1

Hardenability and Casting

Fabian Zacipa Pinilla.

November 2017.

Los Libertadores University Foundation

Faculty of Engineering
Plastic engineering
 2

Hardenability

Most heat treatments for steels begin by heating the specimen into the austenite

phase field. The resulting austenite is then cooled continuously to room temperature. This

is achieved by plunging the specimen into a bath of water or oil, or by removing it from

the furnace to cool in air ("normalising"). If very slow cooling is required then the sample

is left in the furnace which is switched off. The actual cooling rates may vary in different

regions of the sample. These variations may be large since steels are relatively poor

conductors of heat.

The properties of steels are sensitive to microstructure. It is useful to know how the

microstructure develops in different parts of a specimen during heat treatment. For a

given steel composition, a Continuous Cooling Transformation (CCT) diagram can be

constructed from experimental data, allowing the microstructural development to be

followed as a function of the cooling conditions. Fig.1 shows a CCT diagram for a

eutectoid

(Fe-0.8 wt %C) steel. Curves are plotted for the onset and completion of reactions to

form pearlite, bainite and martensite. The former two have the "C" shape because the

driving force is small at high temperatures whereas diffusion becomes sluggish at low

temperatures. Martensitic transformation is represented by a line parallel to the time axis,

 3

since no diffusion is involved and because of the very high rate of growth, the fraction

transformed depends only on the temperature.

CCT diagrams are usually plotted with a linear temperature axis and a logarithmic time

axis. A constant cooling rate therefore plots as having a continuously increasing gradient.

In analysing real experimental results the true thermal history can be plotted even when

the cooling rate is not constant.

The dotted cooling line represents critical cooling conditions. Cooling faster than this

avoids all transformations other than martensite. Since this will normally produce a

specimen having the highest hardness, the critical cooling rate is a measure of the

hardenability of the steel. The hardness generally decreases with decreasing cooling rate,

even for microstructures without martensite.

 4

A steel with a high hardenability is one which has a low critical cooling rate, so that even

slow cooling will lead to a martensitic structure. This has the advantage that hard material

can be generated without the risk of "quench cracking" due to high thermal gradients

associated with rapid cooling. On the other hand, it means that hard (and brittle) material

may inadvertently be produced in finished artefacts, notably as a result of welding

operations.

The jominy end quench test

The hardenability is measured by quenching one end of a hot bar (Fig.2). The bar is

heated to the austenitising temperature, placed on a support and directionally cooled with

a water jet. When cold, the specimen is sectioned and hardness measurements are made at

intervals along its length. A wide variety of cooling rates and corresponding hardness

data are revealed in a single and spectacular test.

The hardenability may be represented by the critical cooling rate, or the critical distance

along the bar at which the hardness (martensite content) starts to drop. It is useful to

examine the microstructure and correlate it with the hardness as a function of position

along the Jominy bar.

 5

Factors affecting hardenability

The alloying elements in steel have a big influence on hardenability. This is particularly

so for diffusional transformations such as ferrite and pearlite, where the solutes not only

influence the thermodynamic stability of the austenite but can slow the reactions by

diffusion since their solubility in ferrite will be different from that in austenite. Displacive

transformations such as bainite and martensite are less affected. Elements (Mn, Ni, C)

which retard the transformation of austenite and hence shift the C curves to longer times

and vice versa (Co, Al).

Hardenability is also affected by the austenite grain size. A finer grain size gives a larger

number density of heterogeneous nucleation sites and hence reduces hardenability.

 6

Tempering and secondary hardening

Martensite in steel can be hard but brittle because of its excessive carbon content.

Tempering involves a heat treatment which allows the carbon to precipitate as carbides

(e.g. cementite). This, and the annealing of defects, causes the martensite to become

softer but tougher. If the tempering temperature is sufficiently high (500 C) then

substitutional elements such as Mo and Cr become mobile. Fine carbides such as Mo2C

then precipitate at the expense of cementite and lead to secondary hardening.

 7

Casting

Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a

mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify.

The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold

to complete the process. Casting materials are usually metals or various cold setting

materials that cure after mixing two or more components together; examples are epoxy,

concrete, plaster and clay. Casting is most often used for making complex shapes that

would be otherwise difficult or uneconomical to make by other methods.[1]

Plaster

Plaster and other chemical curing materials such as concrete and plastic resin may be cast

using single-use waste molds as noted above, multiple-use 'piece' molds, or molds made

of small rigid pieces or of flexible material such as latex rubber (which is in turn

supported by an exterior mold). When casting plaster or concrete, the material surface is

flat and lacks transparency. Often topical treatments are applied to the surface. For

example, painting and etching can be used in a way that give the appearance of metal or

stone. Alternatively, the material is altered in its initial casting process and may contain

colored sand so as to give an appearance of stone. By casting concrete, rather than

plaster, it is possible to create sculptures, fountains, or seating for outdoor use. A

simulation of high-quality marble may be made using certain chemically-set plastic resins

(for example epoxy or polyester which are thermosetting polymers) with powdered stone
 8

added for coloration, often with multiple colors worked in. The latter is a common means

of making washstands, washstand tops and shower stalls, with the skilled working of

multiple colors resulting in simulated staining patterns as is often found in natural marble

or travertine.
 9

Bibliography

1. R.W.K Honeycombe and H.K.D.H. Bhadeshia, "Steels", 2nd edition, Edward Arnold
(1995) [De88].

2. D.A. Porter & K.E. Easterling, "Phase Transformations in Metals & Alloys",
Chapters 5 and 6, Van Nostrand Rheinhold, (1981) [Ln30].

3. R.E. Reed-Hill, "Physical Metallurgical Principles", Chapter 18, Van Nostrand

Rheinhold, (1973) [A108]

4. Recovered: https://www.phase-trans.msm.cam.ac.uk/2000/practicals/AP3/AP3.html

5. Degarmo, E. Paul; Black, J T.; Kohser, Ronald A. (2003), Materials and Processes in
Manufacturing (9th ed.), Wiley, p. 277, ISBN 0-471-65653-4

6. Recovered: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casting