Heat Treatment

HEAT TREATMENT OF METALS
1. Annealing
2. Martensite Formation in Steel
3. Precipitation Hardening
4. Surface Hardening
5. Heat Treatment Methods and Facilities
©2007 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P Groover, Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing 3/e
Heat Treatment
Various heating and cooling processes performed
to effect structural changes in a material, which
in turn affect its mechanical properties
 Most common applications are on
 Metals
 Similar treatments are performed on
 Glass-ceramics
 Tempered glass
 Powder metals and ceramics
Heat Treatment in Manufacturing
 Heat treatment operations are performed on
metal workparts at various times during their
manufacturing sequence
 To soften a metal for forming prior to
shaping
 To relieve strain hardening that occurs
during forming
 To strengthen and harden the metal near
the end of the manufacturing sequence
Principal Heat Treatments
 Annealing
 Martensite formation in steel
 Tempering of martensite
 Precipitation hardening
 Surface hardening
Annealing
Heating and soaking metal at suitable temperature
for a certain time, and slowly cooling
 Reasons for annealing:
 Reduce hardness and brittleness
 Alter microstructure to obtain desirable
mechanical properties
 Soften metals to improve machinability or
formability
 Recrystallize cold worked metals
 Relieve residual stresses induced by
shaping
Annealing of Steel
 Full annealing - heating and soaking the alloy
in the austenite region, followed by slow
cooling to produce coarse pearlite
 Usually associated with low and medium
carbon steels
 Normalizing - similar heating and soaking cycle
as in full annealing, but faster cooling rates,
 Results in fine pearlite, higher strength and
hardness, but lower ductility
Annealing to Reduce Work Hardening
 Cold worked parts are often annealed to
reduce strain hardening and increase ductility
by allowing strain-hardened metal to
recrystallize partially or completely
 When annealing is performed to allow for
further cold working of the part, it is called a
process anneal
 When no subsequent deformation will be
accomplished, it is simply called an anneal
Annealing for Stress-Relief
 Annealing operations are sometimes
performed solely to relieve residual stresses
caused by prior shape processing or fusion
welding
 Called stress-relief annealing
 They help to reduce distortion and
dimensional variations that might otherwise
result in the stressed parts
Martensite Formation in Steel
 The iron-carbon phase diagram shows the
phases of iron and iron carbide under
equilibrium conditions
 Assumes cooling from high temperature is
slow enough to permit austenite to transform
into ferrite and cementite (Fe3C) mixture
 However, under rapid cooling, so that
equilibrium is prevented, austenite transforms
into a nonequilibrium phase called martensite,
which is hard and brittle
Iron-Carbon Phase Diagram
Time-Temperature-Transformation Curve
Figure 27.1 The TTT curve, showing transformation of austenite into

other phases as function of time and temperature for a composition
of about 0.80% C steel. Cooling trajectory shown yields martensite.
Martensite
A unique phase consisting of an iron-carbon
solution whose composition is the same as the
austenite from which it was derived
 Face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of
austenite is transformed into body-centered
tetragonal (BCT) structure of martensite
 The extreme hardness of martensite results
from the lattice strain created by carbon atoms
trapped in the BCT structure, thus providing a
barrier to slip
Hardness of Plain Carbon Steel
Figure 27.2 Hardness of

plain carbon steel as a
function of carbon content
in martensite and pearlite
(annealed).
Heat Treatment to Form Martensite
Consists of two steps:
1. Austenitizing - heating the steel to a
sufficiently high temperature for a long enough
time to convert it entirely or partially to
austenite
2. Quenching - cooling the austenite rapidly
enough to avoid passing through the nose of
the TTT curve
TTT Curve
Quenching Media and Cooling Rate
 Various quenching media are used to affect

cooling rate
 Brine -salt water, usually agitated (fastest
cooling rate)
 Still fresh water
 Still oil
 Air (slowest cooling rate)
 The faster the cooling, the more likely are
internal stresses, distortion, and cracks in
the product
Tempering of Martensite
A heat treatment applied to martensite to reduce
brittleness, increase toughness, and relieve
stresses
 Treatment involves heating and soaking at a
temperature below the eutectoid for about one
hour, followed by slow cooling
 Results in precipitation of very fine carbide
particles from the martensite iron-carbon
solution, gradually transforming the crystal
structure from BCT to BCC
 New structure is called tempered martensite
Hardenability
The relative capacity of a steel to be hardened by
transformation to martensite
 It determines the depth below the quenched
surface to which the steel is hardened
 Steels with good hardenability can be
hardened more deeply below the surface
and do not require high cooling rates
 Hardenability does not refer to the maximum
hardness that can be attained
Hardenability
 Hardenability of steel is increased through
alloying
 Alloying elements having the greatest effect
are chromium, manganese, molybdenum
 The mechanism by which these alloying
elements work is to extend the time before the
start of the austenite-to-pearlite transformation
 In effect, the TTT curve is moved to the
right, thus permitting slower quenching rates
Jominy End-Quench Test for Hardenability
Figure 27.4 Jominy end-quench test: (a) setup, showing end quench
of the test specimen; and (b) typical pattern of hardness readings
as a function of distance from quenched end.
Precipitation Hardening
Heat treatment that precipitates fine particles
that block the movement of dislocations and
thus strengthen and harden the metal
 Principal heat treatment for strengthening
alloys of aluminum, copper, magnesium,
nickel, and other nonferrous metals
 Also utilized to strengthen a number of steel
alloys that cannot form martensite by the
usual heat treatment
Conditions for Precipitation Hardening
 The necessary condition for whether an alloy
system can be strengthened by precipitation
hardening is the presence of sloping solvus
line in the phase diagram
 A composition in this system that can be
precipitation hardened is one that contains two
equilibrium phases at room temperature, but
which can be heated to a temperature that
dissolves the second phase
Precipitation Hardening
Figure 27.5 Precipitation hardening: (a) phase diagram of an

alloy system consisting of metals A and B that can be
precipitation hardened; and (b) heat treatment: (1) solution
treatment, (2) quenching, and (3) precipitation treatment.
Sequence in Precipitation Hardening
1. Solution treatment - alloy is heated to a
temperature Ts above the solvus line into the
alpha phase region and held for a period
sufficient to dissolve the beta phase
2. Quenching - to room temperature to create a
supersaturated solid solution
3. Precipitation treatment - alloy is heated to a
temperature Tp, below Ts, to cause
precipitation of fine particles of the beta phase
Surface Hardening
Thermochemical treatments applied to steels in
which the composition of the part surface is
altered by adding various elements
 Often called case hardening
 Most common treatments are carburizing,
nitriding, and carbonitriding
 Commonly applied to low carbon steel parts to
achieve a hard, wear-resistant outer shell while
retaining a tough inner core
Carburizing
Heating a part of low carbon steel in a carbon-rich
environment so that C is diffused into surface
 In effect the surface is converted to a high
carbon steel, capable of higher hardness than
the low-C core
 Carburizing followed by quenching produces
a case hardness of around HRC = 60
 Internal regions are low-C steel, with low
hardenability, so it is unaffected by quench
and remains relatively tough and ductile
 Most common surface hardening treatment
Nitriding
Treatment in which nitrogen is diffused into
surface of special alloy steels to produce a thin
hard casing without quenching
 Carried out at around 500C (950F)
 To be most effective, steel must have alloying
ingredients such as aluminum or chromium to
form nitride compounds that precipitate as very
fine particles in the casing to harden the steel
 Hardness up to HRC 70
Chromizing
 Requires higher temperatures and longer
treatment times than the preceding hardening
treatments
 Usually applied to low carbon steels
 Casing is not only hard and wear resistant; it is
also heat and corrosion resistant
Furnaces for Heat Treatment
 Fuel-fired furnaces
 Normally direct-fired - the work is exposed
directly to combustion products
 Fuels: natural gas or propane and fuel oils
that can be atomized
 Electric furnaces
 Electric resistance for heating
 Cleaner, quieter, and more uniform
heating
 More expensive to purchase and operate
Batch vs. Continuous Furnaces
 Batch furnaces
 Heating system in an insulated chamber,
with a door for loading and unloading
 Production in batches
 Continuous furnaces
 Generally for higher production rates
 Mechanisms for transporting work through
furnace include rotating hearths and
straight-through conveyors
Other Furnace Types
 Atmospheric control furnaces
 Desirable in conventional heat treatment to
avoid excessive oxidation or decarburization
 Include C and/or N rich environments for
diffusion into work surface
 Vacuum furnaces
 Radiant energy is used to heat the parts
 Disadvantage: time needed each cycle to
draw vacuum
Selective Surface Hardening Methods
 These methods heat only the work surface,

or local areas of the work surface
 They differ from surface hardening methods
in that no chemical changes occur
 Methods include:
 Flame hardening
 Induction hardening
 High-frequency resistance heating
 Electron beam heating
 Laser beam heating
Flame Hardening
Heating of work surface by one or more torches
followed by rapid quenching
 Applied to carbon and alloy steels, tool steels,
and cast irons
 Fuels include acetylene (C2H2), propane
(C3H8), and other gases
 Lends itself to high production as well as big
components such as large gears that exceed
the size capacity of furnaces
Induction Heating
Application of electromagnetically induced energy
supplied by an induction coil to an electrically
conductive workpart
 Widely used for brazing, soldering, adhesive
curing, and various heat treatments
 When used for steel hardening treatments,
quenching follows heating
 Cycle times are short, so process lends itself to
high production
Induction Heating
Figure 27.7 Typical induction heating setup. High frequency alternating

current in a coil induces current in the workpart to effect heating.
High-frequency (HF) Resistance Heating
Used to harden specific areas of steel work
surfaces by application of localized resistance
heating at high frequency (400 kHz typical)
 Contacts are attached to workpart at outer
edges of the area
 When HF current is applied, region under
conductor is heated quickly to high
temperature - heating to austenite range
typically takes less than a second
 When power is turned off, area is quenched by
heat transfer to the surrounding metal
High-frequency Resistance Heating
Figure 27.8 Typical setup for high-frequency resistance heating.
Electron Beam (EB) Heating
Electron beam focused onto small area, resulting
in rapid heat buildup
 Involves localized surface hardening of steel -
high energy densities in a small region of part
so that austenitizing temperatures can be
achieved often in less than a second
 When beam is removed, heated area is
immediately quenched and hardened by heat
transfer to surrounding metal
 Disadvantage: best results are achieved when
performed in a vacuum
Laser Beam (LB) Heating
High-density beam of coherent light focused on a
small area - the beam is usually moved along a
defined path on the work surface
 Laser - acronym for light amplification by
stimulated emission of radiation
 When beam is moved, area is immediately
quenched by heat conduction to surrounding
metal
 Advantage of LB over EB heating is that laser
beams do not require a vacuum

Heat Treatment

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HEAT TREATMENT OF METALS

Figure 27.1 The TTT curve, showing transformation of austenite into

Figure 27.2 Hardness of

 Various quenching media are used to affect

Figure 27.5 Precipitation hardening: (a) phase diagram of an

 These methods heat only the work surface,

Figure 27.7 Typical induction heating setup. High frequency alternating

Figure 27.8 Typical setup for high-frequency resistance heating.

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