Case-hardening steel

A tough core and a hard case are the desired attributes of case-hardened steel components. This
combination of properties provides wear resistance and fatigue strength at the surface, and impact
strength in the core. It is achieved by carburizing the component’s surface, then quenching and
tempering the part. Carburized components include gears of all kind, camshafts, universal joints,
driving pinions, link components, axles and arbours. All these components must resist wear and
fatigue, have inherent toughness, and still be machinable.

During carburization, the component is heated in a carbon-releasing medium to a temperature

where the steel is completely austenitic. Carbon’s solubility is much higher in austenite than in
ferrite, which allows carbon to pass through the steel surface and diffuse into the component.
Carburization can increase the surface carbon content up to 0.7%. Controlling the time at
temperature allows control of the depth to which the carbon diffuses, and thus the thickness of the
“case.” It also allows the carbon content of the core to remain at about 0.25%. An important
microstructural goal during carburisation is a stable, uniformly fine-grained austenite. A uniform
austenite grain size results in low distortion after heat treatment, while a fine austenite grain size
improves fatigue resistance and toughness.

Quenching from the carburising temperature and subsequent tempering of the component
produces a high-carbon martensite having great hardness and wear resistance near the surface.
The uncarburised core retains its original good strength and toughness properties.

The selection of appropriate alloying elements permits precise control of hardenability from the
surface to the core. (See Figure 1 for an example of a Jominy curve used to assess hardenability.)
The appropriate steel depends on the size of the part to be treated, since it is a goal to produce a
strong, tough, tempered martensite structure in the core.

Gears used in large wind turbines are subject to extreme loads at the flanks and toes of their teeth,
especially when sudden changes in wind speed or hard stops occur. A hard case and tough core
result in a more wear-resistant gear capable of handling high impact loads. Wind-turbine
gearboxes are designed to minimize mechanical noise for quiet operation, but gear noise increases
during life due to abrasion of gear tooth surfaces. Increasing the surface hardness and abrasion
resistance of gears will thus decrease gearbox noise. The hard case/tough core combination
possessed by carburized gears is of advantage in this regard. The low-alloy steels generally used
for case-hardening processes (e.g. 20MnCr5) are not applicable when long fatigue life and high
toughness are required. High-performance NiCrMo case-carburizing steels provide deep hardening
ability and possess high fatigue resistance. Currently, the grade 18CrNiMo7-6 is the standard gear
steel for windmill gearboxes. With respect to further optimizing carburizing steels for large and
heavily loaded gears, the following priorities can be defined:
  Increased core tensile strength and toughness
 Higher fatigue strength in both core and case
 Improved hardenability
 Low distortion upon quenching
 Improved properties at elevated service temperatures.

After the carburized component is quenched, it is tempered to improve toughness. Higher

tempering temperatures produce higher toughness with a corresponding loss in hardness
and strength. The choice of tempering temperature must therefore balance these conflicting
effects.
Case hardness and strength decrease rapidly when standard carburising steels are
tempered above 180 °C. Because of this, critical applications restrict maximum operating
temperatures to 120-160 °C, and gear cooling becomes important.

Is retained austenite bad? No. However, retained

austenite does reduce hardness. That's because
austenite is lower strength than martensite. However,
austenite is also a much tougher and more ductile
phase than martensite, so steels with retained
austenite exhibit greater toughness than steels that
are fully martensitic.