Chapter11.ThermalProcessingofMetalAlloys-University.pptVIP

Introduction to Materials Science, Chapter 11, Thermal Processing of Metal Alloys University of Virginia, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering Will learn more on how thermal processing techniques can be used to control microstructure and mechanical properties of metal alloys Chapter 11 Sections 11.7 to end Thermal Processing of Metal Alloys Annealing, Stress Relief More on Heat Treatment of Steels Precipitation Hardening Stages of annealing: Heating to required temperature Holding (“soaking”) at constant temperature Cooling Soaking time at the high temperature needs to be long enough to allow desired transformation to occur. Cooling is done slowly to avoid warping/cracking of due to the thermal gradients and thermo-elastic stresses within the or even cracking the metal piece. Purposes of annealing: Relieve internal stresses Increase ductility, toughness, softness Produce specific microstructure Annealing Process Annealing – effects of work-hardening (recovery and recrystallization) and increase ductility. Heating limited to avoid excessive grain growth and oxidation Stress Relief Annealing – minimizes stresses due to Plastic deformation during machining Nonuniform cooling Phase transformations between phases with different densities Annealing temperatures relatively low so that useful effects of cold working are not eliminated Examples of heat treatment Lower critical temperature A1 below which austenite does not exist Upper critical temperatures A3 and Acm above which all material is austenite Annealing of Fe-C Alloys (I) Normalizing: annealing heat treatment just above upper critical temperature to reduce grain sizes (of pearlite and proeutectoid phase) and make more uniform size distributions. Austenitizing complete transformation to austenite Annealing of Fe-C Alloys (II) Full annealing: austenizing + slow cooling (several hours) Produces coarse pearlite (and possible proeutectoid phase) that is relatively soft and ductile. Us