Cryogenic treatment

A cryogenic treatment is the process of reducing the temperature of components over an

extended period of time to extreme cold levels, usually slightly below −190 °C
(−310.0 °F), which is why it is called a cryogenic process. Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is a
common fluid for the process being relatively inexpensive and making up more than 70%
of our atmosphere.

As the LN2 boils off from liquid to gas at around −195 °C (−319.0 °F), the components
in its proximity are also cooled. The process is controlled by microprocessors so that
thermal shock is not generated at the same time resulting in damage to components.
Before these microprocessors were created, people would dip parts in liquid nitrogen and
virtually turn them to brittle instantaneously.

As the material cools its molecular structure is drawn together through contraction and
stress and dislocation brought about by production methods is removed or reduced. Both
Einstein and Bose of Germany realized why cryogenic treatment was able to remove
residual stresses. Cryogenic treatment removes heat from an object which then allows the
object to enter its most relaxed state or a condition with the least amount of kinetic
energy. After heat treatment, steels still have a certain percentage of retained austenite
which can be transformed into martensite via cryogenic treatment. Other effects are the
production of martensite and the precipitation of Eta type carbides. All metals including
copper and aluminum, not just steel benefit from the residual stress relief that cryogenic
treatment promotes.[1]

The process has a wide range of applications from industrial tooling to improvement of
musical signal transmission. Some of the benefits of cryogenic treatment include longer
part life, less failure due to cracking, improved thermal properties, better electrical
properties including less electrical resistance, reduced coefficient of friction, less creep
and walk, improved flatness, and easier machining.

It has been found and proved that cryogenic treatment improves wear resistance of many
alloy steels to a great extent.

[edit] Cryorolling
Cryorolling is one of the potential techniques to produce nanostructured bulk materials
from its bulk counterpart at cryogenic temperatures. It can be defined as rolling that is
carried out at cryogenic temperatures. Nanostructured materials are produced chiefly by
severe plastic deformation processes. The majority of these methods require large plastic
deformations (strains much larger than unity). In case of cryorolling, the deformation in
the strain hardened metals is preserved as a result of the suppression of the dynamic
recovery. Hence large strains can be maintained and after subsequent annealing, ultra-
fine-grained structure can be produced.

[edit] Advantages

Comparison of cryorolling and rolling at room temperature:

• In Cryorolling, the strain hardening is retained up to the extent to which rolling is

carried out. This implies that there will be no dislocation annihilation and
dynamic recovery. Whereas in rolling at room temperature, dynamic recovery is
inevitable and softening takes place.
• The flow stress of the material differs for the sample which is subjected to
cryorolling. A cryorolled sample has a higher flow stress compared to a sample
subjected to rolling at room temperature.
• Cross slip and climb of dislocations are effectively suppressed during cryorolling
leading to high dislocation density which is not the case for room temperature
rolling.
• The corrosion resistance of the cryorolled sample comparatively decreases due to
the high residual stress involved.
• The number of electron scattering centres increases for the cryorolled sample and
hence the electrical conductivity decreases significantly.
• The cryorolled sample shows a high dissolution rate.
• Ultra-fine-grained structures can be produced from cryorolled samples after
subsequent annealing.

Cryogenic hardening
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Cryogenic hardening is a cryogenic heat treating process where the material is cooled to
approximately −185 °C (−301 °F), usually using liquid nitrogen. It can have a profound
effect on the mechanical properties of certain steels, provided their composition and prior
heat treatment are such that they retain some austenite at room temperature. It is designed
to increase the amount of martensite in the steel's crystal structure, increasing its strength
and hardness, sometimes at the cost of toughness. Presently this treatment is being
practiced over tool steels, high-carbon, and high-chromium steels to obtain excellent
wear resistance. Recent research shows that there is precipitation of fine carbides (eta
carbides) in the matrix during this treatment which imparts very high wear resistance to
the steels.[1]

The transformation from austenite to martensite is mostly accomplished through

quenching, but in general it is driven farther and farther toward completion as
temperature decreases. In higher-alloy steels such as austenitic stainless steel, the onset of
transformation can require temperatures much lower than room temperature. More
commonly, an incomplete transformation occurs in the initial quench, so that cryogenic
treatments merely enhance the effects of prior quenching.

The transformation between these phases is instantaneous and not at all dependent upon
diffusion, and also that this treatment causes more complete hardening rather than
moderating extreme hardness, both of which make the term cryogenic tempering
technically incorrect.

Hardening can also be accomplished by cold work at cryogenic temperatures. The defects
introduced by plastic deformation at these low temperatures are often quite different from
the dislocations that usually form at room temperature, and produce materials changes
that in some ways resemble the effects of shock hardening. While this process is more
effective than traditional cold work, it serves mainly as a theoretical test bed for more
economical processes such as explosive forging.

Many alloys that do not undergo martensitic transformation have been subjected to the
same treatments as steels—that is, cooled with no provisions for cold work. If any benefit
is seen from such a process, one plausible explanation is that thermal expansion causes
minor but permanent deformation of the material.