Heat Treatment

Heat Treatment
The controlled heating &
cooling of metals for the
purpose of altering their
properties
Heat Treatment
It is used in manufacturing,
providing simple and low-cost
means of obtaining
desired properties
Processing Heat Treatments
thermal processes designed to
increase strength-preparing
materials for fabrication
which includes:
improving machining
characteristics
 reducing forming forces and
energy consumption
 restoring ductility for further
deformation
 Equilibrium Diagram as Aid
to Heat Treatment

 It indicates the temperatures

that must be attained to achieve
a desired product and change
that will occur upon subsequent
cooling
Simplified Iron-carbon diagram
 Processing
Heat Treatments
for Steel
 Annealing
 a number of process
heating operations
 Annealing
reducing hardness
 removing residual stresses
 improving toughness
 restoring ductility
 altering mechanical , physical
magnetic properties
 Full Annealing
 Hypoeutectoid steels are heated to
30-60 °C above the A3 to convert to
homogeneous single-phase
austenite of uniform composition
and temperature then slowly cooled
to below A1 temperature
 Full Annealing
it is time consuming
require considerable energy to
maintain the elevated temperature
Gen. Rule: 1hr at temperature/inch
of thickness of largest section
 Normalizing
metal is heated to 60°C (100°F)
above the A3 or Acm, soaked
to obtain uniform austenite,
then removed and cooled
in still air
 Process Anneal
metal is heated below A1,
held long enough
to achieve softening,
then cooled in air
Advantages of Process Anneal
cheaper
more rapid
tends to produce less scaling
 Stress-Relief Anneal
employed to remove residual
stresses in large steel castings
and welded structures
 Stress-Relief Anneal
 parts are heated below A1
(550-660°C;1000-1200°F),
held for period of time,
then slowly cooled
 Spheroidization
employed when high-carbon
steels must be prepared for
machining and forming
required for above 0.6% carbon
Graphical Summary
 Heat Treatments
for
Nonferrous Metals
Purpose for Nonferrous Metals
to be heat-treated:
obtaining uniform structure
providing stress relief
bringing about recrystallization
 6 Major Mechanisms:
Solid Solution Hardening
Strain Hardening
Grain Size Refinement
Precipitation Hardening
Dispersion Hardening
Phase Transformation
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 Solid Solution Hardening
a base metal dissolves other atoms
in solid solution either as
substantial solutions
or as interstitial solutions

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 Strain Hardening

increases strength by plastic

deformation under
cold-working conditions

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 Grain Size Refinement
 used to increase strength,
except at elevated temperatures
where failure is by grain-boundary
diffusion-controlled creep
mechanism

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 Precipitation/Age Hardening
is a method whereby strength
is obtained from a nonequilibrium
structure produced by a three step
( solution treat-quench and age)
heat treatment

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 Dispersion Hardening

strength is obtained from

distinct second-phase particles
in a base matrix

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 Phase Transformations
strengthening involves alloys
w/c can be heated to form a
single high-temperature phase,
transformed to one or more
low-temperature phase upon
cooling
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Strengthening Heat Treatments
for Nonferrous Metals

Aging - a continuous process

which begins by the clustering
of solute atoms on distinct
planes of the parent lattice
Precipitation-hardening materials
can be classified:
Naturally Aging - the req. diffusion
at unstable to the stable 2-phase
structure at room temperature
Artificially Aging - require elevated
temperature
Silver- Copper Equilibrium Diagram
Enlargement of Copper
 Aids to understanding the
nonequilibrium processes

Isothermal transformation (IT) or

time-temperature-transformation
(T-T-T) diagram
 Bainite
Electron microscopy maybe
required for to resolve the carbides
in the resulting structure

Martensite
Exceptionally strong, hard & brittle
Martensite
 Tempering
Subsequent cooling required to
restore some desired degree of
toughness at the expense of a
decrease in strength & hardness
Continuous Cooling Transformation
(C-C-T) Diagram

These diagrams are used to

represent which types of phase
changes will occur in a material
as it is cooled at different rates.
Jominy Test for Hardenability

 Used to assist understanding of

nonequilibrium heat treatment
Hardness - a mechanical
property related to strength
and is strong function of the
carbon content of a metal
Hardenability - a measure of the
depth to which full hardness can
be attained under a normal
hardening cycle and is related
primarily to amounts and types
of alloying elements.
 Adding alloy to steel
The primary reason for adding
alloy elements to commercial
steel is to increase the
hardenability , not to improve
the strength properties
Quench Media
Stages of quenching
First Stage (Vapor Jacket Stage)
Second Stage of Quenching
Third Stage
 Water
is fairly good quenching
medium because of its high
heat of vaporization.
 is cheap, but the bubbles may
cause soft spots in metal
 Brine (Salt)
 more severe quenching
medium than water because
salt creates bubbles , forcing a
more rapid transition through
the vapor jacket stage
 The Role of Design
in the Heat Treatment
of Steel
 Design Details &
Material Selection
Proper consideration of it leads:
 more simple,
 more economical
 more reliable products
Undesirable Design Features
Nonuniform sections or
thickness
Sharp Interior Corners
Sharp Exterior Corners
 Residual Stresses
are often-complex results of
the various dimensional
changes that occur during
heat treatment
 Austempering
The process called if the piece
is held at this temperature
long enough, the austenite will
transform to bainite.
Martempering/Marquenching

The process called if the piece is

stabilized and then slowly
cooled through the martensite
transformation
 Ausforming
 a treatment used to strengthen
metals and improve its wear
properties
 Surface Steel Hardening

Selective Heating of the Surface

Altered Surface Chemistry
Deposition of Additional Layer
Selective Heating Techniques
Selective Heating
Flame Hardening
Induction Heating
Laser beam hardening
Electron beam hardening
Altered Surface Chemistry
Pack Carburizing
Gas Carburizing
Liquid Carburizing/Cyaniding
Nitriding
Ionitriding
Heat Treatment Equipment
Batch Furnaces
Continuous Furnaces
Box-Type Furnace
Car-Bottom Box-Type Furnace
Vertical Pit Furnace
Bell-Type Pit Furnace
Elevator-Type Furnace
Continuous Furnace
 Thank You!

Sario , Pamela May

Reporter