MATERIAL

TECHNOLOGY
Vatsal & Siddhraj Diploma Mechanical Engineering Semester : 3
Heat Treatment
 Explain the term treatment
 List the various heat treatment process for wire drawing
operations.
 Define the term “Heat treatment”. Why are the steels heat
treated?
 Please refer to the Heat treatment questionnaire provided.
 Introduction
 Properties of steel

 Better Mechanical properties – PARTS and TOOLS

 Same composition – different properties.

 Entire heat treatment process depends on following 3 important principles :

 Phase transformation during heating.

 Structural changes during cooling due to different cooling rates.

 Effect of carbon content and other alloying elements.

 Definition

Defined as a sequential process of heating and cooling the

steel component to get desired combination of properties in
the component.
 Heating the component at higher temperature
called austenitizing temperature, during which
the previous structure of steel is converted in to
Austenite phase.

Holding the steel at austenitizing temperature for

some time period so that formation of homogeneous
Austenite can occur throughout the entire cross-
section of the part. This time period is called soaking
time.
Cooling back the part which is having
homogeneous Austenite structure to the room
temperature at a particular cooling rate depending
upon the properties required.

Re-heating of components to a higher temperature

but lower than the critical temperature and cooling
again---this is an optional and performed if required
Basic Heat Treatment Process only.
 • To provide combination of different properties such as strength
and ductility
• To remove internal residual stress from the component after
basic manufacturing processes such as casting , forging, rolling
etc.
• To improve grain size of material.
• To increase the hardness of material
• To improve toughness of the component
Objectives • To improve machinability of material
• To make the material soft so that the process like wire drawing,
of Heat cold rolling etc can be performed on the same.
Treatment • To improve heat, wear and corrosion resistant of materials.
• To improve magnetic and electrical properties of material.
• To impart harder surface and softer core to the component.
• To make the structure of the component homogeneous.
• To improve ductility and toughness of the material
• To stabilize size of the component.
• To facilitate diffusion process in steel.
• To obtain desired structure in the material as per specific
application requirements.
Types of Heat Treatment
Full
Full Surface
Surface
Volume
Volume Hardening
Hardening
Processes
Processes Process
Process Induction
Annealing hardening

Normalizin Flame
g hardening

Hardening Carburizing

Tempering Nitriding

Cyaniding
 Purpose of
Annealing Annealing
To produce the desired micro

 Definition structure having mechanical,
Annealing heat treatment process is defined is physical and other properties as per
defined as heating the steel to austenite phase requirement.
and then cooling slowly through the
To reduce hardness and soften the
transformation range. Slow cooling is generally
steel.
achieved in a closed furnace by switching off
the supply to the furnace. To relieve internal stresses
To restore ductility and thereby
facilitate further cold working.
Sr. No. % Carbon Annealing Temperature Hardness
(ºC) (BHN) To improve machinability.
1 0.18-0.22 860-900 110-149 To refine and make homogeneous
2 0.23-0.28 850-890 130-180 structure by reducing structural
3 0.29-0.38 840-880 140-206 inhomogeneity.
4 0.39-0.55 820-870 150-217 To remove coarse grain structure &
5 0.56-0.80 790-840 160-230 refine grain size.
6 0.81-0.99 790-830 170-230 To create complete stable structure.
Increase or restore toughness.
 Full
annealing

Isothermal Stress
Annealing relieving

Annealin
g Types

Process Spheroidizin
Annealing g

Diffusion
Annealing
 Full Annealing
Defined as heating the steel to
austenite phase and then
cooling very slowly through
the transformation range, it is
the basic process of annealing.
Known as Full annealing
because it wipes out all
traces of previous
structure by complete
phase recrystallization.

Slowly cooling in
furnace or it may be
removed at high
Heating the steel slightly above Holding it at this temperature for temperature and
the critical point. a considerable period of time. buried in a non-
conducting material
such as sand, lime
and ashes.
Stress Relieving
When annealing done for the
purpose of relieving the
stresses only, then it is called
stress relieving.
Sometimes known as Incomplete This process relieves stresses
annealing or finish annealing. of ferrous & non-ferrous
metals developed – casting,
quenching, machining, cold
Does not affect the structure of working and welding
material. processes.

Held at that
Steel parts are heated Cooled
temperature for longer
to 500-700ºC. slowly
duration
 Spheroidizing
Develops
Develops
spheroidal or
Steel heated to a temp. nearer to
theSteel heated to a range
transformation temp. tonearer
carryto
Purpose
globular carbideor
spheroidal outthe spherodised
transformationannealing
range to carry
or To improve
inglobular
steel. carbide out spherodised
Spheroidizing process. annealing or
in steel. Spheroidizing process. machinability
Process reduces
To cold work again
Most suitable
Processand tensile
reduces
hardness forMost suitable
high To obtain required
hardness
strength and tensile
of steel. for high composition of metal
carbon tool
strength of steel. carbon tool
steel. To soften the tool steel
steel.
Steel heated to If carried out after
To hardened the alloy
Steel heated Cooling steel
650-700ºC, at thisto If carried outthan
quenching after Cooling
rate is
650-700ºC, at this
temperature itsquenching speed than rate To improve surface
temperatureform its speed kept as is
globular increases. kept
25-30ºC as finish by machining
globular
obtained. form increases.
obtained. per25-30ºC
hour. To prevent cracking of
per hour.
Diffusion Annealing
Material heated fast
to achieve about
1100-1200ºC
Makes
Makes casting
casting structure
structure homogeneous
homogeneous

Useful
Useful for
for steel,
steel, alloy
alloy steel,
steel, brass
brass and
and bronze.
bronze. At this temperature
Specially
Specially useful
useful for
for steel
steel ingots
ingots and
and heavy
heavy material is held for a
pre-decided time.
castings.
castings.

Structure
Structure improves
improves byby diffusion
diffusion taking
taking place
place in
in Cooled to 800-
crystal
crystal structure,
structure, therefore
therefore the
the process
process is
is named
named 850ºC within 6 to 8
hours.
as
as diffusion
diffusion annealing.
annealing.

Remaining cooling
is done in air
Process Annealing
This process is used to
relieve the stresses of the Ferrous metals are
cold worked parts to make heated to a
them again ready for cold
temperature of 550-
working.
650ºC
This process does not
change the phase of the
metals.

Useful for Mild steel and Allowed to cool in

low carbon steel. the atmosphere so
as to make them
Distorted ferrite is soft.
partially re-crystallised
Strain is relieved from This process re-arranges the
Pearlite. ferrite and pearlite even though
That results in steel no change of phase occur
softness.
Isothermal Annealing
Process is faster than
annealing.
Allowed to
Carried out on parts
cool in air.
produced by rolling and
Parts are kept
forging. at that
Hypo eutectoid
steel is heated to temperature
temperature of for some
Used to make part soft,
723ºC ad above till time.
it comes in
relieve the stresses and to austenitic range.
improve the structure.
While hyper
eutectoid steel is
heated only upto
723ºC and cooled
in air.
 To
To make
make the
the
parts
parts soft
soft
To
To improve
improve the
the To
To improve
improve the
the
electrical
electrical &
& structure
structure of
of the
the
magnetic
magnetic parts.
parts.
properties.
properties.

To
To bring
bring the
the
To
To increase
increase properties
properties
formability.
formability. required
required for
for
cold
cold working.
working.

Typical
Typical
Application
Application
of Annealing
of Annealing
Process
Process To
To remove
remove
To
To get
get good
good irregularities
irregularities
structure
structure for
for forming
forming stable
stable
hardening.
hardening. structure.
structure.

To
To remove
remove
To
To improve
improve strain
strain of
of the
the
machinability.
machinability. parts
parts

To
To prevent
prevent
To
To relieve
relieve cracking of
cracking of the
the
internal
internal parts
parts during
during
stresses.
stresses. processes.
processes.
 Normalizing

Definition

It is defined as heating the steel to austenite phase and cooling it in air .

 To
To obtain
obtain desired
desired
microstructure
microstructure and
and
mechanical
mechanical
properties
properties

To
To improve
improve weld
weld To
To improve
improve
structure
structure after
after Machinability
Machinability of
of
welding
welding process.
process. low
low carbon
carbon steels.
steels.

Purposes of
Normalizing

To
To eliminate
eliminate
coarse grained
coarse grained
To
To improve
improve tensile
tensile structures
structures resulted
resulted
strength
strength of
of casting
casting from
from working
working
and
and forging
forging operations
operations such
such as
as
components
components rolling,
rolling, forging
forging
etc.
etc.
To
To modify
modify and
and
improve
improve cast
cast
dendritic
dendritic structures
structures
and
and reduce
reduce
segregations
segregations byby
homogenizing
homogenizing the the
micro
micro structure.
structure.
Steel is uniformly heated to a
temperature which causes complete Normalizing Process
transformation to austenite.

Steel held at the

austenizing temp. for Cooling is done
sufficient amount of time in still air in a
Heating the metal to (soaking time) for the uniform
austenizing temperature formation of manner, which
homogeneous austenitic is faster than
structure throughout the furnace cooling.
cross section
Soaking time is one
hour per 25mm
thickness of the
component.
 To
To obtain
obtain
uniform
uniform
structure
structure

To
To improve
improve
engineering
engineering To
To refine
refine the
the
properties
properties of
of grain
grain size
size
steel
steel

Typical
applications
of
To
To remove
remove the
the
carbide network
carbide network Normalizing To
To obtain
obtain
from
from the
the grain desired
desired strength
boundary
grain
boundary ofof Process of
of too
strength
too soft
soft &
&
hypo-eutectoid
hypo-eutectoid ductile
ductile steel
steel
steel
steel

To
To improve
improve To
To reduce
reduce
weld
weld structure
structure internal
internal stresses
stresses
Annealing
Annealing Components are heated to form Normalizin
Normalizin Components are heated to form
Process
Process uniform austenite and then cooled g
g Process
Process uniform austenite and then cooled
slowly by keeping the same in the faster than annealing process in
switched off furnace. the steady air.

Comparison
Amount of pearlite is less in Amount of pearlite is more in
annealed structure normalized structure

Hardness of annealed steel varies Hardness of normalized steel

from 110 BHN to 230 BHN varies from 120 BHN to 300
BHN.

Annealed steels can have less Normalized steels can have more
strength and more elongation. strength and less elongation.

Impact strength of annealed parts Impact strength of normalized

is less. parts is more

Annealing process is slow and Normalizing process is faster then

more costly. annealing process

Machinability of annealed steel is Machining of normalized steel is

better than annealed steel. poor compared to that of annealed
steel.
Hardening Process
Defined as heating the steel to Holding it at this Quenching
Quenching
form uniform austenite phase and Heating the steel to a
temperature for a (rapid
(rapid
considerable period of changing)
changing) in
in
cooling the same rapidly by temperature above time( 1 hours per 25mm
critical temperature water,
water, oil
oil or
or
thickness of the molten
molten salt
quenching it in a suitable medium component) both
salt
both
such as water, oil, brine etc. as per
the requirement.
Apart from carbon content, formation of Martensite is affected
Purposes of Hardening by following factors :
Process
To develop high hardness to resist 1. Austenizing Temperature
wear and to enable it to cut other 2. Soaking Time
metals.
3. Cooling Rate
To improve elasticity & toughness 4. Type of quenching medium
5. Temperature of quenching medium
To achieve better combination of 6. Circulation of liquid quenching bath
strength & ductility 7. Some specific alloying elements.
8. Mass and size of the components
Defects Probable reasons
Lower hardness and strength Lower hardening temperature
Insufficient soaking time
Delayed quenching

Excessive scaling and brittleness Over heating

Distortion and warping Improper quenching

Oxidation and Decarburization Overheating and poor process control

Quenching crack Rapid heating, over heating

Fast quenching

Circular cracks near corners Improper heating and poor design

Black vertical cracks Over heating

Soft spots Poor process control
Advantages and Applications of Hardening Process

• It increases the hardness of steel

• Makes tools and machine parts useful for heavy duty
• It increases the wear resistance of steel
• Makes steel hard so as to cut the other materials.
• Increases the strength, toughness & ductility of steel
• A good combination of strength & ductility is obtained.

Limitations of Hardening Process

• Cracks are developing in parts due to hardening

• Required hardness can not be obtained
• It increases the brittleness of the parts
• Soft spots develops in the parts due to non-uniform hardness
• Due to warpage, the shape of the part gets altered
• Surface of the part becomes rough
• Scaling of the surface results when high speed steel having thickness more
than 12 mm is hardened.
Micro-constituent Austenite Ferrite Cementite Ledeburite Pearlite Bainite Martensite Troostite Sorbite

Definition Solid solution of carbon BCC iron phase with Iron Carbide, chemical Ledeburite is the Consist of alternate Constituent produced in Is a metastable phase of
and /or other alloying very limited solubility formula Fe3C, contains eutectic mixture of lamellae of ferrite and a steel when austenite steel, formed by
elements in gamma for carbon. 6.67% carbon by austenite and cementite. cementite. transforms at a transformation of
iron. Max solubility is weight. Contains 4.3% carbon. Product of austenite temperature below that austenite below the Ms
Can dissolve max. 2% 0.025% carbon at Typical hard and brittle It is formed at about decomposition by an at which pearlite is temperature.
carbon at 2066ºF 1333ºF at extreme left interstitial compound of 1130ºC eutectoid reaction. produced and above
hand corner. low tensile strength but Is an eutectoid mixture that at which martensite
Dissolves only 0.008% high compressive containing about 0.8% is formed.
carbon at room strength carbon and is formed at Thus it is a
temperature. 1333ºF (723ºC). decomposition product
of austenite, consisting
of an aggregate of
ferrite and carbide.
Forms on TTT diagram
at temperatures below
the nose of TTT
diagram.
It is an isothermal
product and cannot be
produced by continuous
cooling.

Tensile strength 10500 kg/cm2 2800 kg/cm2 Approx. 350 kg/cm2

Elongation 10% in 50mm 40% in 50mm 20% in 50mm

Hardness Rockwell C 40 > Rockwell C0 or Rockwell C20

(Approx) Rockwell B 90

Physical properties Non-magnetic and soft Softest structure that Hardest structure that
appears on the Fe-C appears on the iron-
equilibrium diagram carbon diagram.
Crystal structure is
orthorhombic