace at 350F (177C) to 1100F (593C) to
decrease the "brittleness."
Austempering starts the same way. The parts are heated to "red heat" in a
controlled atmosphere (so they don't scale) but then are quenched in a bath
of molten salt at 450F (232C) to 750F (399C). The quench temperature is
above the Martensite starting temperature. Therefore, a different structure
(not Martensite) results. In Austempered Ductile Iron and Austempered Gray
Iron the structure is Ausferrite, and in steel, it is Bainite.
During the process of quenching to Martensite, the Martensite reaction
begins immediately. The result is that the outside of the part may already be

transformed while the inside is still red hot. It is this "non-uniform phase
transformation" that results in distortion and tiny micro cracks that lower the
strength of the part.
By contrast, the Austempering reaction that produces Ausferrite or Bainite
takes place over many minutes or hours. This results in uniform growth and a
stronger (less disturbed) microstructure.

Spheroidizing
Spheroidizing is a form of heat treatment for iron-based alloys, commonly
carbon steels, in order to convert them into ductile and machinable alloys. It
is conducted at temperatures that are slightly below the eutectoid
temperature (temperature at which the solution is a solid solution rather
than liquid), followed by a slow cooling process.
Spheroidizing of high carbon steel is a method of prolonged heating at a
temperature below the eutectoid temperature. By heating at this
temperature pearlite, which is the lowest energy arrangement of steel, gets
converted to ferrite and cementite. The graphite content of steel assumes a
spheroidal shape after spheroidizing and after prolonged heating the pearlite
layers are broken down and spherical lumps of cementite, or spheroidite, are
formed.

The structures in spheroidite are one thousand times larger than those of
pearlite and are spaced further apart. This means the spheroidite steel is
extremely ductile. However, the process of spheroidizing does consume a lot
of energy.
Some of the advantages of spheroidizing are mentioned below:
i)
ii)
iii)

Increases ductility of high carbon steel

Spheroidite structure reduces energy needed for subsequent
operations
Machinability is increased.

The resulting spheroidite structure is a microstructure that contains spherelike cementitie particles. Spheroidite is known as the most ductile and
machinable form of steel. This article will look into the technique and
applications of spheroidizing process.

Steel Plant
He steel plant in Antara Steel Mills was established in 1993 with an 85-MT Electric Arc
Furnace (EAF) to produce billets. The Ladle Furnace (LF) was installed as part of our quality
improvement program to produce high grade billets.
With a 6-strand Continuous Casting Machine, the steel making facility in Johor Bahru has
enabled Antara to achieve a billet production of 700,000 tonnes per annum.
Types of product that it produced are:

Billet Mild Steel (MS)

Billet High Tensile Vanadium (HTV)

Billet High Tensile (HT)

Operation production at Steel Plant was operated in 2 alternatives:

3 syift (0700-1500, 1500-2300, 2300-0700) with production avarage 18 heat per day

Off-peak (2200-0800) with production avarage 8 heat per day

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