3/8/2024

Steel heat treatment

Department of
Welding and Metal technology

ME. NGUYỄN THANH TÂN

(+84) 938.00.44.96

tannt@hcmute.edu.vn

page 1 page 3

L : Liquid 0C

: Austenite 1600 A
1539
( + L)

: Ferrite
B
H
 J L D

Fe3C: Cementite N
( + ) A0 = 210oC (Curie point
1400 of Cementite, is the
L+
P: Pearlite L+Xe1
temperature above which
F certain materials lose their
Le: Ledeburite 1200

E C
1147
permanent
Acm
C: Eutectic point magnetic properties)
L→ ( +Ce) LeI 1000
911 G
A1 = PK = 727oC
(ɣ+ Xe)

A3  +XeII
 +XeII + (ɣ + Xe) (ɣ + Xe) + Xe1
→(P+Ce) LeII A2 Eutectic reaction:
800 + S
(F)
727 L S1 + S2
S: Eutectoid point P
A1
K
A2 = 768oC (Curie point
 →[+Ce] P 600 of Ferrite, is the temperature
[ F + Xe] = P

above which certain

ACD: liquid line materials lose their
(P + Xe)

AECF: solid line

400 F+P P+XeII + (P + Xe) (P + Xe) + Xe1 permanent
P+XeII
magnetic properties)
ECF: eutectic line A0
A3=GS=910~727oC
PSK: eutectoid line 200
 → in cooling
GS:  → in cooling
0,8

Heat treatment
Q P’ 2,14 4,3 6,67 L  → in heating
 → in heating Fe 1 2 3 4 5 6 Xe %C Acm=ES=1147~727
 →CeII in cooling
SE: solution limit C in 
Hypo Hyper Hypo Hyper
CeII → in heating
PQ: solution limit C in  Eutectoid Eutectic
page 4
Steel White cast iron 5

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Heat-Treatment According to the definition of the heat treatment by handbook the

steps of heat treatment can be determined as given in the
 Heattreatment is a method used to alter the
physical, and sometimes chemical properties following steps:
of a material. The most common application is
metallurgical
• Heating

• Soaking

• Cooling

Heat Treatment of Steels

Heat treatment
• Heat Treating – defined as the controlled heating and
cooling of metals for the primary purpose of altering their
properties (strength, ductility, hardness, toughness,
Thermochemical
machinability, etc.) treatment
• Can be done for Strengthening Purposes (converting Thermo-mechanical treatment
structure to martensite)
• Can be done for Softening and Conditioning Purposes
(annealing, tempering, etc.)
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Annealing
A heat treatment process in which a metal is exposed to an
HEAT TREATMENT elevated temperature for an extended time period and
then slowly cooled.
BULK SURFACE Purpose:
1.Relieve stresses of cold working
ANNEALING NORMALIZING HARDENING THERMO-
THERMAL 2.Increase softness, ductility and toughness
& CHEMICAL 3.Produce specific microstructure
TEMPERING
Full Annealing
MARTEMPERING Flame
Carburizing Application
Recrystallization Annealing Induction Nitriding  Annealing process is employed in following application

AUSTEMPERING Carbo-nitriding
 Casting
Stress Relief Annealing LASER
 Forging
Spheroidization Annealing Electron Beam
 Rolled stock
 Press work ….
page 10

Annealing
Three Stages of Annealing
1. Heating to a desired temperature
2.
3.
Holding or soaking at that temperature
Cooling usually to room temperature
Types of Annealing
Note: Time in above procedures is important 1. Stress-Relief Annealing (or Stress-relieving)
- During heating and cooling temp gradients exit b/w inside and 2. Normalizing
outside portions of part. If rate of temp change is tool high,
temp gradients will induce internal stress in part and hence 3. Full Annealing
cracking 4. Spheroidizing Annealing (or Spheroidizing )
2 5. Isothermal Annealing

1  3
T
T α+Fe3C
α+Fe3C

Time
Time

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Iron-C Phase Diagram Temp Ranges in Fe-C Phase Diagram

-
A1. Lower
critical Temp
A3. Upper 
A critical Temp for
Hypo- eutectoid T  + Fe3C
steels
Acm. Upper
critical Temp for
Hyper- eutectoid
 + Eutectoid
B steels

α+Fe3C

1. Stress-Relief Annealing
1. Stress-Relief Annealing
No  For plain carbon and low-alloy steels the
 Itis an annealing process rma
zat
ion
Full liza
temperature to which the specimen is heated
910oC
tion ali Acm
below the transformation An
nea rm
temperature A1, with
A3
ling No is usually between 450 and 650˚C, whereas for
subsequent slow cooling, 723oC
Full Annealing hot-working tool steels and high-speed steels it
the aim of which is to
Spheroidization A1 is between 600 and 750˚C
 This treatment will not cause any phase
Recrystallization Annealing
reduce the internal residual
stresses in a workpiece
Stress Relief Annealing
changes, but recovery & recrystallization may
without intentionally
T
take place.
changing its structure and  Machining allowance sufficient to
mechanical properties 0.8 %
Wt% C compensate for any warping/distrotion
resulting from stress relieving should be
provided

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Causes of Residual Stresses Stress Relief Annealing –

1.Mechanical factors (e.g., cold-working during
metal forming/machining)
Temperature & Time Vs Stresses
2.Thermal factors (e.g., thermal stresses caused
by temperature gradients within the work-piece
during heating or cooling)
 Higher temperatures and
3.Metallurgical factors (e.g., phase
transformation upon cooling wherein parent and longer times of annealing
product phases have different densities bring residual stresses to
lower levels
 All kinds of times (heating
- In the heat treatment of metals, quenching or time, soaking time,
rapid cooling is the cause of the greatest residual cooling time)
stresses

Stress Relief Annealing – 2. Normalizing

Cooling Rate Vs Stresses  A heat treatment process consisting of
 The residual stress level after stress-relief annealing will be austenitizing at temperatures of 50–80˚C
maintained only if the cool down from the annealing above upper critical temperature (A1 ,
Acm) followed by slow cooling (usually in
temperature is controlled and slow enough that no new air)
internal stresses arise.  The aim of which is to obtain a fine-
 New stresses that may be induced during cooling depend grained, uniformly distributed, ferrite–
on: pearlite structure
 Normalizing is applied mainly to
(1)Cooling rate unalloyed and low-alloy hypo-eutectoid
(2)Cross-sectional size of the steels
work- piece, and  For hypereutectoid steels the
austenitizing temperature is 50–80˚C
(3)Composition of
above the ACm transformation
the steel temperature

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Normalizing – Heating and Normalizing – Austenitizing

Cooling Purpose of soaking: Temperature Range
1. To allow metal to 1. Depend on
attain uniform temp composition
2. All the austenite 2. Increase in C %
A3
transform into reduces temp for
pearlite, especially hypo-eutectoid steels
A1
for hyper-eutectoid 3. Increase in C %
compositions increases temp for
hypo-eutectoid steels

Effect of Normalizing on Grain Size

 Normalizing refines (reduces) the grains of a steel Normalizing after Rolling
that have become coarse (long and irregular) as
a result of heavy deformations as in forging or in  After hot rolling, the
rolling structure of steel is
 The fine grains have higher toughness than usually oriented in the
coarse grains, rolling direction
 To remove the oriented
structure and obtain the
uniform mechanical
properties in all
Steel directions, a normalizing
with annealing has to be
0.5% C
performed

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Normalizing after Forging

Normalizing – Holding Time
•  Afterforging at high temperatures, especially with
work-pieces that vary widely in cross sectional size,  Holding time at
austenitizing temperature
because of the different rates of cooling from the may be calculated using the empirical
forging temperature, a heterogeneous structure is formula:
obtained that can be made uniform by normalizing
t = 60 + D
•  Normalizing is also done to improve
where t is the holding time (min) and D is the
• machinability of low-c steels
maximum diameter of the workpiece
(mm).

3. Full Annealing
4. Spheroidizing Annealing
- For compositions less than eutectoid, the metal is heated above
 It is also called as Soft Annealing
A3 line to form austenite
 Any process of heating and cooling steel that produces a
- For compositions larger than eutectoid, the metal is heated
above A1 line to form austenite and Fe3C rounded or globular form of carbide (Fe3C)
- Cooled slowly in a furnace instead in air as in Normalizing.  It is an annealing process at temperatures close below
Furnace is switched off, both metal and furnace cool at the same or close above the A1 temperature, with subsequent slow
rate cooling
Usually applied for low
-Microstructure outcome: Coarse and medium C steel  Used for Medium & High C-Steels
Pearlite. In Normalizing,
structure?
- Spheroidite can form
-Structure is relatively softer than
at lower temperatures but the
that in Normalizing
time needed drastically
-Full annealing is normally used
increases, as this is a diffusion-
when material needs to be
controlled process.
deformed further.

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Spheroidizing: How to Perform
 By heating alloy at a temp just
below A1 (700C). If pre-cursor
structure is pearlite, process
time will range b/w 15 & 25Hrs
 Heating alloy just above A1 line
and then either cooling very
slowly in the furnace or holding
at a Temp just below A1
 Heating & cooling alternatively
within ±50C of the A1 line.
Spheroidizing - Uses
 Such a soft structure is required for good
machinability of steels having more than
0.6%C and for all cold-working processes
that include plastic deformation.
 Spheroidite steel is the softest and most
ductile form of steel
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Spheroidizing - Purpose
 The aim is to produce a soft structure by changing all
hard micro-constituents like pearlite, bainite, and
martensite (especially in steels with carbon contents
above 0.5% and in tool steels) into a structure of
spheroidized carbides in a ferritic matrix
(a) a medium-carbon low-alloy steel after soft annealing at 720C;
(b) a high-speed steel soft annealed at 820C.
5. Isothermal Annealing
 Spheroidizing is more useful for improving machinability of
high C steel than that of low and medium C steels.
 In fact, spherodized low and medium C steels become over
soft for machining and give long shavings which accumulate
on tool cutting edge and produce poor surface.
 Hypoeutectoid low-carbon steels as well as medium-carbon
structural steels are often isothermally annealed, for best
machinability
 An isothermally annealed structure should have the following
characteristics:
1. High proportion of ferrite
2. Uniformly distributed pearlite grains
3. Fine lamellar pearlite grains
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Process – Isothermal Annealing Annealing

 Austenitizing followed Process: heat alloy to Tanneal, for extended period of time then cool slowly.
by a fast cooling to Goals: (1) relieve stresses; (2) increase ductility and toughness; (3) produce
the temperature specific microstructure
range of pearlite
formation (usually ? • Stress Relief : • Spheroidize (steels):
about 650˚C.) Make very soft steels
To reduce stress caused by: for good machining.
 Holding at this -plastic deformation
Heat just below TE
temperature until the -non-uniform cooling
-phase transform. & hold for 15-25h.
complete
transformation of • Full Anneal (steels):
Types of Make soft steels for
pearlite
• Process Anneal:
Annealing good forming by heating
to get g, then cool in
 and cooling to room
To eliminate negate furnace to get coarse P.
temperature at an
arbitrary cooling rate effect of cold working • Normalize (steels):
by recovery/recrystallization Deformed steel with large grains
heat-treated to make grains small.

35

CASE HARDENING Case-Hardening - Processes

• Flame/Induction Hardening
• Case hardening or surface hardening • Carburizing
is the process of hardening the surface of
a metal, often a low carbon steel, by • Nitriding
infusing elements into the material's • Cyaniding
surface, forming a thin layer of a harder
alloy. • Carbonitriding
• Case hardening is usually done after the
part in question has been formed into its
final shape

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Flame and induction hardening
• Flame or induction hardening are processes in
which the surface of the steel is heated to high
temperatures (by direct application of a flame, or
by induction heating) then cooled rapidly,
generally using water
• This creates a case of martensite on the surface.
• A carbon content of 0.4–0.6 wt% C is needed for
this type of hardening
• Application Examples -> Lock shackle and
Gears
Carburizing Contd.
• Carburization is a diffusion-controlled
process, so the longer the steel is held in the
carbon-rich environment the greater the
carbon penetration will be and the higher
the carbon content.
• The carburized section will have a carbon
content high enough that it can be hardened
again through flame or induction hardening
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Carburizing
• Carburizing is a process used to case harden steel
with a carbon content between 0.1 and 0.3 wt% C.
• Steel is introduced to a carbon rich environment
and elevated temperatures for a certain amount of
time, and then quenched so that the carbon is
locked in the structure
• Example -> Heat a part with an acetylene torch set
with a fuel-rich flame and quench it in a carbon-
rich fluid such as oil
Carburizing Contd.
• The carbon can come from a solid, liquid or gaseous source
• Solid source -> pack carburizing. Packing low carbon steel parts
with a carbonaceous material and heating for some time diffuses
carbon into the outer layers.
• A heating period of a few hours might form a high-carbon layer
about one millimeter thick
• Liquid Source -> involves placing parts in a bath of a molten
carbon-containing material, often a metal cyanide
• Gaseous Source -> involves placing the parts in a furnace
maintained with a methane-rich interior
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Nitriding
• Nitriding heats the steel part to 482–621°C in an
atmosphere of NH3 gas and broken NH3.
• The time the part spends in this environment dictates the
depth of the case.
• The hardness is achieved by the formation of nitrides.
• Nitride forming elements must be present in the workpiece
for this method to work.
• Advantage -> it causes little distortion, so the part can be
case hardened after being quenched, tempered and
machined
Carbonitriding
• Carbonitriding is similar to cyaniding
except a gaseous atmosphere of
ammonia and hydrocarbons (e.g. CH4)is
used instead of sodium cyanide.
• If the part is to be quenched then the part
is heated to 775–885°C; if not then the
part is heated to 649–788°C
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Cyaniding
• Cyaniding is mainly used on low carbon steels.
• The part is heated to 870-950°C in a bath of sodium cyanide
(NaCN)and then is quenched and rinsed, in water or oil, to
remove any residual cyanide.
• The process produces a thin, hard shell (0.5-0.75mm) that is
harder than the one produced by carburizing, and can be
completed in 20 to 30 minutes compared to several hours.
• It is typically used on small parts.
• The major drawback of cyaniding is that cyanide salts are
poisonous
PRECIPITATION
HARDENING
• Precipitation hardening (or age hardening), is a heat
treatment technique used to increase the yield strength
of malleable materials
• Malleable materials are those, which are capable of
deforming under compressive stress
• It relies on changes in solid solubility with temperature
to produce fine particles of an impurity phase, which
blocks the movement of dislocations in a crystal's
lattice
11

Precipitation Hardening
• Since dislocations are often the dominant
carriers of plasticity, this serves to harden the
material
• The impurities play the same role as the particle
substances in particle-reinforced composite
materials.
• Alloys must be kept at elevated temperature for
hours to allow precipitation to take place. This
time delay is called aging
Precipitation Mechanism –
Aluminum Alloy
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Precipitation Hardening
• Two different heat treatments involving precipitates can
change the strength of a material:
1. solution heat treating
2. precipitation heat treating
• Solution treatment involves formation of a single-
phase solid solution via quenching and leaves a
material softer
• Precipitation treating involves the addition of impurity
particles to increase a material's strength
Effect of Aging Time on
Precipitates
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0C
( + L)
1600 A
1539
H
B
QUENCHING
 J L D

( + )
1400
N L+

• QUENCHING refers to the process of rapidly L+Xe1

cooling metal parts from the austenite or solution

1200 E C F
 1147
Acm
1000
treating temperature.
A3
911 G
(ɣ+ Xe)

 +XeII  • Increasing hardness, strength, or toughness while

+XeII + (ɣ + Xe) (ɣ + Xe) + Xe1

+
A2
minimizing residual stress, distortion, and the
800 S
727
(F) P K

600
A1 possibility of cracking.
• Temperature:
[ F + Xe] = P

(P + Xe)

400 F+P
P+XeII P+XeII
+ Hypo-eutectoid
+ (P + Xe) (P + Xe)
and
+ Xe
Eutectoid (100% γ):
1

A0
200
tquenching = Ac3+ (30~50)oC
Q P’
0,8
2,14
+ Hyper-eutectoid
4,3
(γ+Ce
6,67 LII
):
Fe 1 2 3 4 5
tquenching
6 Xe %C = Ac1+ (30~50)oC
Hypo Hyper Hypo Hyper

Eutectoid Eutectic
Steel White cast iron 50

C45 Quenching
• Depending on how fast steel must be quenched (from IT
diagram), the heat treater will determine type of quenching
required:
F • Water (most severe).
• Oil
P • Molten Salt
• Gas/ Air

 residual

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RAPID COOLING
Microconstituents vs. Cooling Rate
• Rapid cooling: Vcooling > Critical cooling rate
• Spheroidite: Spherical “globs” of Fe3C in • γ → Martensite : supersaturated solution of
Ferrite carbon in ferrite (FCC → BCT).
Increasing Cooling Rate

• Extremely fast, v =1000÷5000 m/s.

• Pearlite: Layers of  ferrite and Fe3C • Always remain →residual γ.
• Course Pearlite
• Fine Pearlite

• Bainite: 200 – 500 C Transformation

• Martensite: Rapid Cooling

MARTENSITE

Ferrite
Very hard
Pearlite
• %C ≤ 0.25%, ≤ 40HRC
• %C = 0.4-0.5%, ≥ 50HRC
• %C = ≥ 0.6%, ≥ 60HRC
Retained ɣ
Corrosion with ≥ 0.4%C
Very brittle.
• More fine grain→ decrease M
brittle
• Less residual stress → decrease Martensite, normally, is very hard and strong, but it is very brittle
brittle too, and thus the as-quenched steels find very few engineering
applications. page 57

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Tempering is the process of heating • Increase ductility and

the hardened steel to a temperature toughness, relieve
maximum up to lower critical quenching stresses and to
temperature (A1), soaking at this ensure dimensional stability.
temperature, and then cooling, • Obtain specific values of

TEMPERING STEEL normally very slowly. mechanical properties.

page 58 page 59

T M

Stage 2: (300-4500C) Stage 1: (150-2500C)

Troostite tempering, high hardness (0.55-0.65% Martensite tempering, high hardness, residual
Type of heat treatment Mechanical properties HRC = 40-45), stress (1-2HRC), elongation and ductile better:
Need hard and corrosion
stress dual (remove), elongation and ductile
ak (kJ/m2)
 b (MPa )  0.2 (MPa)  (%)  (%) better. highest elastic modulus Types • High carbon steel
•For elastic steel 0.5~0.7%C. Ex: spring, hot working • High wear-resistance. Ex: wood cutting tool,
Of
Annealing 530 280 32.5 50 900 die cold-working die, Piston pin, bearing

Stage 3: (500-6500C) tempering

Normalizing at 8500C 650 320 15 40 500 Tempering-color
Sorbite tempering, high mechanical
Quenching 8500C + 1100 720 8 12 300 properties: (soft 0.4%C 15-25HRC)
Quenching and Tempering
tempering 2000C •applied to 0.3~0.55%C steel.
• excellent toughness, strength and hardness decrease so much.
Quenching 8500C + 720 450 22 55 1400 → Surface hardening at some specific location. Ex: gear, shaft

tempering 6500C X

page60 page 61

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Diffusion
Anneal (Alloys)
911C Acm
A3
Partial Anneal
727C Full Annealing - Quenching
Spheroidizing Anneal A1
700C Isothermal
Anneal (Alloys)
650C Stress Relief Anneal

Tempering
Recrystallization Stage 3
Anneal Stage 2
500C
250C Stage 1
 Wt% C
T 0.3 % 0.8 %

The effect of tempering temperature on the

page 62 page 63
mechanical properties of a 1050 steel.

5CrNiMoV Steel

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