Heat Treatments For Select Medium Carbon Low Alloy Steels
Heat Treatments For Select Medium Carbon Low Alloy Steels
Heat Treatments For Select Medium Carbon Low Alloy Steels
Annealing
Normalizing
The steel is air cooled from the austenization range to produce a structure of pearlite
(ferrite + cementite) and partially spherodized carbides. Medium carbon low alloy
steel forgings are generally normalized before hardening to produce a uniform grain
structure and to minimize residual stresses.
Hardening
Medium carbon low alloy steels are hardened by austenitizing, water or oil
quenching, and then tempering to their final hardness.
Since the composition of these steels varies quite a bit, it is important to: understand
the maximum section thickness that can be hardened in a specific quench media
and realize the large variations in final strength and ductility that can be obtained by
tempering at different temperatures.
Austenitizing
During austenization, the steel is heated into the austenite field and held for a
sufficient period to dissolve many of the carbides and put them into solution.
Quenching
If the steel is slowly cooled from the austenization temperature, carbon atoms are
rejected as the FCC austenite transforms to the BCC ferrite and alternating layers of
ferrite and cementite form pearlite through a nucleation and growth process.
Tempering
Bibliography