𝑴𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆

Importance of heat treatment

Heat treatment process effect on material structure and grains. Most carbon steels and carbon alloy
steels can be heat treated for the purpose of improving mechanical properties such as tensile and yield
strength. The most important heat treatment processes are: Annealing - It helps relieve pre-cold worked
stresses.
Though there are innumerable purposes, which are achieved by heat treatment yet the following are
important:-

1. To relieve internal stresses, which are set up in the metal due to cold or hot working.
2. To soften the metal.
3. To improve hardness of the metal surface.
4. To improve machinability.
5. To refine grain structure
6. To improve mechanical properties like tensile strength, ductility and shock resistance, etc.
7. To improve electrical and magnetic properties.
8. To increase the resistance to wear, tear, heat and corrosion, etc.

Heat treatment processes

Annealing
Annealing involves treating steel up to a high temperature, and then cooling it very slowly to room
temperature, so that the resulting microstructure will possess high ductility and toughness, but low
hardness. Annealing is performed by heating a component to the appropriate temperature, soaking it at
that temperature, and then shutting off the furnace while the piece is in it. Steel is annealed before being
processed by cold forming, to reduce the requirements of load and energy, and to enable the metal to
undergo large strains without failure.
 The term annealing refers to a heat treatment in which a material is exposed to an elevated
temperature for an extended time period and then slowly cooled. Ordinarily, annealing is carried
out to
(1) Relieve stresses
(2) Increase softness, ductility, and toughness; and/or
(3) Produce a specific microstructure.
 A variety of annealing heat treatments are possible, they are characterized by the changes that are
induced, which many times are micro-structural and are responsible for the alteration of the
mechanical properties. Any annealing process consists of three stages:
(1) Heating to the desired temperature,
(2) Holding or “soaking” at that temperature, and
(3) Cooling, usually to room temperature.
 Time is an important parameter in these procedures. During heating and cooling, there exist
temperature gradients between the outside and interior portions of the piece; their magnitudes
depend on the size and geometry of the piece.
 If the rate of temperature change is too great, temperature gradients and internal stresses may be
induced that may lead to warping or even cracking.
  Also, the actual annealing time must be long enough to allow for any necessary transformation
reactions.
 Annealing temperature is also an important consideration; annealing may be accelerated by
increasing the temperature, since diffusional processes are normally involved.

Normalizing
Normalizing involves heating steel, and then keeping it at that temperature for a period of time, and then
cooling it in air. The resulting microstructure is a mixture of ferrite and cementite which has a higher
strength and hardness, but lower ductility. Normalizing is performed on structures and structural
components that will be subjected to machining, because it improves the machinability of carbon steels.
Normalization is an annealing process in which a metal is cooled in air after heating in order to relieve
stress. It can also be referred to as heating a ferrous alloy to a suitable temperature above the
transformation temperature range and cooling in air to a temperature substantially below the
transformation range. This process is typically confined to hard enable steel. It is used to refine grains
which have been deformed through cold work, and can improve ductility and toughness of the steel. It
involves heating the steel to just above its upper critical point. It is soaked for a short period then allowed
to cool in air. Small grains are formed which give a much harder and tougher metal with normal tensile
strength and not the maximum ductility achieved by annealing. It eliminates columnar grains and dendritic
segregation that sometimes occurs during casting. Normalizing improves machinability of a component
and provides dimensional stability if subjected to further heat treatment processes.

The following is the list of the reasons for normalizing the steel

 To produce a harder and stronger steel than full annealing

 To improve the machinability
 To modify and refine the grain structure
 To obtain a relatively good ductility without reducing the hardness and strength

Hardening
Hardening involves heating of steel, keeping it at an appropriate temperature until all pearlite is
transformed into austenite, and then quenching it rapidly in water or oil. The temperature at which
austentizing rapidly takes place depends upon the carbon content in the steel used. The heating time
should be increased ensuring that the core will also be fully transformed into austenite. The microstructure
of a hardened steel part is ferrite, martensite, or cementite.

1. Case hardening is little different than surface hardening, even though both have similarities in
cooling processes.
2. In case hardening the metal block is heated in the furnace and the quickly is introduced in cooling
bath.
3. Due to that the elements infuse on the surface making a hard casing layer over material.
4. Inner core remains soft but the casing is formed making it hard protecting core.
5. The casing is tough protection to external wear and tear and abrasion.
6. It is used for low carbon steel for hardening process.
7. It is heated until it becomes red hot, then it is quickly introduced to element that is going to infuse.
 8. Then the steel is again heated to red hot and then is cooled by quenching it in water bath.
9. To increase the case depth, the process is repeated several times.
10. One of the most common element to infuse is carbon and charcoal is used for it.

Tempering

Tempering involves heating steel that has been quenched and hardened for an adequate period of time
so that the metal can be equilibrated. The hardness and strength obtained depend upon the temperature
at which tempering is carried out. Higher temperatures will result into high ductility, but low strength and
hardness. Low tempering temperatures will produce low ductility, but high strength and hardness. In
practice, appropriate tempering temperatures are selected that will produce the desired level of hardness
and strength. This operation is performed on all carbon steels that have been hardened, in order to
reduce their brittleness, so that they can be used effectively in desired applications.

Tempering is a process done subsequent to quench hardening. Quench-hardened parts are often too
brittle. This brittleness is removed by tempering. Tempering results in a desired combination of hardness,
ductility, toughness, strength, and structural stability.

 Tempering is a process done subsequent to quench hardening.

 Quench-hardened parts are often too brittle. This brittleness is caused by a due to formation of
Martensite.
 This brittleness is removed by tempering. Tempering results in a desired combination of hardness,
ductility, toughness, strength, and structural stability.

Carburization

It is a heat treatment process in which steel or iron is heated to a temperature, below the melting point, in
the presence of a liquid, solid, or gaseous material which decomposes so as to release carbon when
heated to the temperature used. The outer case or surface will have higher carbon content than the
primary material. When the steel or iron is rapidly cooled by quenching, the higher carbon content on the
outer surface becomes hard, while the core remains tough and soft.

1. Carburizing, also referred to as Case Hardening, is a heat treatment process that produces a
surface which is resistant to wear while maintaining toughness and strength of the core.
2. This treatment is applied to low carbon steel parts after machining as well as high alloy steel
bearings, gears and other components.
3. Carburizing increases strength and wear resistance by diffusing carbon into the surface of the steel
creating a case while retaining a substantially lesser hardness in the core. This treatment is applied
to low carbon steels after machining.
4. Most carburizing is done by heating components in either a pit furnace, or sealed atmosphere
furnace and introducing carburizing gases at temperature.
5. Gas carburizing allows for accurate control of both the process temperature and carburizing
atmosphere (carbon potential). Carburizing is a time/temperature process; the carburizing
atmosphere is introduced into the furnace for the required time to ensure the correct depth of case.
 6. The carbon potential of the gas can be lowered to permit diffusion, avoiding excess carbon in the
surface layer.
7. Carburizing cannot be done in ferrite phase as it has very low solid solubility for carbon at room
temperature. It is done in the Austenite region above 727°C in carbon rich atmosphere.
8. Types of carburizing:
i. Pack carburizing
ii. Gas carburizing
iii. Liquid carburizing

Nitriding and Cyaniding

Cyaniding and nitriding are the two process of hardening any metal surface.

In cyaniding, NaCN is used to bath a metal with a high temperature which then produces a thin layer of
carbon on its surface.

2NaCN + O2 → 2NaCNO

2NaCNO + O2 → Na2CO3 +CO + N2

2CO → CO2 + C

In nitriding, a metal is heated with ammonia gas which forms nitrides over the surface of metal giving it
more hardness but it is applied only on nitride forming metals live aluminum and chromium.

Cyaniding

1. Cyaniding is a case-hardening process that is fast and efficient; it is mainly used on low-carbon
steels. The part is heated to 871-954 °C in a bath of sodium cyanide and then is quenched and
rinsed, in water or oil, to remove any residual cyanide. Reactions are as follows:
2NaCN + O2 → 2NaCNO
2NaCNO + O2 → Na2CO3 +CO + N2
2CO → CO2 + C
2. This process produces a thin, hard shell (between 0.25 - 0.75 mm, 0.01 and 0.03 inches) that is
harder than the one produced by carburizing, and can be completed in 20 to 30 minutes compared
to several hours so the parts have less opportunity to become distorted.
3. It is typically used on small parts such as bolts, nuts, screws and small gears. The major drawback
of cyaniding is that cyanide salts are poisonous.
Nitriding

1. Nitriding heats the steel part to 482–621 °C in an atmosphere of ammonia gas and dissociated
ammonia.
2. The time the part spends in this environment dictates the depth of the case. The hardness is
achieved by the formation of nitrides.
 3. Nitride forming elements must be present for this method to work; these elements include
chromium, molybdenum, and aluminum.
4. The advantage of this process is that it causes little distortion, so the part can be case-hardened
after being quenched, tempered and machined. No quenching is done after nitriding
Surface Hardening

Surface hardening is the process of hardening the surface of a metal object while allowing the metal
deeper underneath to remain soft, thus forming a thin layer of harder metal (called the "case") at the
surface. For iron or steel with low carbon content, which has poor to no hardenability of its own, the case
hardening process involves infusing additional carbon into the case. Case hardening is usually done after
the part has been formed into its final shape, but can also be done to increase the hardening element
content of bars to be used in a pattern welding or similar process.
Because hardened metal is usually more brittle than softer metal, through-hardening (that is, hardening
the metal uniformly throughout the piece) is not always a suitable choice for applications where the metal
part is subject to certain kinds of stress. In such applications, case hardening can provide a part that will
not fracture (because of the soft core that can absorb stresses without cracking) but also provides
adequate wear resistance on the surface.

Engineering methods for surface hardening of steels

Layer additions Substrate treatment

Hard-facing Diffusion methods

Fusion hard-facing Carburizing
Thermal spray Nitriding
Coatings Carbonitriding
Electrochemical plating Nitrocarburizing
Chemical vapor deposition (electroless plating) Boriding
Thin films (physical vapor deposition, puttering, ion plating) Titanium-carbon diffusion
Ion mixing Toyota diffusion process
Selective hardening methods
Flame hardening
Induction hardening
Laser hardening
Electron beam hardening
Ion implantation
Selective carburizing and nitriding