Engineering Metallurgy Chapter 3

DEPARTMENT OF
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
III-SEMESTER
ENGINEERING METALLURGY
CHAPTER NO. 3
HEAT TREATMENT OF STEELS
1
CHAPTER 3:- SYLLABUS
1 . TTT Curve – Construction & limitations
2 Heat treatment – Principle, purpose
3 Annealing & its types, Normalizing
4 Tempering, Austempering, Martempering
5 Retained austenite & its elimination
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CHAPTER 3:- SYLLABUS
6 Hardening
.
Surface hardening such as Carburising, Nitriding.
7
Induction hardening, Jomini End quench test for
8 hardenability.
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CHAPTER-3 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVE / COURSE OUTCOME
The student will be able to:
Understand the time-temperature transformation

1 curves and heat treatment processes.
Understand the Surface hardening and Jomini End

2 quench test for hardenability.
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LECTURE 1:- TTT Curve
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TTT Curve means
Temperature, Time and Transformation curve.
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LECTURE 1:- TTT Curve – Construction
 The family of S-shaped curves at different T are used

to construct the TTT diagrams.
 The TTT diagrams are for the isothermal (constant T)

transformations.
 In this process material is cooled quickly to a given

temperature before the transformation occurs, and then
keep it at that temperature.
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 At low temperatures, the transformation occurs

sooner (it is controlled by the rate of nucleation) and
grain growth (that is controlled by diffusion) is reduced.
 Slow diffusion at low temperatures leads to fine-

grained microstructure with thin-layered structure of
pearlite (fine pearlite).
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 At higher temperatures, high diffusion rates allow for

larger grain growth and formation of thick layered
structure of pearlite (coarse pearlite).
 At compositions other than eutectoid, a proeutectoid

phase (ferrite or cementite) coexist with pearlite.
 Additional curves for proeutectoid transformation must

be included on TTT diagrams.
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LECTURE 2:- Heat treatment – Principle, purpose
 Heat treatment is a method used to alter the physical,

and sometimes chemical properties of a material.
 It involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to

extreme temperatures, to achieve a desired result such as
hardening or softening of a material.
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LECTURE 2:- Heat treatment – Principle, purpose
 It applies only to processes where the heating and

cooling are done for the specific purpose of altering
properties intentionally
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LECTURE 2:- Heat treatment – Principle
 In all the above processes the steel is heated slowly to

the appropriate temperature for its carbon content and
then cooled.
 It is the rate of cooling which determines the ultimate

structure and properties that the steel.
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LECTURE 2:- Heat treatment – Principle
 It provides the initial heating that has been slow

enough for the steel to have reached phase equilibrium at
its process temperature.
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LECTURE 2:- Heat treatment – Purpose
One or the other heat treatment process is carried out in

order to:
1. Cause relief of internal stresses developed during cold

working, welding, casting, forging etc.
2. Harden and strengthen metals.
3. Improve machinability.
4. Change grain size

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5. Soften metals for further (cold) working as in wire

drawing or cold rolling.
6. Improve ductility and toughness.
7. Increase heat , wear and corrosion resistance of

materials.
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8. Homogenise the structure; to remove coring or

segregation.
9. Improve electrical and magnetic properties.
10. Spherodize tiny particles, such as those of Fe3C in

steel by diffusion.
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LECTURE 3:- Types of Heat treatment
Annealing
Normalizing,
Hardening,
Tempering,
Sub-zero treatment.
Depending Upon TTT- Daigram
1. Patenting
2. Austempering
3. Martempering
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LECTURE 3:- Types of Heat treatment
Case Hardening Treatments
• Carburizing
• Nitriding
• Carbonitriding
• Cyniding
• Induction hardening
• Flame hardening
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LECTURE 3:- Annealing & its types, Normalizing
Annealing may be defined as heating the steel to

austenitic phase an then cooling slowly through the
transformation range.
 Slow cooling is generally achieved in a closed furnace.
 It is based on Fe-Fe3C Diagram & is Eutectoid

Reaction
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LECTURE 3:- Annealing & its types, Normalizing
1. In this Hypoeutectoid Steel is heated to AC3+50 temp.

& Hypereutectoid Steel is heated to AC1+50 temp.
2. The steel is soaked at this temp for sufficient time.
3. Then steel is allowed to cool slowly to room temp.

inside the furnace putting power off.
4. It is an intermediate HT Process used to Soften the

steel.
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LECTURE 3:- Purpose of Annealing
1. To reduce hardness.
2. To relieve internal stress.
3. To improve machinability.
4. To facilitate further cold working by restoring ductility.
5. To produce the necessary micro structure having

desired mechanical physical properties
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LECTURE 3:- Types of Annealing
1. Full annealing
2. Box annealing
3. Bright annealing
4. Stress-Relief Annealing (or Stress-relieving)
5. Spheroidizing Annealing (or Spheroidizing )
6. Process Annealing
7. Recrystallization
23
8. Isothermal Annealing
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All annealing processes are concerned with rendering

steel soft and ductile so that it can be cold worked
and/or machined.
There are three basic annealing processes.
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1. Stress-relief annealing at subcritical temperatures.
2. Spheroidised annealing at subcritical temperatures.
3. Full annealing for forgings and castings.
The process chosen depends upon the carbon content of

the steel, its pretreatment processing, and its subsequent
processing and use.
25
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26
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LECTURE 3:- Stress-relief annealing
 It is also called 'process annealing' , 'interstage

annealing' and subcriticalannealing, it is often used for
softening cold worked low carbon(0.4 % carbon
content) steel or mild steel .
 To fully anneal such a steel would involve heating to

a temperature of more than 900˚C, withconsequent high
cost.
27
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LECTURE 3:- Stress-relief annealing
 In a mild steel ferrite makes up about 90 % of the

structure, and the recrystallisation temperature of cold
worked ferrite is only about 500˚C.
Annealing a cold worked mild steel in the temperature

range 550 – 600 ˚C will result in complete
recrystallisation of ferrite, although the cold worked
pearlite will be largely unaffected.
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LECTURE 3:- Spheroidised annealing
Spheroidised annealing
 The Spheroidised condition is produced by annealing

the steel at a temperature between 650 and 700 C, just
below the lower critical temperature.
 During this treatment cementite forms as spheroidal

particles in a ferrite matrix, putting the steel into a soft,
but very tough, condition.
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LECTURE 3:- Ingot
The Spheroidisation of Pearlitic Cementite
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LECTURE 3:-
c) Full annealing
 It is the treatment given to produce the softest possible

condition in a hypoeutectoid steel.
 It involves heating the steel to a temperature within the

range 30 – 50 C above the upper critical temperatures
 Then allowing the steel to cool slowly within the

furnace.
 This produces a structure containing coarse pearlite.
31
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LECTURE 3:- Normalizing
 Normalizing may be defined as heating the steel to

Austenite phase and cooling in air.
 In this Hypoeutectoid Steel is heated to AC3+50 temp.

& Hypereutectoid Steel is heated to ACM+50 temp.
 The steel is soaked at this temp for sufficient time.
 Then steel is allowed to cool slowly to room temp. in

air.
 It is HT Process given to the final product.
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1. To eliminate coarse grained structures.
2. To modify and improve Dendritic structures.
3. To obtain desired micro structure and mechanical

properties.
4. To improve machinability.
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Hardening Range AC3 + 50
AC1 + 50
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LECTURE 4:- Tempering, Austempering, Martempering
35
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LECTURE 4:- Tempering, Austempering, Martempering
 Patenting
 Austempering
 Martempering
36
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LECTURE 4:- Patenting
Patenting
1. Isothermal transformation of Austenite to Pearlite

above the Knee of the S- Curve.
37
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LECTURE 4:- Austempering
Austempering
1. Isothermal transformation of Austenite to Bainite.
2. Below the Knee of the S- Curve and above Ms temp
38
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LECTURE 4:- Martempering
Martempering
1. Isothermal transformation of Austenite to

Martensite.
2. By holding above Ms temp.
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LECTURE 4:- Retained austenite & its elimination
Retained austenite is very soft and hence its presence in

hardened steel is not desirable.
It is because of its lower hardness and non-

homogeneous hardness values.
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LECTURE 5:- Retained austenite & its elimination
Hence it is necessary that the retained austenite be

changed into martensite.
This can be done by
1. Tempering
2. Sub-zero treatment
41
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LECTURE 5:- Tempering
1. When the hardened steel is tempered above 3000C,

while cooling from the tempering temperature, the
retained austenite is converted into martensite.
2. However this method is useful only when the amount of

retained austenite is relatively small.
3. Further more some retained austenite remains

untransformed even after tempering.
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Sub-zero treatment:-
1. In case of hardened steel in which the amount of

retained austenite is large, it is better to convert it
into martensite using sub-zero treatment.
2. In this the hardened steel must be cooled immediately

after hardening to a temperature lower than its Mf
temperature.
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3. Since the Mf temperature is below 00C, this heat

treatment is known as sub-zero treatment.
4. For this various types of freezing mixtures are used.
5. Mixture type depends upon the temperature to which

the steel is to be cooled. Liquid nitrogen is also used.
44
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LECTURE 6:- Hardening
When a piece of steel, containing sufficient carbon, is

cooled rapidly from above its upper critical temperature
it becomes considerably harder than it would be if
allowed to cool slowly.
This process is called Hardening.
45
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 This involves rapidly quenching the steel, from a

high temperature into oil or water.
 Hypereutectoid steels are heated to (30- 50 C)

above the upper critical temperature prior to quenching.
 It is possible that some cementite grain boundaries.
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 Consequently, hypereutectoid steels are hardened by

quenching from(30- 50 C) above the lower critical
temperature.
 At this temperature the structure because one of

spheroidal cementite partictes in an austenite matrix.
47
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The degree of hardness produced can vary, and is

dependent upon such factors as
1. The initial quenching temperature; the size of the work.
2. The constitution, properties and temperature of the

quenching medium
3. The degree of agitation and
4. Final temperature of the quenching medium.
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The following list of media is arranged in order of quenching

speeds:
1. 5 % Caustic soda
2. 5 – 20 % Brine
3. Cold water
4. Warm water
5. Mineral oil.
49
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LECTURE 7:- Carburizing
 Carburizing makes use of the fact that low carbon

steel absorb carbon when heated to the austenitic
condition.
 Various carbonaceous materials are used in the

carburizing process.
50
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LECTURE 7:- Pack Carburizing
It is thought that carburisation proceeds by dissociation of

carbon monoxide which will be present in the hot box.
When the gas comes into contact with the hot steel it
dissociates thus:
2CO CO2 + C
The atomic carbon deposited at the surface of the steel

dissolves easily in the metal.
In this method of carburizing the thickness of the surface

is between 0.05 – 1.55 mm.
51
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LECTURE 7:- Liquid-carburising
 Liquid-carburising is carried out in baths.
 It contains from 20 to 50% sodium cyanide, together

with up to 40% sodium carbonate and varying amounts of
sodium chloride.
 This cyanide-rich mixture is heated in pots to a

temperature of 870-950° C,
52
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LECTURE 7:- Liquid-carburising
 The work, which is contained in wire baskets, is

immersed for periods varying from about five minutes up
to one hour.
 Immersion period depends upon the depth of case

required.
 The process is particularly useful in obtaining shallow

cases of 0.1 – 0.25 mm.
53
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LECTURE 7:- Gas-carburising
Gas-carburising is carried out in both batch-type and

continuous furnaces.
The components are heated at about 900° C for three or

four hours in an atmosphere containing gases which will
deposit carbon atoms at the surface of the components.
The most important of these gases are the hydrocarbons

methane CH4 , and propane, C3H8.
54
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LECTURE 7:- Gas-carburising
 Gas-carburising is becoming increasingly popular,

particularly for the mass production of thin cases.
 Not only is it a neater and cleaner process but the

necessary plant is more compact for a given output.
 Moreover, the carbon of the surface layers can be

controlled more accurately and easily with thickness of
about 0.25 – 1.0 mm.
55
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LECTURE 8:- Nitriding
 With the dissociation of Ammonia Gas nascent

nitrogen is to be penetrated at the surface of the steel
sample
2NH3 = 3H2 + 2N
 Nitriding can only be given to nitriding steel
56
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LECTURE 8:- Cyaniding
 On dissociation of Sodium cynid and Barum

Chlorite we can penetrate ether carbon or nitrogen at
the surface the sample.
57
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In flame hardening treatment the Oxyacetylene flame

can be used for heating propuse and then cooling water.
This creates a case of martensite on the surface.
A carbon content of 0.4–0.6 wt% C is needed for this type

of hardening
58
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These processes are similar in principle to flame-

hardening, except that the component is held stationary-
whilst the whole of its surface is heated simultaneously by
electro-magnetic induction, as shown in figure .
59
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60
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 The component is surrounded by an inductor block

through which a high-frequency current in the region of
2ooo Hz, passes.
 This raises the temperature of the surface layer to

above its upper critical in a few seconds.
 The surface is then quenched by pressure jets of

water which pass through holes in the inductor block.
61
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References Books:
1. Introduction to Engineering Metallurgy by Dr. B K

Agrawal, Tata McGraw-Hill
2. Introduction to Physical Metallurgy by Avner, Tata

McGraw-Hill
3. Engineering Materials & Metallurgy, Srinivasan, Tata

Mc-Graw Hill
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LECTURE 8:-
THANK YOU
DTEL 63

Engineering Metallurgy Chapter 3

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DEPARTMENT OF

1 . TTT Curve – Construction & limitations

2 Heat treatment – Principle, purpose

3 Annealing & its types, Normalizing

4 Tempering, Austempering, Martempering

5 Retained austenite & its elimination

The student will be able to:

Understand the time-temperature transformation

Understand the Surface hardening and Jomini End

TTT Curve means

Temperature, Time and Transformation curve.

 The family of S-shaped curves at different T are used

 The TTT diagrams are for the isothermal (constant T)

 In this process material is cooled quickly to a given

 At low temperatures, the transformation occurs

 Slow diffusion at low temperatures leads to fine-

 At higher temperatures, high diffusion rates allow for

 At compositions other than eutectoid, a proeutectoid

 Additional curves for proeutectoid transformation must

 Heat treatment is a method used to alter the physical,

 It involves the use of heating or chilling, normally to

 It applies only to processes where the heating and

 In all the above processes the steel is heated slowly to

 It is the rate of cooling which determines the ultimate

 It provides the initial heating that has been slow

One or the other heat treatment process is carried out in

1. Cause relief of internal stresses developed during cold

2. Harden and strengthen metals.

4. Change grain size

5. Soften metals for further (cold) working as in wire

6. Improve ductility and toughness.

7. Increase heat , wear and corrosion resistance of

8. Homogenise the structure; to remove coring or

9. Improve electrical and magnetic properties.

10. Spherodize tiny particles, such as those of Fe3C in

Depending Upon TTT- Daigram

Case Hardening Treatments

Annealing may be defined as heating the steel to

 Slow cooling is generally achieved in a closed furnace.

 It is based on Fe-Fe3C Diagram & is Eutectoid

1. In this Hypoeutectoid Steel is heated to AC3+50 temp.

2. The steel is soaked at this temp for sufficient time.

3. Then steel is allowed to cool slowly to room temp.

4. It is an intermediate HT Process used to Soften the

2. To relieve internal stress.

4. To facilitate further cold working by restoring ductility.

5. To produce the necessary micro structure having

4. Stress-Relief Annealing (or Stress-relieving)

5. Spheroidizing Annealing (or Spheroidizing )

All annealing processes are concerned with rendering

There are three basic annealing processes.

1. Stress-relief annealing at subcritical temperatures.

2. Spheroidised annealing at subcritical temperatures.

3. Full annealing for forgings and castings.

The process chosen depends upon the carbon content of

 It is also called 'process annealing' , 'interstage

 To fully anneal such a steel would involve heating to

 In a mild steel ferrite makes up about 90 % of the

Annealing a cold worked mild steel in the temperature

 The Spheroidised condition is produced by annealing

 During this treatment cementite forms as spheroidal

The Spheroidisation of Pearlitic Cementite

 It is the treatment given to produce the softest possible

 It involves heating the steel to a temperature within the