Lecture9-Heatteatment-UniMAPPortal.ppt

rizam@kukum.edu.my Outline Heat Treatment of Steels Hardenability Influence of quenching medium, specimen size, and geometry Annealing Processes Annealing of ferrous alloys Full annealing Normalizing Process annealing Stress relief Precipitation Hardening Heat Treatment of Steels Conventional heat treatment procedures for producing martensitic steels involves continuous and rapid cooling of an austenitized specimen in some type of quenching medium, such as water, oil, or air The optimum properties of a steel that has been quenched and then tempered can be realized only if, during the quenching heat treatment, the specimen has been converted to a high content of martensite Non-uniform Cooling Rate during Quenching During the quenching treatment, it is impossible to cool the specimen at a uniform rate throughout the surface will always cool more rapidly than interior regions. The austenite will transform over a range of temperatures, yielding a possible variation of microstructure properties with position within a specimen. Heat Treatments of Steels (Cont’d) The successful heat treating of steels to produce a predominantly martensite microstructure throughout the cross section depends mainly on three factors: the composition of the alloy the type and character of the quenching medium the size and shape of the specimen Hardenability of Steels Hardenability: A measure of the ability a specific alloy to be hardened by forming martensite as a result of given heat treatment The Jominy end-quench test: to measure hardenability Hardenability One plain carbon steel (1040) and four alloy steels All five alloys have identical hardness at the quenched end (57 HRC); this hardness is a function of carbon content. The shape of the curves relates to hardenability. The hardenability from low to high: 1040 steel 5140 steel 8640 steel 4140 steel 4340 steel A water-quenched specimen of the 1040 plain carbon steel would harden only to a shallow depth below the surface, wher