Hardenability Effects.

in Relation to the Percentage of Martensite

BY J. M. HODGE,*
MEMBER
A.I.M.E. AND M. A. OREHOSKI~
(Chicago Meeting. February 1946)

THErelationship between hardenability martensite in a number of low-alloy steels

based on a 50 per cent martensite criterion,
and that based on higher percentages of
Manuscript received a t t h e office of t h e
I n s t i t ~ ~ Dec.
te I . 194s. Issued as T.P. 1994 i n
METALSTECHNOI.OGY, April 1946.
* Development Engineer, Steel H e a t T r e a t -
ment, Carnegie Illinois Steel Corporation,
Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania.
t Metallurgist, Duquesne Works, Carnegie-
Illinois Steel Corporation. Pennsylvania.
was discussed in a previous paper by the
authors.' I t was found that the differences
between the hardenability values based
on the 50 per cent martensite and full
martensite criterions increased as the
hardenability increased and that, in the
steels of higher hardenability, these differ-
1 References a r e a t t h e end of t h e paper.

TABLEI.-Chemical Analysis of Specimens

~~~t NO. Specimen

No. 1 -
C h
-
f n P

Manganese Series
1 S 1
Composition, Per Cent

S i F C r M o

1 1 1 :I::
Silicon Series
--
959
9 50
E810 0.37 1 0.58 0.007
0,016
0.030
0,030 :, :::: 1::;
876 E804
E65 0.011 0.030 0.i3 0.98 0.01
952 Egos
":"
'0.40 0.017

Nickel Series
0.026 0.03 0.99 0.01
-
--

938
939
940
0.65
0.62
0.59
0.017
0.016
0.017
0.028
0.027
0.029
0.21
0.24
0.03
0.54
:::: :::: :I ! 0.04r0.19
0.02
1 0::;
0. I9

,
941 0.62 0.016 0.0~8
942 0.40 0.65 0.016 0.027 0.22 3.01 0.04 0.18
932 0.39 0.62 I 0.027 0.22 3 . 9 9 0 . 0 3 I 0 1 8

1 1 1 z:; 1
Molybdenum Series

901

90 2
903
904 1 1 E50

!$:
0.40 0.57

z:
0.56
0.016

::::: ::;:;z::: i:::

0.015

Carbon Series
0.026

0.029
0.19

0.20
3.49

3.53
0.05

0.03
0.01

0.74

-
 J. M. HODGE AND Id. A. OREHOSKI SO3

0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1.0 1.2 1.4 16 1.8 2.0

DISTANCE FROM QUENCHED END, (INCHES)
FIG. I -REVISED CURVE FOR CONVERSION OP JOMINY DISTANCE TO IDEAL DIAMETER.

TABLE
2.-Distances from Quenched End and Corresponding DI Values
99.9 Per Cent 95 Per Cent 50Per Cent
Martensite Martensite Martensite
-
I ( Distance 1 DI 1 Distance 1 DI Distance
I
504 HARDENABILITY EFFECTS IN RELATION TO THE PERCENTAGE OF MARTENSITE

0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6

PERCENT MANOANESE
FIG. a.-HARDENABILITY VALUES AND FACTORS FOB THE MANGANESE SERIES.

TABLE
3.-Average Values for Base Carbon Hardenability and Alloy Factors
Constituents
 J. M. HODGE AND M. A. OREHOSKI 5O5

ences were fairly large. Furthermore, it EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

was found that these relationships could Induction-furnace heats weighing 17-lb.,
be expressed with reasonable accuracy as of the compositions given in Table I,
a function of the hardenability. The impor- were cast and forged into IJP-in. round

0 .I0 .20 .30 .40

PERGENT SILICON
FIG. 3.-HARDENABILITYVALUES AND FACTORS FOR TEE SILICON SERIES.

tance of the full martensite criterion of
hardenability in relation to the attainment
of the optimum mechanical properties of
tempered martensite was emphasized in
the earlier paper.
The purpose of the present work is to
study the effects of some of the individual
alloying elements on hardenability, using
three different percentages of martensite
as criteria, and thereby to evaluate the
role of these individual elements in the
general hardenability relationships pre-
vipusly reported.
bars. All heats were killed with aluminum
additions corresponding to I lb. per ton.
The compositions were chosen to represent
several series of steels, in which only one
alloying element would vary and in which
the nonmarterisitic constituents on quench-
ing would be predominantly bainitic.
All bars were normalized from 1650°F.
and tempered one hour at 1150°F. prior to
the hardenability determinations.
Hardenability values are based on
metallographic examination of standard
Jominy bars, quenched from 1600°F. (I hr.
506 HARDENABILITY E F F E C T S I N RELATION TO T l I E PERCENTAGE O F MARTENSITE

and 2 0 min. heating time). The general ideal diameter is based on a revised
procedure was the same as outlined in correlation curve (Fig. I). This curve
detail in the previous paper; ( I ) that is, is based on work carried out at the Re-
the distance from the quenched end of the search Department of the South Chicago

0 .5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

PERCENT NICKEL
FIG.4.-HARDENABILITYV k L U E S AND FACTORS F O R THE N I C E B L SERIES

bar to the point of 0.1 per cent transforma-
tion was first measured on the nlicroscope
and then the percentage of martensite was
estimated at every 0.05 in. from the
quenched end, and these percentage values
plotted against the distance along the bar.
I n this case, samples 2 in. long were cut
from the quenched end of the Jominy
bars and 10 fields were examined and
averaged at each distance.
The conversion of Jominy distance to
Works, Carnegie-Illinois Steel Corpora-
tion, and represents a direct correlation
between hardenability values as deter-
mined on cylinder series and end-quench
tests from the same material. At a distance
beyond 0.3 in. from the quenched end,
the conversion is the same as previously
published2 but Dr values corresponding to
distances closer to the quenched end were
found to be lowcr than the previously pub-
lished curve would indicate.
 J. M. HODGE AND M. A. OREHOSKI 5O7

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS were observed in the martensitic portion

The Jominy distances and the corre- near the quenched ends of most of the
. sponding hardenability values for the samples. The grain size was 8 to 9 for all
steels studied, on the basis of 99.9, 95 and samples.

.I0
.20 .30 .40 .50 .60 .70
PERCENT MOLYBDENUM
FIG. 5.-HARDENABILITY
VALUES AND FACTORS FOR THE MOLYBDENUM SERIES.

50 per cent martensite, are tabulated in

Table 2. These values are shown plotted
against alloy or carbon content in the upper
portions of Figs. 2, 3, 4 , 5 and 7 .
The nonmartensitic constituent was
bainitic in every case at the 99.9 and 95
per cent martensite points. However, in
some of the steels of lower alloy content,
small amounts of pearlite were noted in the
jo per ceni martensite structures.
Small amounts of undissolved carbides
The hardenability factors for Mn, Si,
Ni and Mo are plotted in the lower parts
of Figs. 2, 3, 4 and 5. These were derived
by extrapolating the hardenability curves
to zero alloy and dividing the hardenability
values by the intercept value.
The curves for the hardenability factor,
which express the manner in which harden-
ability changes with alloy content, are all
very nearly coincidental for the 50 and
95 per cent martensite criteria, while there
is some tendency for the curves for 99.9
per cent martensite to indicate somewhat
lower hardenability effects. I t is felt that
this latter observation is largely a reflec-
tion of the fact that the 99.9 per cent
0 .2 .4 .6 .8
PERCENT Mn, Si, Mo, Ni
0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0
PERCENT Ni, (Reduced Abscissa)
FIG. 6.-AVERAGEEARDENABILITY FACTORS FOR MANGANESE, SILICON,
martensite values represent the lowest
hardenability point on the sample exam-
ined, and not average values, as do the
95 and 50 per cent martensite points.
Therefore, this deviation of the 99.9 per
cent martensite values may well represent
only the increased microsegregation asso-
ciated with the higher alloy contents.
However, even this discrepancy is not large
and the results indicate strongly that the
hardenability effects of these alloying ele-
ments are the same whether the criterion
is 50 per cent martensite or higher per-
centages of martensite. Therefore, average
lines representing these effects have been
plotted in Fig. 6, and these average values
have been listed in Table 3.
I t should be noted that, since undissolved
carbides were present in these steels as
1.0 1.2 1.4 1.6
NICKEL AND MOYLBDENUM.
quenched, the curves for the hardenability
factor presented here do not represent the
full hardenability effects of these alloys.
They will, however, represent the effects
associated with commercial austenitiza-
tion of similar steels at 1600°F.
If we accept the multiplying factor
hypothesis of Grossmann, this means that
the relationship between the hardenability
values on the basis of the different criteria
in respect to the percentage of martensite
becomes a function of the base harden-
ability of the pure iron-carbon alloys iu
terms of these criteria. Such hardenability
values for iron-carbon alloys on the basis
 J. M. HODGE AND M. A. OREHOSKI SO9

of 50, 95 and 99.9 per cent martensite are These carbon values are also tabulated in
shown plotted in the lower part of Fig. 7. Table 3. I t might be noted that these car-
These were derived by dividing the actuaf bon values on the 50 per cent martensite

0 .I0 .20 -30 .40 .so

PERCENT CARBON
FIG.7.-HARDENABILITYVALUES FOR THE CARBON SERIES AND DEENED VALUES FOR IRONCARBON
ALLOYS.

hardenability values by the product of the basis are very similar to those recently
average factors for Mn, Si, Ni and Mo for reported by Kramer, Siege1 and brook^.^
the base composition as follows: This hypothesis, that the hardenability
BASE
effects of the alloys may be represented by
COMPO- a single factor curve for 50, 95 or 99.9 per
SITION Mu Si Ni Mo PRODUCT
0.60 0.20 3.50 20 cent martensite, can be further checked and
Factor.. . . I.15 I . 15 2.9 1.95 7.5 illustrated by a comparison of the meas-
ured hardenability values of the steels in
These curves, therefore, represent the this paper with values calculated by
hardenability of iron-carbon alloys, for multiplying the base carbon values by the
the grain size of 8 to 9, which was charac- alloy factors.
teristic of the steels studied, on the basis However, in order to do this for the
of essentially full martensite, 95 per cent steels studied, it will be necessary to
martensite and 50 per cent martensite. evaluate the hardenability effect of I per
 cent chromium. This can be done by divid-
ing the hardenability of steel E6j by the
product of the factors for carbon, mangan-
ese and silicon. This indicates a factor of
3.1for I per cent chromium in these steels.
0 1 2 3 4 5
CALCULATED
The conlparison of these calculated and
actual hardenability values is shown in Fig.
8. The correlation is in general very good.
The maximum deviation is less than 10
per cent, and this occurs in the steels of the
highest alloy content, in which it is prob-
able that carbide solution was less conlplete
and in which segregation would be most
pronounced.
This correlatioil indicates that no signi-
ficant error will be introduced by the
assumption of identical hardenability eff-
fects, regardless of'whether the criterion
is full martensite or so per cent martensite.
Furthermore, since a single value for
chromium was used in these calculations,
i t furnishes a strong indication that this
assunlption may be applied to chronlium
as well as to the other elements studied.
However, it should be pointed out that,
since these calculations have been applied
only to the steels that have been used to
6 ' 7
DI
develop the factors, this correlation does
not necessarily imply that these factors
themselves are correct for other alloy
combinations.
The effects of manganese, silicon, nickel
and molybdenum on hardenability, in
terms of 99.9,95 and so per cent marten-
site, have been studied by means of metallo-
graphic examination of end-quench tests
from sevcral series of steels with only one
alloy variable. I t has been found that the
hardenability effects of the alloying ele-
ments are essentially the same on the basis
of the three criteria studied, 99.9,95 and
so per cent martensitc.
 DISCUSSION
A set of curves depicting the harden-
abilities of iron-carbon alloys on the basis
of the 99.9, 95 and 50 per cent martensite
criteria has been derived from a s t u d y of a
series of nickel-molybdenum steels i n which
carbon was the only variable.
I t is proposed t h a t the relationship be-
tween full martensite hardenability and 50
per cent martensite hardenability is a func-
tion only of the base hardenability of the
iron-carbon alloy.
I. J. M. Hodge and M. A. Orehoski: Relation-
ship between Hardenability and Per-
centage of Martensite in some Low-alloy
Steels. T h i s volume, page 627.
2. Asimow. Craig and Grossmann: Correlation
between Jominy Test and Quenched
Round Bars. Jnl. Soc. Auto. Engrs.
(1941).
3. I. R. Kramer, S. Siegel and J. Brooks:
Factors for the Calculation of Harden-
ability. This volume, page 670.
DISCUSSION
(Walter C ~ a j t spresidilzg)
M. A. GRoSSMANN.*-O~~of the great
services rendered by this paper is the demon-
stration that the hardenability factors for full
hardening are substantially the same as those
for half hardening employed hitherto. In view
of the nature of their findings, would the
authors agree that probably this will hold for
other alloying elements as well, in addition to
those actually investigated here?
These findings emphasize the importance of
their data on the base hardenability due to
carbon alone, a t different percentages of mar-
tensite (different extents of hardening), as
given in their Table 3. Incidentally, it should
not be overlooked that they show higher values
for the carbon effect, and correspondingly lower
for the manganese effect, than those that have
been in use for some time, although the product
carbon times manganese is about the same as
the product in use up to now. (As they state,
these new data are of an order of magnitude
similar to recent data of Kramer, Siegel and
Brooks.) Would the authors agree that a word
of caution is in order here; namely, that their
Director of Research. Carnegie-Illinois
Steel Corporation. Chicago, Illinois.
$I1
new high values for carbon must not be used
in connection with the former high values for
manganese? Such a step would be misleading,
the proper procedure being the use of their new
factors throughout.
Would the authors care to comment on the
fact that their molybdenum factors are some-
what higher than commonly reported?
J. A. H ~ D Gand
E M. A. OREEOSKI(authors'
reply).-In reply to Dr. Grossmann's discus-
sion, we feel that the assumption we have made
on the basis of our findings, that the effects of
the alloying elements on hardenability are
essentially independent of the percentage of
martensite used a s a criterion, is indeed a gen-
eralization, and that it will apply to other
alloying elements as well as those studied. I n
this connection, we might mention that further
studies on a series of steels containing chrom-
ium in which molybdenum was varied have
likewise indicated essential coinadence among
the hardenability factors based on these three
criteria.
We have no particular comment on the fact
that the molybdenum factors seem high except
to mention that they correspond roughly to the
probable maximum factor mentioned in the
paper by Kramer, Siegel and Brooks.
As Dr. Grossmann points out, it is of course
extremely important that these higher carbon
values be used only with the corresponding
alloy factors, and this will apply particularly
to the manganese factors, which are much
bwer than those previously reported.
W. R. TAYLOR.*-In considering harden-
ability as a function of the percentage of
martensite, no satisfactory method other than
microexamination is normally available to the
metallurgist. Direct hardness values such as
those obtained by Rockwell or Vickers tests
are not always true criteria that a desired
percentage of martensite has been obtained in
the hardening cycle. I n applications where a
maximum percentage of martensite is required,
it should be brought forth that the metallurgist
should depend on microinspection rather than
on hardness tests for evaluation of the degree
of martensitic transformation that has occurred
in hardening.
Armour Research Foundation. Chicago.
Illinois.
 I. R. KRA?KER.*--M~SS~S. Hodge and Ore-
hoski have brought forth some very interesting
information on the effect of alloying elements
on the hardenability of steel. They have
pointed out that the hardenability factor curve
for carbon is very similar to that obtained by
Kramer, Siegel, and Brooks, for steels in which
pearlite tends t o limit the hardenability. The
similarity in the factor curves does not stop
there, for it may be noted that the manganese
curves are also very similar. In fact, when the
hardenability of the steels presented here are
calculated with the factors we had derived,
agreement within f 15 per cent is obtained
between the observed and calculated .values.
From this i t appears, for the purpose of calcu-
lating the hardenability, that i t makes little
difference whether pearlite or bainite tends to
limit the hardenability.
J. M. AOD(:E(author's reply).-In reply to
Mr. Taylor, we feel very strongly that harden-
ability criteria should be in terms of a specific
microstructure and that hardness criteria, if
they have any advantages, have only the ad-
vantage of convenience.
In reply to Mr. Kramer, I might say that
these results as presented are in a way a by-
product of what we started to study. We began
to study hardenability effects in steels in which
the nonmartensitic products would be pre-
dominantly bainitic, and thereby to evaluate
the hardenability effects of the alloying ele-
ments in such steels. The findings we have
reported in regard to the relative effects of the
elements in relation t o the hardenabiiity cri-
terion used seemed important enough to report
Metallurgist. Office of Research and In-
ventions. Washington, b. C.
as a paper, but we are finding indications, as
hlr. Kramer points out, that, as far as the
experimental evidence goes, the differences be-
tween the bardenability effects of the elements
in these cases in which the nonmartensitic
products are bainitic and those reported by
other experimenters in which the nonmarten-
sitlc products would be expected to be pcarlitic
are not nearly as large as might be predicted
from isothermal transformation studies.
The uncertainties involved in measuring
hardenability leave a great deal of the work on
the hardenability factor that h&s been done to
date, ~ncluding that reported in this paper,
decidedly open to question. The published work
includes hardenability values based on 50 per
cent martensite measured metallographically,
measured by a critical hardness value, or
measured by an inflection point, and the
correlation between these methods is far from
precise and certainly leaves many of the
evaluations open to question. Furthermore, if
a cylinder series method is used for this evalua-
tion, the results are completely dependent upon
an accurate evaluation of the H-value of the
quench, which may be very difficult; or, if
end-quench methods are used, the evaluation
is dependent upon the correlation between
end-quench distance and deal diameter, which
has not been dehitely and accurately estab-
lished, although we feel that the correlation
curve we have used in this paper is closer to
the truth than the previously published correla-
tion. Therefore, in general, I feel very strongly
that a great deal more work must be carried
out before we can say with any confidence that
hardenability-factor values are accurate and
actually represent quantitatively the effects of
the elements of hardenability.