HEAT TREATMENT

Hardening & Hardenability

Hardening
 Heat treatment that is use to improve
hardness, wear resistance, or toughness in
combination of hardness
 In carbon steels, it is related to the formation
of martensite or carbide particles
 Maximum hardness depends on: chemical
composition, heating temperature, holding
time, cooling rate
Hardening
 General procedure
Holding time

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Hardening
Process:
 Heating to 25-50 C above A3 line for
hypoeutectoid steel, 25-50 C above A1 line
for hypereutectoid steel
 Holding time  ensure the homogenity of
austenite  austenitizing
 Cooling at certain cooling rate, where cooling
rate = CCR (minimum)
Hardening
Final hardness:
 Cooling medium: brine, water, oil, salt bath,
air.
 Size and dimension

 Surface condition

 Chemical composition

 Temperature
Hardening
Cooling medium
Hardening
Cooling medium
Hardening
Size
Hardening
Chemical composition
Hardening
Chemical composition
Hardening
Surface condition
Hardenability
 The ability of an alloy to be hardened by the
formation of martensite as a result of a given
heat treatment
 Hardenability  hardness
 Qualitative measure of the rate at which
hardness drops off with distance into the
interior of a specimen as a result of
diminished martensite content
 Hardenability test: Jominy End Quench Test
Jominy end-quench test
 All constant except chemical composition
 Specimen: cylindrical, 25.4 mm (1.0 in.) in diameter
and 100 mm (4 in.) long
 Process:
1 Austenization
2 Mounting to the apparatus
3 Quenching
4 Hardness measurement using Rockwell C
5 Plotting the hardness into a curve
Jominy end-quench test
Jominy end-quench test
 The cooling rate is a maximum at the quenched end
and diminishes with position from this point along
the length of the specimen
 Rockwell hardness measurements are made for the
first 50 mm (2 in) along each flat; for the first 12.8
mm (1/2 in), hardness readings are taken at 1.6 mm
(1/16 in) intervals, and for the remaining 38.4 mm
(1.5 in), every 3.2 mm (1/8 in)
 The hardness value is plotted and forming a
hardenability curve
Jominy end-quench test
 Jominy end-quench test
 The quenched end is cooled most rapidly
and exhibits the maximum hardness; 100%
martensite is the product at this position for
most steels
 Cooling rate decreases with distance from
the quenched end, and the hardness also
decreases
 As cooling time diminished, more time is
allowed for carbon diffusion and the  Hardenability
formation of a greater proportion of the curve is unique
softer pearlite, which may be mixed with
martensite and bainite
 Highly hardenable steel will retain large
hardness values for relatively long
distances; a low hardenable one will not.
 Jominy end-quench test
 Correlation of hardness and
cooling rate is also included in
standard hardenabilty curve
 Correlation between position and
cooling rate is the same for plain
carbon and many alloy steels 
heat transfer is independent of
chemical composition
Jominy end-quench test
 Correlation between
position along the
Jominy specimen and
continuous cooling
transformation (CCT
diagram)

Eutectoid steel 
 Jominy end-quench test
 Identical hardnesses at the
quenched end; this
hardness is a function of
carbon content only
 Lowest hardenability= alloy
1040 because hardness
drops off sharply after a
relatively short Jominy
distance
 Hardness of other alloys
decreases gradually
indicating better
hardenability. The best is
4340 steel
 Jominy end-quench test
 Indicative of the influence of
cooling rate on the microstructure
 At the quenched end, where the
quenching rate is approximately
600 C/s, 100% martensite is
present for all five alloys.
 For cooling rates less than about
70 C/s or Jominy distances
greater than 6.4 mm (1/4 in), the
microstructure of the 1040 steel
is predominantly pearlitic, with
some proeutectoid ferrite.
 The microstructures of the other
four alloy steels consist primarily
of a mixture of martensite and
bainite; bainite content increases
with decreasing cooling rate.
 Jominy end-quench test
 The effect of alloying
element in hardenability,
e.g. Ni, Cr, Mo
 Those alloying elements
delay the austenite-to-
pearlite and/or bainite
reactions  permits more
martensite to form for a
particular cooling rate 
yielding a greater
hardness – check the
right y-axis
 Jominy end-quench test
 The effect of carbon
content on
hardenability
 The hardness at any
Jominy position
increases with the
concentration of
carbon.
 Jominy end-quench test
 Unavoidable variation in
composition and average
grain size during production
steel  variation & scatter of
hardenability data
 The variation is plotted as a
band representing the
maximum and minimum
values that would be
expected for the particular
alloy  hardenability band
 8640 H steel; H indicates the
hardenability band
Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

 The cooling rate of a specimen depends on

the rate of heat energy extraction, which is a
function of the characteristics of the
quenching medium in contact with the
specimen surface, as well as the specimen
size and geometry
 Severity of quench indicates the rate of
cooling; the more rapid the quench, the more
severe the quench
Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

 Of the three most common quenching media

—water, oil, and air—water produces the
most severe quench, followed by oil, which is
more effective than air
 The degree of agitation of each medium also
influences the rate of heat removal.
Increasing the velocity of the quenching
medium across the specimen surface
enhances the quenching effectiveness
Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

 Oil quenches are suitable for many alloy steels

 For high carbon steels, water quench is too
severe  internal stress  distortion  cracking
and warping
 Air cooling  pearlitic structure
Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

 During the quenching of a steel specimen, heat energy

must be transported to the surface before it can be
dissipated into the quenching medium  the cooling rate
within and throughout the interior of a steel structure
varies with position and depends on the geometry and
size
 Diagrams of cooling rate as a function of diameter for
cylindrical bars at four radial positions; cooling rate is
also expressed as equivalent Jominy distance, since
these data are often used in conjunction with
hardenability curves  can be used to predict the final
hardness
Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

a. Mild agitated water b. Oil quenched

 Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

 Prediction of the hardness

transverse along cross
section of a specimen
 Chemical composition
influences hardness
(hardenability) along cross
section (fig.a)
 Specimen diameter also
influences hardenability
(fig. b)
Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

 Since the heat energy is dissipated to the quenching

medium at the specimen surface, the rate of cooling
for a particular quenching treatment depends on the
ratio of surface area to the mass of the specimen
 The larger the ratio, the more rapid will be the
cooling rate and, consequently, the deeper the
hardening effect
 Irregular shapes with edges and corners have larger
surface-to-mass ratios than regular and rounded
shapes (e.g., spheres and cylinders) and are thus
more suitable to hardening by quenching
Jominy end-quench test
Influence of quenching medium, specimen size,
and geometry

 Useful: correlate
hardenabilty curves,
and geometry effect to
determine a hardness
profile
Tempering
 In the as-quenched state, martensite, hard, is
very and so brittle that it cannot be used for
most applications; also, any internal stresses
that may have been introduced during
quenching have a weakening effect
 The ductility and toughness of martensite
may be enhanced and the internal stresses
relieved by a heat treatment known as
tempering
 Tempering
 Tempering is accomplished by
heating a martensitic steel to a
temperature below the eutectoid
for a specified time period.
 Normally, tempering is carried
out at temperatures between
250 and 650 C; internal
stresses, however, may be
relieved at temperatures as low
as 200 C
 During tempering, diffusion
occurs  formation of tempered
martensite
Tempering
 Transformation of martensite  tempered martensite
martensite (BCT, single phase) tempered martensite (+Fe3C phases)
 Microstructure of tempered martensite consists of
extremely small and uniformly dispersed cementite
particles embedded within a continuous ferrite matrix.
This is similar to the microstructure of spheroidite except
that the cementite particles are much, much smaller
Electron micrograph of
tempered martensite.
Tempering was carried out
at 594 C. The small
particles are the cementite
phase; the matrix phase is -
ferrite
Tempering
Tempering
 Tempering determines the size of the cementite
particles  influences the mechanical behavior of
tempered martensite
 Increasing the particle size decreases the ferrite–
cementite phase boundary area and, consequently,
results in a softer and weaker material yet one that
is tougher and more ductile
 Heat treatment variables are temperature and time,
and most treatments are constant-temperature
processes
Tempering
 The dependence of
tensile and yield
strength and
ductility on
tempering
temperature for
4340 alloy steel
 Tempering
 The time dependence of
hardness at several
different temperatures
 With increasing time the
hardness decreases,
which corresponds to the
growth and coalescence
of the cementite particles Water quenched 1080 steel
 Overtempered martensite
is relatively soft and
ductile
Tempering
Temper embrittlement
 Reduction of toughness as measured by impact tests, after
tempering process. It occurs at 375 and 575 C
 Steel alloys that contain appreciable concentrations of the Mn,
Ni, or Cr and, in addition,one or more of Sb, P, and Sn as
impurities in relatively low concentrations are susceptible to
temper embrittlement
 The alloying elements and impurities shifts the ductile-to-brittle
transition to significantly higher temperatures; the ambient
temperature thus lies below this transition in the brittle regime
 Can be avoided by compositional control, and/or tempering
above 575 or below 375, followed by quenching to room
temperature.
 Furthermore, the toughness of steels that have been
embrittled may be improved significantly by heating to about
600 C and then rapidly cooling to below 300 C.
Martempering
 Modification of conventional quench and
tempering process
 Also produces tempered martensite structure
 Austempering
 Heat treatment to produce
bainite structure
 Process: austenization,
quenching to temperature
slightly above Ms (normally
using quenching medium
salt bath/molten salt), held
isothermally for a given
time, and then air-cooled to
room temperature
Austempering
 Advantage over conventional quench and
temper:
 Improved ductility and impact strength for a given
hardness
 Decrease cracking and distortion quenching
Precipitation Hardening
Introduction

 The strength and hardness of some metal alloys

may be enhanced by the formation of extremely
small uniformly dispersed particles of a second
phase within the original phase matrix; this must be
accomplished by phase transformations that are
induced by appropriate heat treatments 
precipitation hardening
 Small particles = precipitates
 Other name is age hardening, because the strength
develops with time, or as the alloy ages
 Precipitation Hardening
Introduction
 It can be used for non-ferrous and ferrous metal
 Prerequisites:
 an appreciable maximum solubility of one component
in the other, on the order of several percent
 a solubility limit that rapidly decreases in concentration
of the major component with temperature reduction
Precipitation Hardening
Process

1. Solution heat treatment, followed rapid

quench to room temperature
2. Precipitation heat treatment or aging
 Precipitation Hardening
Solution heat treatment
 Heating to single phase solid solution
area () so that all solute atoms are
dissolved to form a single phase solid
solution ()
 Followed by rapid cooling to room
temperature  prevent any diffusion
and formation of other phases (
phase)
 A nonequilibrium situation exists in
which only the -phase solid solution
supersaturated with B atoms is
present at in this state the alloy is
relatively soft and weak
 Precipitation Hardening
Precipitation heat treatment (aging)
 The supersaturated solid solution is
ordinarily heated to an intermediate
temperature, T2 within the two-phase
region, at which temperature diffusion
rates become appreciable
 The  precipitate phase begins to
form as finely dispersed particles of
Cβ composition
 After the appropriate aging time at
T2, the alloy is cooled to room
temperature; normally, the cooling
rate is not an important
consideration
Precipitation Hardening
Precipitation heat treatment (aging)

 The character of the  precipitates, and

subsequently the strength and hardness of
the alloy, depend on both the precipitation
temperature and the aging time
 For some alloys, aging occurs spontaneously
at room temperature over extended time
periods
Precipitation Hardening
Precipitation heat treatment (aging)

 The dependence of the growth of the precipitate particles

on time and temperature under isothermal heat
treatment conditions
 With increasing time, the strength or hardness increases,
reaches a maximum, and finally diminishes
 This reduction in strength and hardness that occurs after
long time periods is known as overaging
Precipitation Hardening
 Summary of the
process
 Natural aging: age
hardening at ambient
temperature, long
periods
 Artificial aging: age
hardening at elevated
temperature, shorter
period
 Precipitation Hardening
Mechanism of hardening
 Consider Al-Cu alloys
 The  phase is a substitutional
solid solution of copper in
aluminum, whereas the
intermetallic compound CuAl2
is designated the  phase
 During the precipitation heat
treatment, several transition
phases are first formed in a
specific sequence in relation to
the development of equilibrium
 phase
 Precipitation Hardening
Mechanism of hardening
 The mechanical properties are
influenced by the character of the
particles of the transition phases
 During the initial hardening stage Cu
atoms cluster together in very small
and thin discs that are only one or two
atoms thick and approximately 25
atoms in diameter; these form at
countless positions within the phase.
 The clusters, sometimes called zones,
are so small that they are really not
regarded as distinct precipitate
particles
 However, with time and the
subsequent diffusion of copper atoms,
zones become particles as they
increase in size
 Precipitation Hardening
Mechanism of hardening
 The precipitate particles then pass through two
transition phases ’ and ’’ before the formation of
the equilibrium  phase
 The size of the precipitate particles is very small in
order of nm

Supersaturated  solid solution ’’ precipitate particles  precipitate particles

 Precipitation Hardening
Mechanism of hardening
 The strengthening and
hardening effects result from the
innumerable particles of the
transition and metastable phases
 maximum strength coincides with
the formation of the ’’ phase,
which may be preserved upon
cooling the alloy to room
temperature.
 Overaging results from continued
particle growth and the
development of ’ and  phases
 reduce strength & hardness
Precipitation Hardening
Mechanism of hardening

 The strengthening process is accelerated as

the temperature is increased
Precipitation Hardening
Mechanism of hardening
 Lattice strains must be established at the precipitate–
matrix interface. For aluminum–copper alloys, there is a
distortion of the crystal lattice structure around and within
the vicinity of particles of these transition phases
 During plastic deformation, dislocation motions are
effectively impeded as a result of these distortions, and,
consequently, the alloy becomes harder and stronger.
 As the  phase forms, the resultant overaging (softening
and weakening) is explained by a reduction in the
resistance to slip that is offered by these precipitate
particles.

’’ precipitate particles  precipitate particles

Surface Hardening
Introduction

Purpose
 Harden surface layers (0.1mm – 5 mm)

 To improve wear resistance

 Increase surface strength for load carrying (crush

resistance)
 To improve resistance to high contact stresses

 Impart favorable residual compressive stresses

 Produce tough core for resistance to impact

 To improve fracture toughness

 To improve fatigue resistance

Surface Hardening
Methods
 Carburizing: liquid, pack, vacuum, plasma (ion), gas
try
 Cyaniding m is
che
 Carbonitriding ace
o n
rf i
 Nitriding: gas, liquid, plasma (ion) ed su diffus
lt er by
 Boronizing: pack, vacuum A

 Induction hardening i ng
t
 Flame hardening e hea
ac
 Laser surface hardening urf
S
 Electron beam surface hardening
Surface Hardening
Applications

 Applied to components that require hard

outer surface but tough inner core
 Gears, bearings, valves, shafts, bearing
races, cams, hand tools, rolls, machine tools,
sprockets, piston rings
Surface Hardening
Carburizing

 A process of adding C into the surface of steels. It is

done by exposing the component to a C rich
atmosphere at elevated temperature and allowing
diffusion of C atoms into steel
 One of the cheapest and oldest method
 Diffusion process
 Techniques: pack carburizing, liquid carburizing, gas
carburizing, plasma carburizing, vacuum carburizing
 gas carburizing is commonly used
 Carbon content achieved: 0.7-1.2 wt %
Surface Hardening
Carburizing

 Suitable for low carbon steel and alloy steels

containing 0.08-0.2 wt% C
 Carburizing temperature: 850-950 C
 Carburizing time: 4 – 72 h
 Surface hardness achieved: 55 – 65 HRc
 Case depth: 0.5 – 1.5 mm, medium (in practice)
 After carburizing, the component may be
quenched and then tempered to the desired
hardness
Surface Hardening
Carburizing
Surface Hardening
Carburizing
Surface Hardening
Carburizing
Surface Hardening
Carburizing

 Problem in carburizing is decarburization

 Reaction during carburizing i.e.
Fe + 2CO ↔ Fe(C) + CO2 is reversible reaction
 C is depleted from the steel’s surface when
the steel is heated inside furnace with CO2
atmosphere  decarburization
Surface Hardening
Nitriding

 A process of diffusing nitrogen into the surface of

steel. The nitrogen forms nitrides with element such
as Al, Cr, Mo, V. The parts are heat treated and
tempered before nitriding
 Methods: plasma, gas and liquid nitriding
 Suitable for low alloy steel containing Al, Cr, Mo, V
 Nitriding temperature: 500 C – 600 C (below A1
 Reaction during nitriding: NH3 ↔ N + 3H
 Surface hardness achieved: up to 1000 HVN
 Case depth: 0.1-0.6 mm, shallow
Surface Hardening
Nitriding
Surface Hardening
Carbonitriding

 Combination of gas carburizing and nitriding

 Ammonia introduced to gas carburizing
atmosphere  nitrogen+carbon diffusion
 Better hardenability than carburized case
 Process temperature: 845-900 C
 Case depth: shallow
Surface Hardening
Carbonitriding
Surface Hardening
Cyaniding

 Liquid carbonitriding
 Heating process is conducted in cyanide
alkali solution e.g. sodium cynide
 Surface of steel will absorb C & N from
solution  quenching  hard layer on
surface with higher N content
Surface Hardening
Boronizing

 Process of diffusing boron (B) into the

surface of steel  forming boride
 Methods: pack and vacuum boronizing
 Process temperature: 760-1095 C
 Case depth: shallow
Surface Hardening
Boronizing
Surface Hardening
A few comparisons
Surface Hardening
A few comparisons
Surface Hardening
Flame hardening

 Heat-treating process in which a thin surface

shell of a steel part is heated rapidly to a
temperature above the critical point of the
steel (austenitized), then the part is quickly
quenched, transforming the austenite to
martensite while leaving the core of the part
in its original state.
 Depths of hardening from about 0.8 to 6.4
mm
Surface Hardening
Flame hardening

 Heating: flame from combustion of a mixture

of fuel gas with oxygen or air
 Final hardness & depth of hardening:
 the fuels used, the design of the flame head, the
duration of heating, the hardenability of the work
material, and the quenching medium and method
of quenching used
 Methods:
 Spot, or stationary, Progressive, Spinning,
Combination progressive-spinning
Surface Hardening
Flame hardening

Spot

Progressive

Spinning

Progressive & Spinning

Surface Hardening
Flame hardening
Surface Hardening
Laser hardening

 Heating source: laser beam

 Local austenization at high temperature in
very short time, quenching via air and heat
conduction to surrounding part 
temperature gradien 500 C/mm
Surface Hardening
Induction hardening

 Heating source: electrical induction

 Selective surface heating, then quenched
 Depth of hardening is similar to that obtained
by flame hardening