Asssignment-7

Heat treatment and Surface hardening I

NPTEL-Mooc-7th week

1. A researcher in the laboratory was able to record only following data points for
austenite to pearlite transformation

y = Austenite transformed

t = Time taken (s)

fraction
0.2

12.6

0.8

28.2

If it is assumed that kinetics of transformation of austenite to pearlite follows the

avrami equation y = 1-exp (-ktn)(where k and n are constants), then the total time
required to transform 95% of austenite in to pearlite will be ___________s.
[Answer: 36.38, range 34-37]
2. For some transformation having kinetics that obey the Avrami equation [f= 1-exp(ktn)], the parameter n is known to have a value of 1.5. If, after 125 s, the reaction is
25% complete, total time for the transformation to get 90% completed will be
________s(limit your answer to the nearest whole number)
[Answer: exactly500]
3. If for the recrystallization of an alloy the Avrami constant (n) is 5.0 and at some
temperature the fraction recrystallized is 0.30 after 100 min then rate of
recrystallization at the same time andtemperature will be________x10-3 min-1
[Answer: 0.013, range: 0.011-0.014]
4. If a hypoeutectoid steel sample is heated to 900C in a muffle furnace and then
directly transformed to a salt bath maintained at 350C (for 10,000 s) and then water
quenched. TTT diagram for the hypoeutectoid steel is shown in following figure.

Major phase formed in the sample will be

a) Pearlite
b) Ferrite
c) Bainite
d) Martensite
5. The fraction recrystallizedtime data for the recrystallization of a previously
deformed aluminum are as follows
Fraction Recrystallized

Time (min)

0.30

95.2

0.80

126.6

Assuming that the kinetics of this process to obey the Avrami relationship, the
fraction recrystallized after a total time of 116.8 min will be ____________(limit your
answer to 2 decimal places)
[Answer. 0.65, Range: 0.64 to 0.66]

6. If a hypereutectoid steel sample is heated to 900C in a muffle furnace and then

continuously cooled in air then the microstructure obtained after it has cooled to room
temperature will be
a) Pearlite +Ferrite
b) Pearlite + Cementite
c) Pearlite + Martensite
d) Pearlite + Bainite
7. If for austenite to pearlite transformation, f(t) = 1-exp((-/3)NG3t4) holds, where f(t) is
the fraction of austenite transformed to pearlite, N is the nucleation rate, G is the
growth rate and t is the time then for N = 1 mm-3.s-1 and G = 310-4mm.s-1then the
time required to obtain 50% pearlite will be _______________s.
[Answer: 395, range: 375 420]
8. A eutectoid steel was heated to 900C and then isothermally held in a salt bath at
660C for different durations. The steel samples were then quenched in water. Final
microstructure obtained is the mixture of pearlite and martensite. The fraction of
pearlite obtained after different durations is tabulated in the following table

t = Time (s)

P(t) = Pearlite
fraction

90

0.01

180

0.20

225

0.48

240

0.78

300

0.98

If the transformation follows P(t) = 1-exp(-ktn) then value of n is _____

(Important: see NOTE below)
[Answer: n = 4.95 Range 4.75 5.25]
9. In the question number 8 the value of k is ______x 10-12
(for the calculation of k take the unit of time in seconds)
(Important: see NOTE below)
[Answer: k = 1.97, range 1.752.25]

10. During interface controlled growth, with increase in the degree of undercooling the
growth rate
a) Always increases
b) Always decreases
c) First increases then decreases
d) First decreases then increases

________________________________________________________________________
NOTE: FOR SOLVING QUESTIONS 8 AND 9
As there are a number of data points given for determining n and k, a curve fitting
technique (called as linear least squares or linear regression) is used, as detailed below.

First linearize the Avrami equation, as discussed in the lectures, to the form:
y = a0 + a1x , where a0 is the intercept and a1 is the slope.
You can then either use a software package (such as, Microsoft Excel, Origin, Matlab, etc.) or
solve the problem manually. If you are using a spreadsheet, such as, Microsoft Excel, then
make a scatter plot of y versus x. Fit a best fit straight line (in excel this is equivalent to the
trendline feature) and obtain the parameters a0 and a1.
Alternatively, the best fit parameters a0 and a1 can be determined manually by the following
relations:

a1

x y nx y
x n(x)
i i
2
i

a0 y a1x
In the above relations, n is the number of data points, x and y are the average of the x and y
values, and the summation is over all n data points (subscript i denotes the ith data point. Once a0 and

a1 are determined, the values of n and k can be obtained.

If you are interested in the theory of least squares fitting, check a book/internet reference on
data analysis.