International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering 2012

01-02 February, 2013, Khulna, BANGLADESH

MIE12-043
Effect of Flame Hardening on High Carbon Steel Forging
Subrata Talapatra*,Md. Golam Kibria, A.M.M. Nazmul Ahsan, Tarapada Bhowmick
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology
Khulna-9203, BANGLADESH

ABSTRACT
The various types of heat treating process are similar because they all involve the heating and cooling of metal that change the
properties of the entire material but they differ from flame hardening in the manner of heating. In flame hardening, only a
portion of the metal is heated quickly before quenching. This produces a thin, hardened surface, and at the same time, the
internal parts remain their original properties along with composition. Capability of hardening of steel much depends upon the
percentage of principal allowing element carbon. The higher the carbon content the higher the capability of hardening with
effective quenching medium water which is cheaper. As per availability, the high carbon steel containing 0.73% carbon is
selected as the specimen which is hot forged and then heat is applied on the surface of the specimen to its hardening
temperature with oxy-acetylene flame, followed by quenching jet of water. It has been observed experimentally that the
hardness of the high carbon steel increases a little amount after forging. Again the hardness is found to increase massively at
the surface after flame hardening and reduces gradually to the inner part.

Keywords: Forging, Backfire, Flash back, Flame pops.

1. Introduction heating time. . The size and shape of the burner largely
Flame hardening is a surface hardening process to depend upon the curvature of the part being hardened.
harden to some depth below its surface of a steel The burner consists of copper or brass mixing head,
component to withstand abrasion and wear with straight extension tube, adjustable yoke and a water
reasonable toughness of the unheated core improving cooled trip. The brass head controls air fuel rate, flame
fatigue, bending and torsional strengths. In this process, temperature and heating time. Flame head is fitted with
the metal surface is heated for sufficient time so as to fuel gas orifice. Design of burner is very important
raise the temperature rapidly above the upper critical because it must be able to provide more stable out
temperature by means of neutral oxy- acetylene flame. coming flames that gives high resistance to backfire,
It can generate temperature up to 3000ºC. Then the steel flame pops and flashback.
is quenched by the double action of coolant spray upon For uniform quenching around the surface of the part,
the surface end and the conduction of the heat into cold quenching torch emerges continuous circumferential
base metal. spray of coolant on to heated surface. The coolant is
The hardened depth can easily be controlled by pumped through a number of small openings at constant
adjusting and regulating the temperature of the flame, temperature and pressure. The rate of cooling can be
heating time, design of flame head, rate of heating, varied by increasing or decreasing the distance from
hardenability of material, speed of torch travel. The quenched end of the specimen.
neutral flame is generally be used for normal heating; The design and the proper positioning of quenching jet
however in corner and grooves a slight oxidizing flame have a profound influence on the effectiveness of flame
is used. Surface hardening of high carbon steel is hardening. The type of steel, depth of hardness and
limited by surface crack due to overheating. The product geometry that determines the right type of
disadvantages of this process are the difficulties quenchment.
associates with recording high temperature of metal The flame hardening can be applied to wide range of
surface. The torch heats up the metal briskly and a close steel. Normally medium carbon steel (0.35-0.5%C) with
watch has to be maintained to determine the temperature. or without alloying elements, are most suitable for
If dark streaks appear on the metal surface, this is due to flame hardening. Steel having less than 0.35%C is very
overheating, and need to increase the distance between difficult to harden. Again for water quench, the effective
the flame and the metal. For the best heating result, it carbon range is 0.4 to 0.75%. Steel with carbon content
needs to hold the torch with the tip of inner cone about more than 0.7%C is likely to surface crack unless the
one eighth of an inch from the surface and direct the heating and quenching rate are carefully controlled.
flame at right angle to the metal. The arrangement and
the movement of the flame varies according to the 2. Material and Method
geometry (straight, curve, irregular) of the part being In this present study the high carbon steel of 0.73%
treated. In general, the slower the rate of flame travel, carbon content with 25 mm diameter and 170 mm
the greater the heat penetration and hardening depth. length was chosen as a specimen as available in the
The hardness can also be increased by increasing the market. Forging operation is continued by upsetting in a

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +88-01727555334

E-mail address: [email protected]
one tone pneumatic hammer after reheating the sample Figure 3 shows the sequences of different procedures
in the blacksmith’s hearth to 1100ºC (i.e. forging performed in the present study. The specimen which is
temperature of the 0.73% carbon steel) till the diameter hot forged and then heat is applied on the surface to
of the sample become 30 mm diameter and 120 mm increase its hardness with oxy-acetylene flame, followed
length (30% reduction in length). by quenching jet of water. A small piece of sample
The sample was flame hardened by means of heating specimen is collected for hardness testing.
with a two row burner of female type shown in the
figure 1. The diameter of the nozzle is 1 mm, distance
between the nozzle and row is 3 mm and cooled by
means of a sprayer at a distance of 20mm from the axis
of the burner with a water input of 0.5 liter/min.cm.
Digital infrared pyrometer has been used to measure the
temperature.

Fig.3 Flow of methodology process

Figure 4 shows the phase transformation occurred at

Fig.1 Progressive flame hardening burner. surface and the core of the specimen. The martensite
formed at the surface layer due to rapid quenching. The
ferrite and pearlite are formed at the centre due to
slower rate of cooling. This process produces a thin
hardend surface, and as the same time, the internal part
remains soft with keeping the properties unchanged.

Fig.2 Combination flame hardening process.

Before and after forging and after flame hardening, a

small piece of sample specimen has been collected for
hardness testing is polished in tool room grinder and
after that various grade of emery paper, i.e. from course
to finer, and then the various zone is evaluated by
Rockwell hardness tester. In Rockwell hardness a
spheroconical diamond penetrator has been used to form
the indentation and the depth of the indentation has been
measured with a built-in, differential depth-
measurement device. This measurement, which can be
read directly from a dial on the testing device, becomes
Fig.4 Phase transformation during flame hardening.
the Rockwell hardness number. The hardness number
depends on the load and type of penetrator used;
3. Results and Discussions
therefore, these are indicated when listing a hardness
The result shows that the value of hardness of the parent
number. In present study scale C was used which
material, i.e. before forging, is 32 HRC. But it rises to
indicates diamond cone penetrator and 150 kg load.
34 HRC throughout its cross section after forging. After
flame hardening the hardness obtained at the surface is
57 HRC, which gradually becomes to 32 HRC at the
core. The hardness at various steps of operation is
depicted in the table 1, and the hardness value after case
hardening at different cross section is depicted in table 2,

MIE12-001- 2
Table 1: Hardness value at various stages of operation Forging causes the dendritic structure of parent metal to
Specimen heat treatments Rockwell Hardness in C- break down into fine grains, and elongate in the
Scale(HRC) perpendicular direction of applied forces. The steel
Before Forging 32 should be heated in such a way that, along the surface
After Forging 34 the normal pearlite structure of steel is first converted to
After Flame Hardening 57 (Case) austenite in passing through the critical temperature
32 (Core) range, but rapid quenching prevents the reverse process,
the martensite formed at the surface layer by share
Figure 5 is showing that the specimen is heated to upper transformation in austenite instead of nucleation and
critical temperature Ac3 for austenizing. Then it is growth. A neglibale amount of pearlite to austenite
quenching by water spray. The bold line representing transformation takes place at the centre.
the cooling curve and the zigzag line represent the start Figure 7 shows that the hardness variation is divided
and finish of martensite formation for high carbon steels into three zones. In zone-I, at surface (at a depth of
under quenching. 2mm fore case), here the temperature is above higher
critical temperature and results in formation of
martensite and has the hardness 57 HRC. In zone-II, the
little away from surface (depth from 2 to 6mm), here the
temperature is below the higher critical temperature and
results in formation of austenite and ferrite and the
hardness varies from 57 -46 HRC. In zone-II, going so
far towards the centre (depth beyond 6 mm), here the
temperature is below the lower critical temperature and
results in formation of ferrite and pearlite and the
hardness varies from 56 -32 HRC.
In the present study the value of hardness obtained is
only 57 Rc with a case depth of 2mm. This is only
because of approximately 50 % martensite formation on
the surface of the specimen due to non uniformity of
hardening temperature. The higher temperature flame
Fig.5 Time-temperature cycle for flame hardening. which subsequently can help to achieve the proper
hardening temperature. Flame hardening can be done
Table 2: Hardness value at various cross sections after
either by manual or automatic equipments. This
induction hardening
equipments produce uniform results and more desirable.
Distance from the Rockwell Hardness in C-
Because the temperature of the flame, heating time, rate
surface Scale(HRC)
of heating, speed of torch travel can easily be adjusted
(mm)
and regulated properly. Most automatic machine have
1 57 variable speeds and can be adapted to parts of various
2 57 size and shape.
4 51
6 46
8 45
10 40
12 32

Figure 6 indicates the hardness distribution of the

specimen across the depth. Decrease in hardness
between the case and the core is gradual.ess values from
-e

Fig.7 Hardness distribution and the corresponding zones

along the cross section of the steel obtained after flame
hardening.
Fig.6 Rockwell hardness values from the surface in C-
scale

MIE12-001- 3
Another thing is more important to achieve more from cold-drawn bright bar which has not been
hardness at the surface, i.e. drastic quenching. The rate machined on the diameter). There is a danger of
of quenching depends upon the type of quenchment overheating thin sections and edges (e.g. keyways, oil
(brine, water, oil or air) is used. The minimum rate of holes, section changes, etc). Where possible, account
cooling to transform to martensite depends on the alloy should be taken of this factor at the design stage (for
Content of the steel, and is known as its hardenability. example use of chamfers on edges). The component that
After achieving proper hardening temperature, if high is to be hardened should be free from scale, rust, dirt,
and uniform rate of water is sprayed on the job, then the laps seam folds and fins. Otherwise, it may result in a
probability of martensite formation will be quite high. soft surface skin and case localized overheating leading
to cracking even after proper heating and quenching.
4. Conclution If the hardening depth is tried to increase, it is necessary
The high carbon steel is very much tough, strong and to heat for a long time. This will increase the risk of
hard. For better wear resistance the hardness of high hardening right through the part. Case hardening is not
carbon steel is increased, then subsequent decrease of always followed by tempering.
ductility as well as increase of its brittleness. So to So in conclusion, it is essential to mention that the flame
maintain the ductility within some reasonable limit, case hardening is a method of heating a wide variety of
hardening is recommended. If the high carbon steel is carbon and alloy steels certain stainless steels and cast
forged, its toughness, strength and impact resistance iron. It is quick, easy, quite, safe, clean, time saving,
will increase across its flow lines.[1] Then if it is material saving, energy saving method of heating
recommended for case hardening, its outer surface will process yield higher production rates.
be harder (i.e. imparting more wear resistance) with
reasonable level of ductile, strong and tough core.
In the present study, the high carbon steel having course REFERENCES
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guide ways, rollers and dies), a combination of strength
and toughness is the true characteristic of good steel
which can be maintained effectively in flame hardening
process.
Beside these the flame hardening has some limitations.
Decarburized surfaces will not respond properly to
flame hardening and must be avoided (e.g. parts made

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