Heat Treatment

HEAT TREATMENT
Objectives
• On completion of this section, students will be able
to:
• Describe the heat treatment theory.
• Identify the stages of heat treatment.
• Recognize heating colors associated with steel.
• Describe the different types of heat
treatment.
• Describe the different types of quenching
media.
• Heat treatment is the process of
changing the structure of a metal
by heating it to a predetermined
temperature, holding it at this
temperature for a prescribed
period of time and cooling it at a
prescribed rate.
The types of heat treatment applied in
practice are
• Annealing
• Normalizing
• Quenching
• Tempering
The Softening Processes
Annealing
Used variously to soften, relieve internal stresses,
improve machinability and to develop particular
mechanical and physical properties.
In special silicon steels used for
transformer laminations annealing
develops the particular
microstructure that confers the
unique electrical properties.
Annealing requires heating to above
the GS (upper critical –Red hot)
temperature, holding for sufficient
time for temperature equalisation
followed by slow cooling.
IRON CARBON DIAGRAM
Iron Carbon Diagram
Annealing:
• . It
relieves internal stresses in the
metal and refines the grain and
reduces the hardness. After
annealing, steel becomes more
plastic and ductile.
• Work hardened steels are heated
for annealing 30 C to 50 C above
the upper critical point held at
this temperature and cool in the
furnace.
Normalizing
• Normalizing is a heat treatment in
which the work hardened steels are
heated for annealing 300 C to 500 C
above the upper critical point held at
this temperature and then cooled in
air.
QUENCHING (HARDENING)
• This is effected by heating the

metal above the critical range
and cooling it rapidly by dipping
in a cold liquid
TEMPERING
• When a piece of steel has been hardened fully
its hard, brittle and intentionally stressed,
stressed to such an extent, that it may fail in
service.
• Martensite has a tendency to contract on
ageing, with the result that an article of fully
harden steel is dimensionally unstable thus its
necessary to apply to a piece of harden steel
some sort of after treatment to make it less
brittle and therefore tougher to relieve
internal stresses either to stabilize, retain of
Austenite or to course it to transform to a
dimensionally stable structure.
• The treatment applied is a reheating
operation called tempering. Its heated to
some temperature below the critical range,
and followed by any desired rate of cooling in
order to alter the hardness.
Case hardening or surface hardening
• 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 steel or iron 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
Carburizing
process used to case harden steel with a carbon
content between 0.1 and 0.3 wt% C. In this
process steel is introduced to a carbon rich
environment and elevated temperatures for a
certain amount of time, and then quenched so
that the carbon is locked in the structure
Nitriding
• heats the steel part to 482–621 °C (900–
1150 °F) in an atmosphere of ammonia gas
and dissociated ammonia. The time the part
spends in this environment dictates the depth
of the case. The hardness is achieved by the
formation of nitrides
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 (1600-
1750 °F) in a bath of sodium cyanide and then
is quenched and rinsed, in water or oil, to
remove any residual cyanide
Assignment:
• Briefly explain method of heat treatment is

adopted for cold chisel.
• What is the season to heat the metal above
the upper critical point in annealing,
normalizing and quenching processes?
• Explain the difference between annealing
and normalizing process.

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HEAT TREATMENT

• This is effected by heating the

• Briefly explain method of heat treatment is

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