HEAT

TREATMENT
1. Annealing
2. Martensite Formation in
Steel
3. Precipitation Hardening
4. Surface Hardening
5. Heat Treatment Methods

Outline
1.

Review Philosophy
a. Properties of material
b. Strengthening Mechanism of
Metals
2. Heat treatment
a. Annealing
b. Quenching
c. Tempering
d. Martempering
e. Austempering
g. Spheroidizing
f. TTT & CCT Diagram
g. Hardenability
h. Precipitation
Hardening
i. Solution Treatment3.
j. Stress Relieving

Case Study

Equilibrium Phase Diagram will not tell

us about
-Non-equilibrium structures
-Phases present in rapidly cooled
parts
For this we need a TTT diagram

Time Transformation Temperature

Diagram
-Identifies non-equilibrium
structures produced in processing
-Realistic cooling rates

hermal Processing of Metals: Ste

Normalizing:
Heat to between 55 and 85C above the
upper critical temperature until the
specimen has fully transformed to
austenite, then cool in air. The final
microstructure is fine pearlite.
Quenching:
Heat to a temperature within the austenite
phase region and allow the specimen to
fully austenitize, then quench to room
temperature in oil or water. The final
microstructure is martensite.
Full annealing:
Heat to between 15 and 40C above the A3 line (if the concentration of
carbon is less than the
eutectoid) or above the A1 line (if the concentration of carbon is
greater than the eutectoid)
until the alloy comes to equilibrium; then furnace cool to room temperature.
The final microstructure is coarse pearlite.
Tempering:

Iron Carbon
TTT

Four Structures in Iron C (Steel)

Austenite: FCC iron w/ carbon
Pearlite: Layers of ferrite and
Fe3C
Course- Produced just below
eutectoidthick layers
Fine- Produced @540 C, thin
layers
Bainite: 200 500 C
Transformation

Microstructure of Carbon steel

Given a steel with 0.8% C (by
weight), a great variety of
microstructures can be
produced.
History

Strength
Ductility
Hardness
(MPa)
(% elongation) Hv
1) Slow cooled (normalized)
930
15
250
2) Quenched from 760C (water) nil

3) Quenched from 760C,

tempered (annealed) 550C
350

25

4) Quenched from 760C

tempered at 697C
570 40

1160

800

170

Matls. Princ. & Practice, fig. 5.2

TTT for Eutectoid Steel

TTT for 4340 Steel

TTT for Eutectoid Steel

Ferrous Materials
Iron
Wrought (low % C)
Cast (high % C)
Plain Carbon
Low Alloy Steels
Alloy Steels

Annealing
1. Soften Material for Machining
2. Relieve Stresses
3. Alter Properties
4. Condition for Subsequent
work

Annealing
Process: heat alloy to Tanneal, for extended period of time
then cool slowly.
Goals: (1) relieve stresses; (2) increase ductility and
toughness; (3) produce
specific microstructure

Normalizing
1. Relieve Stress
2. Refine Grains
3. Homogenize Part

Spheroidizing
Convert carbide inclusions
to a more spherical shape

Problems of
Quick Cooling

Rapid Quenching Problems

1. Distortion (Thermal
2. Cracking

> SY)

Tricks
Marquenching
Quench to MS
Slow Cool to MF in Air
Austempering
Make Bainite Just Above MS
Slow Cool to Room Temp.

A. Cool Rapidly to 350 C, hold for 10 ^3 s, then quench to room temp.

A. Cool Rapidly to 350 C, hold for 10 ^3 s, then quench to room temp.

100% Bainite.

B. Rapidly cool to 625 C, hold for 10 s, then quench to room temp.

B. Rapidly cool to 625 C, hold for 10 s, then quench to room temp.

100% Med Pearlite.

C. Rapidly cool to 600 C, hold for 4 s, rapidly cool to 450 C, hold for 10
s, then quench to room temp.

C. Rapidly cool to 600 C, hold for 4 s, rapidly cool to 450 C, hold for 10
s, then quench to room temp. 50 % Pearlite, 25 % Bainite, 25 %
Martensite.

D. Reheat the specimen in part C to 700 C for 20 hrs.

D. Reheat the specimen in part C to 700 C for 20 hrs. 100 %

Spheroidite

E. Rapidly cool to 300 C, hold for 20 s, then quench to room temp in

water. Reheat to 425C for 10 ^3 s and slowly cool to room temp.

E. Rapidly cool to 300 C, hold for 20 s, then quench to room temp in

water. Reheat to 425C for 10 ^3 s and slowly cool to room temp.
100% Tempered Martensite.

F. Cool rapidly to 665 C, hold for 10 ^3 s, then quench to room

temperature.

F. Cool rapidly to 665 C, hold for 10 ^3 s, then quench to room

temperature. 100% Coarse Martensite.

G. Rapidly cool to 575 C, hold for 20 s, rapidly cool to 350 C, hold for
100 s, then quench to room temperature.

G. Rapidly cool to 575 C, hold for 20 s, rapidly cool to 350 C, hold for
100 s, then quench to room temperature. 100 % Fine Pearlite

H. Rapidly cool to 350 C, hold for 150 s, then quench to room temp.

H. Rapidly cool to 350 C, hold for 150 s, then quench to room temp.
50% Bainite, 50 % Martensite.

Retained
Austenite
Current
Debate

Various percentages of retained austenite in

carburized gear cases (500 x magnification)

Spheroidite
(1000X)

Tempered Martensite

Effect of Alloying
on TTT Diagram
4340 Steel

CCT Diagram

The Heat Treatment Process

Fcc stable above 727C

Pearlite (ductile)

Bcc + Fe3C with

different
microstructures
How you heat treat
Martensite (brittle) makes all the difference
to the steel you get

4. Surface Hardening
Nitriding (Steels with 0.85-1.5% Al & 5% or more
Cr,which form fine nitride compounds particles)
(thickness of 0.025-0.05mm)
Gas Nitriding heated in an ammonia atmosphere at
510C
Liguid Nitriding dipped into molten cyanide salt bath
at
510C
Carbonitriding heating in a furnace of carbon &
ammonia (thickness of 0.07-0.5mm)
Borizing on tool steels, nickel- & cobalt based alloys
and Cast iron
High hardness and Low friction

Surface Hardening
Selective Surface Hardening
Flame Hardening
Induction Heating high frequency alternating current
High Frequency Resistance Heating
Electron Beam (EB) Heating - Electron beam focused onto
a small area, resulting in rapid heat buildup
Involves localized surface hardening of steel austenitizing in
less than a second
With removal of the beam, heated area is immediately
quenched to surrounding metal
Disadvantage: For best results, it is performed in a vacuum, so
production rates are slow
Laser(Light amplification by stimulated emission of
radiation) Beam (LB) Heating - High-density beam of
coherent light focused onto a small area along a defined
path
With removal of the beam, heated area is immediately
quenched to surrounding metal
Laser beams do not require a vacuum to achieve best results