MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FUNDAMENTALS Course Code : ME-2122
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Heat treatment processes and their effects
By
Ali Raza
Heat Treatment
The term heat treatment may be defined as heating a
metal to a specified temperature , keeping it at that
temperature for some time followed by cooling at
specified rate.
It is a tool to get required microstructure and properties
in the metal.
Heat Treatment
Heat treatment- Controlled heating and cooling
basically
The basic steps of heat treatment are:
Heating Soaking Cooling
Heat Treatment (Parameters)
Heating Soaking Cooling
Temperature
Medium of Rate of
Time of cooling Cooling
soaking
-Different combinations of the above parameters
-Different compositions of materials of materials and initial phases of materials
-Give rise to different heat treatments
Objectives of Heat Treatment
1. To increase the hardness of metals.
2. To relieve the stresses set up in the material after hot or cold
working.
3. To improve machinability.
4. To soften the metal.
5. To modify the structure of the material to improve its electrical
and magnetic properties.
6. To increase the qualities of a metal to provide better resistance
to heat, corrosion and wear.
Heat Treatment Processes
Normalizing,
Softening Annealing,
Tempering
Heat
Treatment
Quenching,
Hardening
Surface or Case
Hardening
Heat treatment processes types
Softening
Done to reduce strength or hardness
Remove residual stresses
Improve toughness
Restore ductility
Heat treatment processes types
Hardening
It is done to increase the strength and wear properties. One of
the pre-requisites for hardening is sufficient carbon and alloy
content.
If there is sufficient carbon content then the steel can be directly
hardened. Otherwise the surface of the part has to be carbon
enriched using some diffusion treatment hardening techniques
Annealing
Annealing is achieved by heating the metal to a specified
temperature (Above recrystallization temperature) ,
soaking the metal until it is uniformly heated, and cooling
it in furnace/Oven (30 to 200oC per hour) that will produce
a refined micro structure.
(Equilibrium structure)
Annealing (Objectives)
To soften the metal so that it may be easily machined .
To improve mechanical properties like strength and ductility.
To relieve internal stresses which may have been caused by hot or cold
working or by unequal contraction in casting.
To alter electrical, magnetic or other physical properties.
To remove gases trapped in the metal during initial casting.
Normalising
Normalizing is achieved by heating the metal to a specified
temperature (Above recrystallization temperature)which is
higher than either the hardening or annealing
temperatures), soaking the metal until it is uniformly
heated, and cooling it in still air.
Normalising (Objectives)
To improve machinability, tensile strength and structure of weld.
To remove stresses caused by cold working processes like hammering,
rolling, bending, etc., which makes the metal brittle and unreliable.
To remove dislocations caused in the internal structure of the metal
due to hot working.
To improve certain mechanical and electrical properties.
Hardening/Quenching
It is done to increase the strength and wear properties. One of
the pre-requisites for hardening is sufficient carbon and alloy
content.
If there is sufficient carbon content then the steel can be directly
hardened. Otherwise the surface of the part has to be carbon
enriched using some diffusion treatment hardening techniques
Hardening /Quenching
Sudden Cooling
Dipping the hot metal into a quenching medium(liquid), such as oil
(Slow cooling rate), water (Moderate cooling rate), or brine (fast
cooling rate) Liquid Nitrogen (Very fast cooling rate)
There are chances of cracks development if cooling is done very fast.
The greater the rate of quenching, the harder is the resulting structure
of steel.
Non-Equilibrium structure
Problems in Quenching
The steel hardened by rapid quenching is very hard and brittle.
It also contains internal stresses which are severe and
unequally distributed to cause cracks or even rupture of
hardened steel.
SOLUTION:
“Tempering”
Tempering
Tempering consists of heating the metal to a specified
temperature (below recrystallization temperature) and then
permitting the metal to cool at desired rate.
To reduce brittleness of the hardened steel and thus to increase ductility.
To remove the internal stresses caused by rapid cooling of steel.
To make steel tough to resist shock and fatigue.
Case Hardening
The hardness of the surface of the metal by infusing elements into the materials surface,
forming a thin layer of harder alloy
Case hardening is a material processing method that is used to increase the hardness of the
outer surface of a metal by infusing elements into the materials surface, forming a thin layer of
harder alloy.
Case hardening results in a very thin layer of metal that is notably harder than the larger
volume of metal underneath of the hardened layer
when the part is cooled, the outer surface or case becomes hard, leaving the, inside of the piece
soft but very tough.
This techniques is used for steels with a low carbon content. Carbon is added to the outer
surface of the steel, to a depth of approximately 0.03mm. The inner core is left untouched and
so still processes properties, such as flexibility and is still relatively soft.
This type of treatment is applied to gears, ball bearings, railway wheels, etc.