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To Study The Mechanical Properties of Mild Steel After Heat Treatment Processes
To Study The Mechanical Properties of Mild Steel After Heat Treatment Processes
To Study The Mechanical Properties of Mild Steel After Heat Treatment Processes
A Thesis
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
The award of the Degree of
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
IN
PRODUCTION ENGINEERING
BY
1
DECLERATION
This is to certify that the work presented in the thesis entitled ‘‘STUDY THE
MECHANICAL BEHAVIOUR OF MILD STEEL AFTER HEAT
TREATMENT PROCESSES’’ in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
award of Degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Production Engineering of Birla
Institute of Technology, Mesra, off campus Deoghar is an authentic work carried
out under my supervision and guidance.
To the best of my knowledge , the content of this thesis does not form a
basis for the award of any previous degree to anyone else.
(BE/6322/12)
2
CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank all the staff members of Production Engineering Department
for their kind cooperation extended towards me.
Finally, I pay my respect and love to my parents and friends without whose
unimpeded support and encouragement that would not have seen the light of the
day.
RISHAV PARASHAR
Date: (BE/6322/12)
4
TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NUMBER
1. INTRODUCTION -........................... 7
4. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS-............... 37
6. RESULTS-........................................ 53
7. CONCLUSION-................................ 59
8. REFRENCES-.............................. 60
5
ABSTRACT
Low carbon mild steel is easily available and cheap having all material properties
that are acceptable for many applications. Heat treatment on low carbon mild steel
is to improve ductility, to improve toughness, strength, hardness and tensile
strength and to relive internal stress developed in the material. Here basically the
experiment of harness and ultimate tensile strength is done to get idea about heat
treated low carbon steel, which has extensive uses in all industrial and scientific
fields. Microstructure for the low carbon mild steel is also detected at high
temperature which shows various phase transformation .
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INTRODUCTION
In this experiment we explored the effects of heat treatment on the material properties
of mild Steel. We studied three different parameters for the heat treatment
configuration; variation in tensile strength, absolution in microstructure and hardness
properties.
The appropriate condition is obtained by heating the metal work piece at temperature
above transformation temperature and further air cooling it.
Air Quenching is used to slowly reduce the temperature of the steel, preventing the
increase of ductility and helping to increase the strength of the mild steel.
Now the question arises what is heat treatment and what are the basic procedures
required for proper heat treatment.
Steels may be broadly classified into two types, (1) carbon and (2) alloy. Carbon steels
owe their properties chiefly to the carbon. They are frequently called straight or plain
carbon steels.
Alloy steels are those to which one or more alloying elements are added in sufficient
amounts to modify certain properties.
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The basic heat treatment processes used are:
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magnification. The microstructure of material can strongly influence physical properties such as
strength , toughness ,ductility ,hardness ,corrosion resistance ,high temperature behaviour.
As discussed above the working parameters of the heat treatment process is under a specified
temperature (above the transformation temperature) and heated for a specified time for better
results.
The equipments used were at proper condition and all random errors are tried to be avoided .
It is usually desired to preserve, as nearly as possible, the form, dimensions, and surface of the
piece being treated. This process increases the strength, but decreases the ductility. Thus the
need and augment that the specific heat treatment of a material is extremely important to a design
engineer. As the properties can vary by quite a bit, it is important to design capacities and safety
factors around the correct heat treatment’s properties.
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OBJECTIVE
Evaluation of the mechanical properties of mild steel post heat
treatment process :
TENSILE STRENGTH-To describe the variation of tensile
strength pro and post heat treatment.
processes .
10
LITERATURE-REVIEW
Going through the basic introduction and understanding the objective of the project ,
now we will go through the basic contents , the processes used ,the reasoning behind
the absolution of the objective and the detailed summary of the project.
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PROPERTIES OF MILD STEEL
Steel is an alloy of iron, consisting of 0.2% to 2.1% of carbon, as a hardening agent.
Beside carbon , there are many metals as part of it, it includes vanadium, manganese,
chromium and tungsten.
Mild steel is typically the variety which has a comparatively low amount of carbon
(0.05%- 0.26% ).
All elements along with carbon acts as a hardening agents. They prevent dislocation from
happening inside the iron crystals and stop the lattice layers from sliding past each other.
Low carbon steel has carbon content of 0.15% to 0.45%. Low carbon steel is the most
common form of steel as it’s provides material properties that are acceptable for many
applications. It is neither externally brittle nor ductile due to its lower carbon content. It
has lower tensile strength and malleable. Steel with low carbon steel has properties
similar to iron. As the carbon content increases, the metal becomes harder and stronger
but less ductile and more difficult to weld. .
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BASIC CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
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Some of the basic mechanical properties of mild steel used in the industry
are :
Unlike other steel, which tend to be brittle , mild steel is hard ,yet
malleable.
Bright dawn steel has more consistent hardness and increased tensile
strength.
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BASIC MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
Elongation 10-14 %
It is their hard , yet malleable properties which are used in pipeline industries.
15
HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
The temperature of the operation and the rate of cooling depend upon the
material being annealed and the purpose of the treatment.
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HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
Here all the ferrite transforms into austenite. The steel must then cooled in
the realm of 38 per hour.
This results in a coarse pearlite structure. Full annealed steel is soft and
ductile with no internal stress.
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HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
PROCESS ANNEALING:
The steel is heated to a temperature below or close to the lower critical
temperature (550-650), held at this temperature for some time and then cooled
slowly.
The steel is usually heated close to, but below, the transformation
temperature .
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HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
DIFFUSION ANNEALING :
The process consists of heating the steel to high temperature (1100-
1200).
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HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
NORMALIZING:
Normalizing is a process in which a steel is heated to a temperature above the
transformation temperature and then cooled in still air.
The purpose of the treatment is to obliterate the effects of any previous heat
treatment (including the coarse-grained structure sometimes resulting from high
forging temperatures) or cold-working and to insure a homogeneous austenite on
reheating for hardening or full annealing.
The resultant structures are pearlite or martensite with excess ferrite or cementite,
depending upon the composition of the steel.
Since the type of structure, and, therefore, the mechanical properties, are affected
by the rate of cooling, considerable variations may occur in normalized steels
because of differences in section thickness of the shapes being normalized.
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HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
HARDENING:
Steels can be hardened by the simple expedient of heating to above the transformation,
holding long enough to insure the attainment of uniform temperature and solution of
carbon in the austenite, and then cooling rapidly (quenching).
Complete hardening depends on cooling so rapidly that the austenite, which otherwise
would decompose on cooling through the transformation is maintained to relatively low
temperatures.
The maximum hardness that can be obtained in completely hardened low-alloy and plain
carbon structural steels depends primarily on the carbon content.
Once this has been accomplished, slow cooling from then on, either in oil or in air, is
beneficial in avoiding distortion and cracking.
Special treatments, such as time quenching and martempering, are designed to bring
about these conditions. As martensite is quite brittle, steel is rarely used in the as-
quenched condition, that is, without tempering.
The maximum hardness that can be obtained in completely hardened low-alloy and plain
car bon structural steels depends primarily on the carbon content.
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HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
TEMPERING:
Tempering (sometimes called drawing) is the process of reheating hardened
(martensite) or normalized steels to some temperature below the lower critical.
Part of all of this residual austenite will transform to martensite on cooling from
the tempering temperature so that the final structure will consist of both
tempered and untempered martensite. The brittle un- tempered martensite,
together with the internal stresses caused by its formation, can easily cause
failure of the heat-treated part.
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HEAT TREATMENT PROCESSES
CASE HARDENING:
Case hardening is a process of hardening a ferrous alloy so that the surface
layer or case is made substantially harder than the interior or core.
CARBURIZING:
Carburizing is a process that introduces carbon percentage solid
ferrous alloy by heating the metal in contact with a carbonaceous
material to a temperature above the transformation of the steel and
holding at that temperature.
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CYANIDING:
A hard, superficial case can be obtained rapidly on low-carbon
steels by cyaniding. This process involves the introduction of both
carbon and nitro-gen into the surface layers of the steel.
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CARBONITRIDING:
As above , we went through all the heat treatment processes , now
we go through all the testing equipments and the testing processes
that are to be used during the project Carbonitriding, also termed
gas cyaniding, dry cyaniding, is a process for case hardening a steel
part in a gas-carburizing atmosphere that contains ammonia in
controlled percentages.
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.
1) At first the cross section area of the specimen was measured by means of an
electronic slide caliper and then the gauge length was calculated.
2) Now the distance between the jaws of the UTS was fixed to the gauge length
of the specimen
4) The maximum load was varying gradually and load was set as a reference f
200 KN , and then varied .
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Tensile test of a metal work piece is done to obtain the allowable maximum
stress , for the experiment. Tensile properties indicate how the material will
react to forces being applied in tension. A tensile test is a fundamental
mechanical test where a carefully prepared specimen is loaded in a very
controlled manner while measuring the applied load and the elongation of
the specimen over some distance. Tensile tests are used to determine the
modulus of elasticity, elastic limit, elongation, proportional limit, reduction
in area, tensile strength, yield point, yield strength and other tensile
properties.
The basic procedures for the testing of tensile strength for the
experiments are :
The tensile testing machine is to be checked and maximum stress that
it can overtake during the process , should be determined.
The load applied on the work piece , should be done gradually as, if a
sudden load is applied creep could be formed , and proper values are
not obtained .
After the work piece are crake from the gauge point, the increase in
elongation is noted , for the project
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HARDNESS TEST
Hardness is resistance of material to plastic deformation caused by
indentation.
By varying the test force and ball size, nearly all metals can be tested
using a Brinell test. Brinell values are considered test force
independent as long as the ball size/test force relationship is the same.
APPLICATIONS:
Because of the wide test force range the Brinell test can be used on
almost any metallic material. The part size is only limited by the
testing instrument's capacity.
STRENGTHS:
1. One scale covers the entire hardness range, although comparable
results can only be obtained if the ball size and test force relationship
is the same.
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2. A wide range of test forces and ball sizes to suit every
application.
29
For soft materials such as copper alloys, soft steel, and aluminum
alloys a 1/16" diameter steel ball is used with a 100-kilogram load and
the hardness is read on the "B" scale.
In testing harder materials, hard cast iron and many steel alloys, a 120
degrees diamond cone is used with up to a 150 kilogram load and the
hardness is read on the "C" scale.
There are several Rockwell scales other than the "B" & "C" scales,
(which are called the common scales). A properly reported Rockwell
value will have the hardness number followed by "HR" (Hardness
Rockwell) and the scale letter.
2. Select a location for the test Remove oil or dirt, but the surface
does not need to be polished
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6. Apply the 150 kgf main load and wait until the indicator stops
moving
7. Remove the load
vicker testing .
MICROSTRUCTURE VARIATION
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more hardness and less ductility. Thinner bands of pearlite form when
steel is air-cooled.
As quenched – microstructure is martensite, a super-carbon-saturated
steel solution – extremely hard and brittle, has almost no ductility.
Successful formation of martensite depends on how rapidly the steel is
cooled.
SAMPLE PREPARATION:
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In order to identify and evaluate the microstructure of material, it is
very important to prepare the test sample carefully and properly. The
various steps in sample preparation for micro structural examination
include:
1.Selecting a representative sample of the materials.
.
2 Sectioning the sample to avoid altering or destroying the structure
of interest.
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The basic procedures for the micro structure
test are:
1.SELECTING : The raw material is selected for the process.
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EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS
SAMPLE PREPRATION:
Sample shape Cylindrical in shape
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Fig. 1: Tensile Specimen of Mild steel rod
Heat treatment Process Parameters of Mild
Steel rod
650 3
650 6
750 3
750 6
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Fig.-2: Heat treatment of mild steel rod
COOLING MEDIUM:
Air is taken as the cooling medium for the experiment .Basically the hot
work piece is kept at room temperature.
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TENSILE - TEST
Similarly, the process is repeated 12 times, as for the number of work piece
and the average of 3 for each temperature and time is taken with treated
work piece and the result is noted down.
As the result is made in a tabular form , graphs are plotted to show the
variation in tensile strength that varied through out the process on the
sample.
38
Fig. 3: UTM (Universal Testing Machine) used for Tensile
test.
39
HARDNESS TEST
40
Fig.:4 Rockwell hardness tester
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MICRO STRUCTURE TEST
1. After the work piece is sectioned off , for the test a series of steps are
taken.
2. Proper grinding and removal off macro particles are done , so to get a
plane surface.
After the sample is treated with etching agent , the sample is taken
on a laboratory microscope and variation between the grain size is
noted.
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FLOW DIAGRAM
OF THE PROCESS:
PARAMETER IS DECIDED FOR THE PROJECT.
AFTER POLISHING ,
FOR EACH FOR EACH
THE PIECE IS TESTED
PARAMETER , THE A PARAMETER , THE
UNDER MICROSCOPE.
VALUE IS TAKEN VALUE IS TAKEN
THMICROSCOPE
MICROSCOPEMICROS
COPE
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GRAPHS FOR VARIOUS TEST
140
120
100
80
LOAD APPLIED(KN) Series 1
60 Series 2
Series 3
40
20
0
650°C/3hr 650°C/6hr 750°C/3hr 750°C/6hr Untreated
TEMPERATURE°C/TIME(hr)
The above graph shows the variation between the load applied and the change in
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TABLE REPRESENTATION OF THE TENSILE
TEST
TEMPRATURE WORKPIECE WORKPIECE WORKPIECE
(°C) /TIME(hr) (1) (2) (3)
(KN) (KN) (KN)
650/3 80 70 70
650/6 95.2 95.8 105
750/3 103 102 108
750/6 117.5 103.5 112
Untreated 62 64 68
(fig-6)
THIS TABLE SHOWS THE ACTUAL DATA THAT IS DERIVED DURING THE EXPERIMEMT .
45
VARIATION IN HARDNESS
100
95
90
HARDNESS ( HRC) SAMPELE 1
85 SAMPLE 2
SAMPLE 3
80
75
650°C/3hr 650°C/6hr 750°C/3hr 750°C/6hr untreated
TEMPERATURE/ TIME
Fig.7: Hardness of the Heat treatment process parameters of mild steel rod
THE ABOVE GRAPH SHOWS THE VARIATION BETWEEN THE CHANGE IN HARDNESS PARAMETER
46
TABLE No:2: Hardness value of the heat treatment process parameter of
the Mild steel rod
47
MICROSTRUCTURE TEST
SPECIMEN FOR THE UNTREATED MILD
STEEL.
48
SPECIMEN FOR THE NORMALIZED MILD
STEEL.
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SPECIMEN FOR THE HARDENED MILD STEEL.
50
RESULTS
TENSILE TEST RESULTS:
51
HARDNESS TEST RESULTS:
(fig-13)
As the results shows:
52
IMAGES SHOWING THE BROKEN WORKPIECE
BEFORE HARDNESS STRENGTH:
53
IMAGES AFTER HARDNESS TEST:
54
Fig.16: THIS IMAGE SHOWS THE ACTUAL SAMPLE IN THE PROJECT.
55
IMAGES OF WORK PIECE AFTER HEAT TREATMENT:
Fig.17: This image shows the breaking point of the work piece as load is
applied
56
CONCLUSION
From the various results obtained during the project work it can be concluded that the
mechanical properties vary depending upon the various heat treatment processes.
Hence depending upon the properties and applications required we should go for a
suitable heat treatment processes.
As viewed from the results the best temperature for increasing the tensile strength of
mild steel of a particular grade is about 750°C and should be heated for about 6 hr.
Whereas, there is a increase in hardness or decrease in ductility as the temperature of
that magnitude. However if there is a demand for increase in elongation annealing could
be done The microstructure as is shown clearly only at 750°C , that there is formation of
martensitic structure on the sample.
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REFRENCES
1. Heat Treatment: Principles and Techniques-By T.V Rajan, C.P Sharma,
Ashok Sharma.
2. Heat treatment and properties of iron and steel - By U.S Department of
commerce National Bureau of Standards.
3. Effect of Heat Treatment on Mechanical Properties and Microstructure-By
D. A. Fadare , T. G. Fadara and O. Y. Akanbi .
4. Effect of heat treatment on the mechanical properties of mild steel . By- A.
Adebayo and J.T STEPHEN.
5. Heat Treatment of steel lab report. By - JUSTIN LANCE.
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