UNIVERSITI TEKNIKAL MALAYSIA MELAKA

FACULTY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY I
BMCG 1011

INFORMAL REPORT:

BIL: NAME: MATRIX NO:

CLASS SESSION:
1. NURY ARYNA BINTI AZELI B042010113
SECTION 1
2. NURUL HIDAYAH BINTI JOHAR B042010138
LAB GROUP:
3. NURUL BALQISH BINTI DANIAL B042010059 GROUP 1E

4. ONG XI EN B042010029 REPORT

SUBMISSION DATE:
19/11/2021

SEMESTER/SESSION: SEM 1 / SESSION 2021-2022

EXPERIMENT TITLE:
Microscopic Examination of Carbon Steel

LECTURER: DR. FADHLI BIN SYAHRIAL

LECTURER REMARKS EVALUATION

Objectives

Data and Result

Analysis and Discussion

Conclusions

TOTAL
 TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENT PAGE

1.0 TITLE 1

2.0 OBJECTIVES 1

3.0 DATA AND RESULTS 1-2

4.0 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 2-8

5.0 CONCLUSION 9

6.0 REFERENCES 10
 1.0 TITLE
Microscopic Examination of Carbon Steel

2.0 OBJECTIVES
1. To demonstrate an understanding of sample preparation techniques.
2. To differentiate the influence of different heat treatment on the microstructure of carbon
steels.

3.0 DATA AND RESULTS

Each of the specimen are begins at 760°C and has been held at this temperature long
enough to have achieved a complete and homogeneous austenitic structure. The experiment
process and the microstructure formed when observed under optical microscope are shown in
Table 1 below:

SPECIMEN EXPERIMENT PROCESS MICROSTRUCTURE FORMS

Coarse pearlite An austenite structure was gently cooled
from 700°C temperature of to room
temperature in a furnace. This technique
will produce coarse perlite.

Figure 1: microstructure of coarse pearlite

Fine pearlite A fine pearlite was created by rapidly

chilling the air from 540°C to room
temperature.

Figure 2: microstructure of fine pearlite

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Bainite An austenite was rapidly chilled to 400°C
degrees Fahrenheit and held there for
around 200 seconds. After then, it was
cooled to room temperature.

Figure 3: microstructure of bainite

Martensite An austenite was rapidly cooled to 250°C

and held there for 100s of minutes.
It was then quickly cooled to room
temperature.

Figure 4: microstructure of martensite

Tempered Martensite was created for the purpose of

martensite
tempering. Martensite was tempered
between 250°C and 650°C degrees
Celsius for numerous hours throughout
this process.

Figure 5: microstructure of tempered martensite

Table 1: Experiment process and microstructure formed for each specimen

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 4.0 ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
• ANALYSIS
I) Analysis of the microstructure of the iron-carbon alloy specimen
Assume that the specimen starts at 760°C and has been kept at that temperature long
enough to achieve a complete and uniform austenitic structure in each case. The specimens
were analysed using an optical microscope to determine their microstructures. The temperature,
time taken to cold down, phase present and arrangement of phases are shown in Table 2 below.

Temperature Heat Microstructure Phase present Arrangement of phases

treatment formed
process
Cooled from below Slow Coarse pearlite α-ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶 Alternating relatively thick
eutectoid point cooling layers of α-ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶
(727°C)

Cooled from vicinity Fast fine pearlite α-ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶 Alternating relatively thin
of 540°C cooling layers of α-ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶

Cooled between Moderate Bainite α-ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶 particles that are
540°C to 215°C cooling exceedingly fine and
elongated in an α-ferrite
matrix

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Low temperature (in Rapid Martensite Single phase and The grains of martensite have
the vicinity of the quench having Body- a platelike or needelike look.
ambient) from 250°C Centered
Tetragonal (BCT)

Heated to a Reheat Tempered α-ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶 Very small 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶 sphere-like
temperature between martensite particles in an α-ferrite matrix
125°C and 700°C

Table 2: Temperature, Heat treatment process, Phase present and Arrangement of phases for each specimen

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 II) Analysis on mechanical properties of each specimen
The Rockwell hardness test are conducted to measuring the bulk hardness of each specimen.
The results were collected and shown in the Table 3 below:

SPECIMEN MICROSTRUCTURE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES

1 Coarse pearlite Hard and Strong

2 Fine pearlite Harder and stronger but less ductile compared to coarse pearlite

3 Bainite Greater hardness and strength than fine pearlite, but hardness less
and more ductile compared with martensite

4 Martensite Very hard and very brittle

Applications: Door beams, bumpers, very lightweight and high

strength lower side components (rocker panels) and beams that are
meant to prevent intrusion into the passenger compartment are all
examples of martensitic steels in automotive applications.

5 Tempered martensite Strong but not as hard as martensite, more ductile compared to
martensite

Applications: Mostly employed in aircraft mechanical systems such

as landing gear, gearbox components, as well as high-strength bolts
and fittings.

Table 3: Mechanical properties of each specimen

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 • DISCUSSION

Further explanation on each of the specimen microstructure that were analysed are
shown in the Table 4 below:
Microstructure Discussion

Figure 1 shows the microstructure of specimen 1 which is coarse

pearlite that is formed from austenite that has been cooled from just
below eutectoid temperature, which is at 727°C under a slow cooling
process. Coarse pearlite is consisting of a relatively thick layers of α-
ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶 and the thickness ratio between the phase present is
approximately 8:1. The absolute layer thickness, on the other hand, is

Figure 1: microstructure of coarse
pearlite
determined by the temperature at which the isothermal transformation
can take place. Diffusion rates are relatively high at these
temperatures, allowing carbon atoms to move relatively long
distances throughout the transition, resulting in the production of
thick lamellae.

Figure 2 shows the microstructure of specimen 2 which is fine

pearlite. As the temperature drops, the rate of carbon diffusion will
also reduce and the thick layers become thinner. The thin-layered
structure that has been formed at temperatures of 540°C is called as
fine pearlite. Phase that serve as barriers to dislocation motion are
called as phase boundaries. Therefore, to pass during plastic
deformation, fine pearlite has more boundaries through a dislocation.
The finer the layers making up the pearlite, the more they are going
Figure 2: microstructure of fine pearlite
to resist slipping relative to each other and steel become harder. From
the greater restriction to plastic deformation of the fine pearlite make
fine pearlite less ductile compared to coarse pearlite.

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Figure 3: microstructure of bainite
Figure 4: microstructure of martensite
Figure 3 shows the microstructure of specimen 3 which is bainite.
Bainite is a non-lamellar of carbides and plate shape ferrite. Bainite
are formed by displacive transformations with a large shear
component which is an invariant plane strain. Carbon atoms partition
into the residual austenite but the transformation is diffusionless. In
addition, pearlitic and bainitic transformations are competitive with
each other, that means when some part has been transformed to either
pearlite or bainite, the other microconstituent are not possible, unless
reheating it to form austenite. Bainite is stronger and tougher
compared to pearlite, but less hard and more ductile than martensite.
As mention in Table 2, bainite are having smaller α-ferrite and 𝐹𝑒3 𝐶
and resulting to stronger and harder than pearlitic steels.
Figure 4 shows the microstructure of specimen 4 which is martensite.
Martensite are formed only by very rapid cooling or quenched where
the stress applied contributes enough free energy into the system,
driving the transformation. Even the martensitic transformation is not
well understood, still large numbers of atoms, on the other hand,
exhibit cooperative movements, in which each atom is only slightly
displaced from its neighbours. Martensite increases the tensile
strength of the matrix. The strain field created by the hard martensite
phase in the microstructure also gives the Dual-phase steels (DP)
good formability because the work hardening is increased due to the
strain interaction with dislocations. The increase in strain hardening
occurs due to the transformation of austenite to martensite upon
deformation. The transformation of martensite does not involve any
diffusion; thus, it occurs almost instantaneously and it is also time
independent as the martensite grains nucleate and grow at a very rapid
rate.
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Figure 5: microstructure of tempered
martensite
Table 4: Discussion on microstructure of each specimen
Figure 5 shows the microstructure of specimen 5 which is tempered
martensite. Tempering are occurred at the temperature between
125°C and 700°C. During the process, excess carbon in solid solution
segregates to defects or forms clusters within the solid solution. Then,
precipitates are in formed either as cementite in low-carbon steels, or
as transition iron-carbides in high-carbon steels. Further annealing
leads in which almost all of the excess carbon is precipitated and the
carbides all convert into more stable cementite. Any retained austenite
will decompose during this stage. The tempering was continued that
leads to the coarsening of carbides, extensive recovery of the
dislocation structure, and finally to the recrystallisation of the ferrite
plates into equiaxed grains.
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5.0 CONCLUSION

Overall, the experiment succeeded in determining the microstructure of the carbon

steels under the influence of different heat treatment. Heat treatment is the process of heating
metal without allowing it to reach molten state, or melting, and then cooling it in a controlled
manner to choose desired mechanical qualities. Heat treatment is used to make metal stronger,
more malleable, more abrasion resistant and more ductile. In each case, the specimen is begin
at 760°C and that it has been held at this temperature long enough to have achieved a complete
and homogeneous austenitic structure. We can summarize that when austenite is under slow
cooling, it will be formed pearlite and α proeutectoid phase, under moderate cooling it will
formed bainite. Furthermore, when austenite is subjected to rapid quench it will form
martensite and when martensite is reheated, it will form tempered martensite microstructures.
It shows that different heat treatment gives different results in microstructure of a same
specimen. In addition, slow cooling, moderate cooling and reheat are involving diffusion
transformation while rapid quench are diffusionless transformation. We can conclude that each
heat treatment gives different microstructure and each one of it have different uses in our daily
life. It is true that some of the microstructure may be more brittle than the others, or less ductile
compared to the other microstructure, but it doesn’t mean that specimen that having that
condition can’t be useful at all, it still can be use but in different field of applications.

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6.0 REFERENCES

Meysam Toozandehjani (2015). SEM micrographs of heat-treated AISI 4140. Retreived

from, https://www.researchgate.net/figure/SEM-micrographs-of-heat-treated-AISI-4140-a-
fine-pearlite-ferrite-b-coarse_fig2_272029421

AMSE 205 Spring (2016). Chapter 12: Phase Transformation. Retrieved from,
https://www.cheric.org/files/education/cyberlecture/e201502/e201502-801.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martensite

Palash Biswas, Arnab Kundu1, Dhiraj Mondal, Prasanta Kumar Bardhan (2018). Effect of
heat treatment on microstructure behavior and hardness of EN 8 steel . Retrieved from,
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/377/1/012065/pdf

H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia (2008). Interpretation of the Microstructure of Steels. Retrieved from,

https://www.phase-trans.msm.cam.ac.uk/2008/Steel_Microstructure/SM.html

Sami M. Syammach (n.d). MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STEELS WITH A

MICROSTRUCTURE OF BAINITE/MARTENSITE AND AUSTENITE ISLANDS. Retrieved
from,https://mountainscholar.org/bitstream/handle/11124/170090/Syammach_mines_0052N_
10974.pdf;sequence=1

csun.edu (n.d). MSE 528 - HEAT TREATMENT OFSTEEL.Retrieved from,

http://www.csun.edu/~bavarian/Courses/MSE%20528/Heat_Treatment_of_Steel_MSE_528.
pdf

H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia (n.d). Bainite in Steels. Retrieve from, https://www.phase-

trans.msm.cam.ac.uk/2000/C9/lecture6.pdf

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