Nuclear Engineering Lab.

Title of experiment: Heat Treatment of Steels

Submitted to: Submitted to:

Sir Hfiz Rab Nawaz

Group # 3 Matiullah Khalid Mehmood Mirza Sikandar Yar Baig Kinza Sarfarz Khizra

Group # 4 Asif Khan Asif Akram Muhammad Asif Muhammad Amir Tanveer Muhammad Asim Shahzad Muhammad Adil Arif Sindhu

. Signature

Abstract
A precise and concise definition of steel is not an easy thing to present because of the very large variety of alloys that bear the name. All of them, however, contain iron. We might reasonably begin by describing a steel as an alloy which contains iron as the major component. This is only a beginning because there are alloys in which iron is the major constituent, that are not called steels; for example, cast irons and some super-alloys. The major difference between a cast iron and a steel is that their carbon contents lie in two different ranges. These ranges are determined by the maximum amount of carbon that can be dissolved into solid iron. This is approximately 2% by weight (in FCC iron at 1146 C). Steels are alloys that contain less than 2% carbon. Cast irons contain more than 2 % carbon. Many steels contain specified minimum amounts of carbon. This does not mean that all steels must contain substantial quantities of carbon; in some steels the carbon content is deliberately made very small and, also, the amount actually in solution is reduced further by the addition of alloying elements that have a strong tendency to combine with the carbon to form carbides. Heat treating of steel is the process of heating and cooling of carbon steel to change the steel's physical and mechanical properties without changing the original shape and size. Heat Treating is often associated with increasing the strength of the steel, but it can also be used to alter certain manufacturability objectives such as improve machinability, formability, restore ductility etc. Thus heat treating is a very useful process to helps other manufacturing processes and also improve product performance by increasing strength or provides other desirable characteristics. High carbon steels are particularly suitable for heat treatment, since carbon steel respond well to heat treatment and the commercial use of steels exceeds that of any other material. There are many difference types of heat treating processes, it individual process provides different desirable characteristics to the product.

Premise
The heat treatment behavior of several plain carbon steels and low alloy steels is investigated. In this study the effect of quenching and tempering, iso -thermal annealing and continuous cooling treatments on the formation and decomposition of martensite and other phases of steel are investigated. The tempering experiments demonstrate the kinetics of the decomposition of martensite into a microstructure that yields a softer but tougher material while the iso-thermal and continuous cooling experiments demonstrate the kinetics of the decomposition of austenite. This experiment makes extensive use of the FeFe3C equilibrium phase diagram and the TTT curves for steel. The results of the heat treatments are evaluated using the Rockwell hardness tests and analysis of the microstructures of each specimen. Pure iron is not suitable for use as a structural material. It is weak, soft, is very ductile and does not respond to heat treatment to any appreciable degree. Steel, which is basically iron alloyed with carbon and a few percent to a few tens of percent of other alloying elements, can be heat treated to a wide range of strengths, toughnesses and ductilities. Carbon is the most important of these alloying elements in terms of the mechanical properties of steel and most heat treatments of steel are based primarily on controlling the distribution of carbon.

Alloying Elements
Alloying provides the basis for the heat treatability of steel. While iron is the chief element in steel, carbon is the most important alloying element in terms of its strengthening effect on iron. Small amounts of carbon increasing to as high as 0.80 - 0.90 w%, steadily increase its strength and hardness. Up to 4.5 w% carbon can be present in plain carbon steels, but

1018 steel

1045 steel

1095 steel

the strength and formability deteriorate and it assumes the characteristics of cast irons. Nitrogen is often used to provide the similar strengthening, usually for case hardening (nitriding) while relatively high concentrations of sulfur and phosphorus can improve the machinability of steel. However, sulfur can lead to "hot shortness" during hot forming so small amounts of manganese is often added to scavenge deleterious sulfur impurities from the grain boundaries where it can also contribute to inter-granular failure. Small amounts of silicon are usually present. Silicon increases the hardness of ferrite, increases oxidation resistance and is an effective deoxidizer. It is almost universally present in magnet sheet. Aluminum is another strong deoxidizer and is also very effective at refining grain size. In steels with relatively high carbon contents, Cr, Mo, W and V all can form carbides which can both increase the creep resistance of the steel and, when the carbides are present in sufficient quantities and as large particles, the steel may be suitable for use as a cutting tool. There are many other elements that are alloyed with iron to tailor its properties and enhance heat treatability. Aside from the hardening achieved by adding carbon, the most important effect alloying elements can have is improving the hardenability of steel.

Micro-structural Dynamics
The heat treating of steels results in a variety of stable and metastable phases. The important equilibrium phases are shown in the FeFe3C equilibrium phase diagram. Most steels contain less than 1% carbon and it can be seen in figure 3 that the Fe-Fe3C system includes a eutectoid reaction in which the maximum solubility of carbon in the " phase is only 0.0218 w% at the eutectoid temperature and decreases to 0.008 w% at room temperature. Note that only a minor amount of precipitation hardening can occur below the eutectoid temperature. While the hardening of aluminum alloys is limited to cold working and/or precipitation hardening, the principles behind the heat treatment of steel is much more varied. A typical heat treatment usually starts with an austenitization treatment where the ferrite ( -Fe, bcc) phase transforms to the austenite ( -Fe, fcc) and all carbides are dissolved in the austenite. Slow cooling to below the eutectoid temperature results in the formation of ferrite and cementite (Fe 3C). This might appear as proeutectoid ferrite and a lamellar ferrite/cementite structure called pearlite, depending on the carbon content of the steel and the cooling rate. Slower cooling rates produce coarser microstructures and very slow cooling rates, or holding at a temperature just below the eutectoid temperature, can result in microstructure consisting

of spherical cementite grains in a field of ferrite. Heat treatments designed to strengthen steel, however, are based on the formation of bainite, a fine, feathery microstructure consisting of ferrite and cementite, which can be formed by rapid cooling and holding at a relatively low temperature or from precipitation from the metastable martensite phase which is formed by quenching directly from the austenite field.

Mechanisms of Phase Transformations

The grain boundaries of the austenite phase produced during the solution treatment are preferred sites for the nucleation of the new phases formed during subsequent steps in the heat treatment. For the slow cooling of a medium or low carbon steel from the austenite phase field a proeutectoid ferrite would nucleate and grow from the prior austenite boundaries.

When the temperature reaches eutectoid temperature the remaining austenite starts to transform into the eutectoid phase. The formation of the pearlite phase is a growth dominated process and requires a combination of high temperature and long times while the formation of bainite is dominated by the nucleation process and results in a fine dispersion of ferrite and cementite. The formation of martensite also involves nucleation and growth but the mechanism is not controlled by diffusion. Rather, it is a shear process similar to deformation twinning except that it creates a new BCT lattice. But martensite formation is not purely a shear transformation since it also produces some dilatation. And while the nucleation of martensite is thermally activated the growth process is athermal and involves the glide of transformation dislocations which shears the material, forming thin plates. These plates grow along specific crystallographic directions until either they encounter an austenite grain boundary or another martensite plate or when enough martensite has formed to have reduced the free energy sufficiently that the reaction ceases. The martensite plates form at approximately the speed of sound, much too fast for carbon to diffuse out of the fcc lattice, and therefore the martensite has the same composition as the austenite. This means the martensite phase is supersaturated with carbon, is metastable, and will have a tendency to decompose into equilibrium ferrite and cementite. This is the basis for the tempering of steel. By raising the temperature to a few hundred degrees the martensite will decompose into a hard but much tougher, bainite. The decomposition of martensite starts by forming bainite at the boundaries of the martensite needles. If the temperature is high enough this bainite can coarsen into lower (fine) pearlite and eventually upper (course) pearlite. In fine pearlitic structures the carbide lamellae can be as thin as 125 angstroms while the coarsest pearlite structures can have carbide lamellae as thick as 2 microns.

HEAT TREATMENT
The amount of carbon present in plain carbon steel has a pronounced effect on the properties of a steel and on the selection of suitable heat treatments to attain certain desired properties. Below are some major types of heat treatment processes: Annealing: Steel is annealed to reduce the hardness, improve machinability, facilitate cold-working, produce a desired microstructure. Full annealing is the process of softening steel by a heating and cooling cycle, so that it may be bent or cut easily. In annealing, steel is heated above the transformation temperature to form austenite, and cooled very slowly, usually in the furnace. There are several types of annealing like black annealing, blue annealing, box annealing, bright annealing, flame annealing, intermediate annealing, isothermal annealing, process annealing, recrystallisation annealing, soft annealing, finish annealing and spheroidizing. These are practiced according to their different final product properties in the industry. The two-stage heat treating process of quenching and tempering is designed to produce high strength steel capable of resisting shock and

deformation without breaking. On the other hand, the annealing process is intended to make steel easier to deform or machine. In manufacturing steel products, machining and severe bending operations are often employed. Even tempered steel may not cut or bend very easily and annealing is often necessary. Process annealing consists of heating steel to a temperature just below the A1 for a short time. This makes the steel easier to form. This heat treatment is commonly applied in the sheet and wire industries, and the temperatures generally used are from 1020 to 1200 0F (550 to 650 0C). Full annealing, where steel is heated 50 to 100 0F (90 to 180 0C) above the A3 for hypo-eutectoid steels, and above the A1 for hypereutectoid steels, and slow cooled, makes the steel much easier to cut, as well as bend. In full annealing, cooling must take place very slowly so that a coarse pearlite is formed. Slow cooling is not essential for process annealing, since any cooling rate from temperatures below A1 will result in the same microstructure and hardness. Ac1(C) = 723 - 20.7(% Mn)- 16.9(%Ni) + 29.1(%Si) - 16.9(%Cr) Standard deviation = 11.5 C Ac3(C) = 910 - 203%C - 15.2(% Ni)+ 44.7(% Si) + 104(% V) + 31.5(% Mo) Standard deviation = 16.7 C Normalizing: In normalizing steel is also heated above austenitizing temperature, but cooling is accomplished by still air cooling in a furnace. Steel is normalized to refine grain size, make its structure more uniform, or to improve machinability. When steel is heated to a high temperature, the carbon can readily diffuse throughout, and the result is a reasonably uniform composition from one area to the next. The steel is then more homogeneous and will respond to the heat treatment in a more uniform way. The process might be more accurately described as a homogenizing or grain-refining treatment. Within any piece of steel, the composition is usually not uniform throughout. That is, one area may have more carbon than the area adjacent to it. These cornpositional differences affect the way in which the steel will respond to heat treatment. Because of characteristics inherent in cast steel, the normalizing treatment is more frequently applied to ingots prior to working, and to steel castings and forgings prior to hardening.

Hardening/Quenching:

Hardening is carried out by quenching a steel, that is cooling it rapidly from a temperature above the transformation temperature. Steel is quenched in water or brine for the most rapid cooling, in oil for some alloy steels, and in air for certain higher alloy steels. With this fast cooling rate, the transformation from austenite to pearlite cannot occur and the new phase obtained by quenching is called martensite. Martensite is a supersaturated meta-stable phase and have body centered tetragonal lettice (BCT) instead of bcc. After steel is quenched, it is usually very hard and strong but brittle. Martensite looks needlelike under microscope due to its fine lamellar structure.

Tempering:

Tempering (formerly called drawing), consists of reheating a quenched steel to a suitable temperature below the transformation temperature for an appropriate time and cooling back to room temperature. Freshly quenched martensite is hard but not ductile. Tempering is needed to impart ductility to martensite usually at a small sacrifice in strength. The effect of tempering may be illustrated as follows. If the head of a hammer were quenched to a fully martensitic structure, it probably would crack after the first few blows. Tempering during manufacture of the hammer imparts shock resistance with only a slight decrease in hardness. Tempering is accomplished by heating a quenched part to some point below the transformation temperature, and holding it at this temperature for an hour or more, depending on its size. The micro-structural changes accompanying tempering include loss of acicular martensite pattern and the precipitation of tiny carbide particles. This micro-structural is referred to as tempered martensite.

Stress Relieving:

When a metal is heated, expansion occurs which is more or less proportional to the temperature rise. Upon cooling a metal, the reverse reaction takes place. That is, a contraction is observed. When a steel bar or plate is heated at one point more than at another, as in welding or during forging, internal stresses are set up. During heating, expansion of the heated area cannot take place unhindered, and it tends to deform. On cooling, contraction is prevented from taking place by the unyielding cold metal surrounding the heated area. The forces attempting to contract the metal are not relieved, and when the metal is cold again, the forces remain as internal stresses. Stresses also result from volume changes which accompany metal transformations and precipitation. The term stress has wide usage in the metallurgical field. It is defined simply as bad or force divided by the cross-sectional area of the part to which the bad or force is applied. Internal, or residual stresses, are bad because they may cause warping of steel parts when they are machined. To relieve these stresses, steel is heated to around 1100 0F (595 0C) assuring that the entire part is heated uniformly, then cooled slowly back to room temperature. This procedure is called stress relief annealing, or merely stress relieving.

Vickers Hardness Test:

The Vickers hardness test method consists of indenting the test material with a diamond indenter, in the form of a pyramid with a square base and an angle of 136 degrees between opposite faces subjected to a test force of between 1gf and 100kgf. The full load is normally applied for 10 to 15 seconds. The two diagonals of the indentation left in the surface of the material after removal of the load are measured using a microscope and their average calculated. The area of the sloping surfaces of the indentation is calculated. The Vickers hardness is the quotient obtained by dividing the kgf load by the square mm area of

indentation.

F Load in kgf d Arithmetic mean of the two diagonals, d1 and d2 in mm HV Vickers hardness

When the mean diagonal of the indentation has been determined the Vickers hardness may be calculated from the formula. Modern digital Vickers hardness testers perform this calculation automatically and report the appropriate hardness result. The Vickers hardness should be reported like 800 HV/10, which means a Vickers hardness of 800, was obtained using a 10 kgf test force. Several different loading settings give practically identical hardness numbers on uniform material, which is much better than the arbitrary changing of scale with the other hardness testing methods. The advantages of the Vickers hardness test are that extremely accurate readings can be taken, and just one type of indenter is used for all types of metals and surface treatments. The Vickers method is capable of testing the softest and hardest of materials, under varying loads. With modern advances in technology, PCs and software development, it is now possible to offer automatic indentation measurement. This has the benefit of eliminating any operator influence over the result, reducing R&R (repeatability and reproducibility) and uncertainty budgets. Automatic test surface focusing, motorised XY tables and automatic effective case depth determination are common place in advanced laboratories around the world who require the latest technology offering fast, reliable and traceable testing.

Experiment
Micro-structure:
Annealed Steel Normalized Steel

Quenched Steel

Tempered Steel

Untreated Steel

Hardness Test:
Annealed Steel:
F= 9.6 Kg d = 322 m = 0.322 mm HV = 1.854*9.6/0.3222 = 171.66004397978472 Kg/mm2 To convert HV to MPa multiply by 9.807 So HV(MPa) = 1683 MPa HBC (10mm, 3000 Kgf) = 172 Tensile Strength = 593.4 MPa (86 Ksi)

Normalized Steel:

F= 9.6 Kg d = 215 m = 0.215 mm HV = 1.854*9.6/0.2152 = 385.03839913466743 Kg/mm2 To convert HV to MPa multiply by 9.807 So HV(MPa) = 3776 MP HBC (10mm, 3000 Kgf) = 364 Tensile Strength = 1255.8 MPa (182 Ksi)

Quenched Steel:

F= 9.6 Kg d = 202 m = 0.202 mm HV = 1.854*9.6/0.2022 = 436.19253014410344 Kg/mm2 To convert HV to MPa multiply by 9.807 So HV(MPa) = 4278 MPa HBC (10mm, 3000 Kgf) = 412 Tensile Strength = 1421.4 MPa (206 Ksi)

Tempered Steel:

F= 9.6 Kg d = 285 m = 0.285 mm HV = 1.854*9.6/0.2852 = 219.12465373961223 Kg/mm2 To convert HV to MPa multiply by 9.807 So HV(MPa) = 2149 MPa HBC (10mm, 3000 Kgf) = 209 Tensile Strength = 721.05 MPa ( 104.5 Ksi)

Untreated Steel:

F= 9.6 Kg d = 190 m = 0.190 mm HV = 1.854*9.6/0.1902 = 493.0304709141274 Kg/mm2 To convert HV to MPa multiply by 9.807 So HV(MPa) = 4835 MPa HBC (10mm, 3000 Kgf) = 465 Tensile Strength = 1604.25 MPa ( 232.5 Ksi)

Conclusion & Argument

Common steels, which are really solid solutions of carbon in iron, are body-centered-cubic. However, the carbon has a low solubility in bcc iron and precipitates as iron carbide when steel is cooled from 16000F (8700C). The processes of precipitation can be altered by adjusting the cooling rate. This changes the distribution and size of the carbide which forms a laminar structure called pearlite during slow cooling processes. If a steel is quenched into water or oil from 1600 0F (8700C) a metastable phase called martensite forms, which is body-centered-tetragonal. This phase sets up large internal stresses and prevents carbide from forming. The internal stresses produce a high hardness and unfortunately, low toughness. After cooling, to restore toughness, steels are tempered by reheating them to a lower temperature around 8000F (4260C) and cooling. The tempering relieves the internal stresses and also allows some iron carbide to form. It also restores ductility. So Heat-treating steel fasteners to achieve the desired microstructure and properties can be achieved by control of the important process parameters of temperature, time, and cooling rates. Awareness of the fundamental physical metallurgy of the phase transformations in steels is critical to understanding the importance of these process parameters. For the Calculations of HV(kg/mm 2) to HV(MPa), HV to HBC, HB To TS following Conversions are used HV(MPa) = 9.807 HV(kg/mm2) HBC = 1.00198 HV(kg/mm2) TS(MPa) = 3.45 x HB TS(Psi) = 500 x HB Tensile Strength Of Samples are related as UT Steel > Quen Steel > Norm Steel > Temp Steel > Ann. Steel

Glossary of Terms
Understanding the following terms will aid in understanding this experiment. Austenite:Face-centered cubic () phase of iron or steel. Austenitizing. Temperature where homogeneous austenite can form. Austenitizing is the first step in most of the heat treatments for steel and cast irons. Annealing (steel):A heat treatment used to produce a soft, coarse pearlite in a steel by austenitizing, then furnace cooling. Bainite:A two-phase micro-constituent, containing a fine needle-like microstructure of ferrite and cementite that forms in steels that are isothermally transformed at relatively low temperatures. Body-centered cubic:Common atomic arrangement for metals consisting of eight atoms sitting on the corners of a cube and a ninth atom at the cubes center. Cementite:The hard brittle intermetallic compound Fe3C that when properly dispersed provides the strengthening in steels. Eutectoid. A three-phase reaction in which one solid phase transforms to two different solid phases. Face-centered cubic. Common atomic arrangement for metals consisting of eight atoms sitting on the corners of a cube and six additional atoms sitting in the center of each face of the cube. Ferrite. Ferrous alloy based on the bcc structure of pure iron at room temperature. Hypereutectoid. Composition greater than that of the eutectoid. Hypoeutectoid. Composition less than that of the eutectoid. Martensite. The metastable iron-carbon solid solution phase with an acicular, or needle like,microstructure produced by a diffusionless transformation associated with the quenching of austenite. Normalizing. A simple heat treatment obtained by austenitizing and air cooling to produce a fine pearlite structure. Pearlite. A two-phase lamellar micro-constituent, containing ferrite and cementite, that forms in steels that are cooled in a normal fashion or are isothermally transformed at relatively high temperatures. Tempered martensite. The mixture of ferrite and cementite formed when martensite is tempered. Tempering. A low-temperature heat treatment used to reduce the hardness of martensite by permitting the martensite to begin to decompose to the equilibrium phases.

References
1. 2. 3. 4. D. Callister Jr, Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering Flinn and Trojan, Engineering Materials and Their Applications Deiter, Mechanical Metallurgy ASM Handbook on Heat Treatment, Vol. 2