900

Ac3 Start of ferrite transformation Start of pearlite transformation

33

880 A c1 700 Temperature, C 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 1

46

Austenite

84 91 81

93

Pearlite

95

Ms

Start of transformation
35 31

End of transformation Bainite

Martensite Hardness HRC Hardness HRB

10 Time, s

102
1 2 4 8 min

103
15 60 1

104

105

106

4 h

24 1 2 3 5 days 10

FIGURE 6.70 Isothermal transformation (IT) diagram of the steel DIN 17CrNiMo6. Austenitizing ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, temperature 8708C. (From G. Spur and T. Sto rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.) Wa

temperature to the chosen transformation temperature without any undercooling. This cooling process depends on several factors, and the main factors include the workpiece crosssectional size, the loading arrangement, the temperature difference between the austenitizing temperature and the temperature of the cooling medium, and the heat transfer coefficient between the workpieces surface and the ambient.

6.2.4 SOFT ANNEALING (SPHEROIDIZING ANNEALING)

Soft or spheroidizing annealing is an annealing process at temperatures close below or close above the Ac1 temperature, with subsequent slow cooling. The microstructure of steel before soft annealing is either ferritepearlite (hypoeutectoid steels), pearlite (eutectoid steels), or cementitepearlite (hypereutectoid steels). Sometimes a previously hardened structure exists before soft annealing. The aim of soft annealing is to produce a soft structure by changing all hard 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. Figure 6.71 shows the structure with spheroidized carbides (a) after soft annealing of a medium-carbon low-alloy steel and (b) after soft annealing of a high-speed steel. Such a soft structure is required for good machinability of steels having more than 0.6% C and for all coldworking processes that include plastic deformation. Whereas for cold-working processes the strength and hardness of the material should be as low as possible, for good machinability medium strength or hardness values are required. Therefore, for instance, when ball bearing steels are soft annealed, a hardness tolerance is usually specified. In the production sequence, soft annealing is usually performed with a semiproduct (after rolling or forging), and the sequence of operations is hot working, soft annealing, cold forming, hardening, and tempering. The required degree of spheroidization (i.e., 8090% of globular cementite or carbides) is sometimes specified. To evaluate the structure after soft annealing, there are sometimes internal standards, for a particular steel grade, showing the percentage of achieved globular

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(a )

(b )

FIGURE 6.71 Structures of (a) a medium-carbon low-alloy steel DIN 50CrMoV4 after soft annealing at 7207408C and (b) a high-speed steel annealed at 8208C. Magnification 500. (From G. Spur and ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, T. Sto 1987.)

cementite, as shown in Figure 6.72 for the ball bearing steel DIN 100Cr6. The degree of spheroidization is expressed in this case as percentage of remaining lamellar pearlite. The physical mechanism of soft annealing is based on the coagulation of cementite particles within the ferrite matrix, for which the diffusion of carbon is decisive. Globular cementite within the ferritic matrix is the structure having the lowest energy content of all structures in the ironcarbon system. The carbon diffusion depends on temperature, time, and the kind and amount of alloying elements in the steel. The solubility of carbon in ferrite, which is very low at room temperature (0.02% C), increases considerably up to the Ac1 temperature. At temperatures close to Ac1, the diffusion of carbon, iron, and alloying atoms is so great that it is possible to change the structure in the direction of minimizing its energy content. The degree of coagulation as well as the size of carbides after soft annealing is dependent also on the starting structure before annealing. If the starting structure is pearlite, the spheroidization of carbides takes place by the coagulation of the cementite lamellae. This process can be formally divided into two stages. At first the cementite lamellae assume a knucklebone shape, as shown in Figure 6.73. As annealing continues, the lamellae form globules at their ends and, by means of boundary surface energy, split up into spheroids, hence the name spheroidizing. During the second stage, some cementite (carbide) globules grow at the cost of fine carbide particles, which disappear. In both stages, the rate of this process is controlled by diffusion. The thicker the cementite lamellae, the more energy necessary for this process. A fine lamellar pearlite structure may more easily be transformed to a globular form. In establishing the process parameters for a soft (spheroidizing) annealing, a distinction should be drawn among hypoeutectoid carbon steels, hypereutectoid carbon steels, and alloyed steels. In any case the value of the relevant Ac1 temperature must be known. It can be taken from the relevant IT or CCT diagram or calculated according to the formula Ac1 739 22(% C) 2(% Si) 7(% Mn) 14(% Cr) 13(% Mo) 13(% Ni) 20(% V), [ C] (6:36)

The temperature range for soft annealing of unalloyed carbon steels may be taken from the ironcarbon diagram as shown in Figure 6.74. The holding time at the selected temperature is approximately 1 min/mm of the workpiece cross section. For alloyed steels, the soft annealing temperature may be calculated according to the empirical formula

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FIGURE 6.72 Internal standard of the German company Edelstahlwerke Buderus A.G.-Wetzlar for evaluation of the degree of spheroidization after soft annealing of grade DIN 100Cr6 steel. Magnification 500. Amount of lamellar pearlite remaining 1, 0%; 2, 8%; 3, 20%; 4, 35%; 5, 60%; 6, 80%. (From ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, G. Spur and T. Sto Munich, 1987.)

FIGURE 6.73 Schematic presentation of the process of transforming cementite lamella to spheroids during soft annealing. (From K.E. Thelning, Steel and Its Heat Treatment, 2nd ed., Butterworths, London, 1984.)

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1050 1000 Temperature, C 950 900 850

G

800 750 700

P

O
K S

650 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Carbon content, wt%

FIGURE 6.74 Temperature range for soft annealing of unalloyed steels having carbon contents of ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa rme0.61.35% C. (From G. Spur and T. Sto behandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.)

T 705 20(% Si % Mn % Cr % Mo % Ni % W) 100(% V) [ C]

(6:37)

This formula is valid only up to the following values of the alloying elements: 0.9% C; 1.8% Si; 1.1% Mn; 1.8% Cr; 0.5% Mo; 5% Ni; 0.5% W; and 0.25% V. If the steel has higher amounts of alloying elements, only these indicated maximum values are to be taken into account. Figure 6.75 shows possible temperaturetime regimes for soft annealing. The swinging regime (Figure 6.75c) is used to accelerate the transformation of cementite lamellae to globular form. Increasing the temperature above Ac1 facilitates the dissolution of cementite lamellae. At subsequent cooling below Ac1 this dissolution process is interrupted and the parts broken off (which has less resistance to boundary surface energy) coagulate more easily and quickly. stler, a degree of spheroidization e has been On the basis of the investigations of Ko established that gives the amount of globular cementite compared to the total amount of
(a)
Temperature, C Temperature, C Temperature, C 800 700 600 500 400 800 700 600 500 400 800 700 600 500 400

Ac1

(b)

Ac1

(c)

Ac1

FIGURE 6.75 Temperaturetime regimes at soft annealing. (a) Annealing at 208C below Ac1, for unalloyed steels and for alloyed steels with bainitic or martensitic starting structure; (b) annealing at 108C above Ac1 (start) and decreasing temperature to 308C below Ac1 for alloyed steels; (c) swinging ferle (Eds.), Handbuch annealing +58C around Ac1 for hypereutectoid steels. (From G. Spur and T. Sto rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.) der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa

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Annealing temperature, K

1000 960 920 880 840 800 0.1

Degree of spheroidization e
0.40 0.50 0.60 0.80 0.95

0.20

0.2

0.4

0.6 0.8 1

8 10

Annealing time, h

FIGURE 6.76 Timetemperature diagram for soft annealing of the unalloyed steel DIN C35 (previously stler; see H.J. Eckstein deformed 50%), to achieve the required degree of spheroidization. (After Ko rmebehandlung von Stahl, 2nd ed., VEB Deutscher Verlag fu r Grundstoffin(Ed.), Technologie der Wa dustrie, Leipzig, 1987.)

cementite in a steel after soft annealing. e 1 means that 100% of the globular cementite (i.e., no lamellar cementite) has remained. Because the degree of spheroidization depends on the time and temperature of the soft annealing process, diagrams may be established that correlate the degree of spheroidization with the time and temperature of soft annealing. Figure 6.76 shows such a diagram for the unalloyed steel DIN C35. The degree of spheroidization, especially above 80% (e 0.8), has considerable influence on ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation, as shown in Figure 6.77 for the unalloyed eutectoid steel DIN C75. The hardness after soft annealing depends on the time and temperature of spheroidization, as shown in Figure 6.78 for an unalloyed steel with 0.89% C. The machinability of steels with more than 0.6% C can be increased by soft annealing as shown in Figure 6.79, from which it can be seen that decreasing tensile strength and increasing the degree of spheroidization allows a higher turning speed (v60) in m/min. The cooling after soft annealing should generally be slow. Depending on the steel grade, the cooling should be performed as follows: For carbon and low-alloy steels up to 6508C (12008F), with a cooling rate of 2025 K/h (furnace cooling)
850
Rm 28

Tensile strength (Rm) Yield strength (Re), MPa

750 650 550 450

A Re

25 22 19 16 13 A (L0 = 80 mm) Elongation, %

350 250

10 0 20 40 60 80 100 Degree of spheroidization, %

FIGURE 6.77 Change of ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and elongation with increasing spheroidization of an unalloyed eutectoid steel, DIN C75. (From H.J. Eckstein (Ed.), Technologie der rmebehandlung von Stahl, 2nd ed., VEB Deutscher Verlag fu r Grundstoffindustrie, Leipzig, 1987.) Wa

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130

Hardness, HRB

110

90
600C 625C 650C 700C 675C

70 0 50 100 Time, h 150 200

FIGURE 6.78 Hardness of an unalloyed steel with 0.89% C after soft annealing, depending on the rmebehandlung spheroidization time and temperature. (From H.J. Eckstein (Ed.), Technologie der Wa r Grundstoffindustrie, Leipzig, 1987.) von Stahl, 2nd ed., VEB Deutscher Verlag fu

For medium-alloy steels up to 6308C (11668F), with a cooling rate of 1520 K/h (furnace cooling) For high-alloy steels up to 6008C (11128F), with a cooling rate of 1015 K/h (furnace cooling) Further cooling below the temperatures indicated is usually performed in air

6.2.5 RECRYSTALLIZATION ANNEALING

Recrystallization annealing is an annealing process at temperatures above the recrystallization temperature of the cold-worked material, without phase transformation, that aims at regeneration of properties and changes in the structure that exists after a cold-forming process
200

Turning speed (v60), m/min

150

100

a b c 500 600 700 800 900 Tensile strength Rm, N/mm2 1000

50

FIGURE 6.79 Influence of the ultimate tensile strength and degree of spheroidization on machinability of steels for carburizing and structural steels for hardening and tempering, expressed as 1 h turning speed (v60) in m/min. (a) Spheroidization degree less than 30%; (b) spheroidization degree between 40 ferle (Eds.), Handbuch and 60%; (c) spheroidization degree greater than 70%. (From G. Spur and T. Sto rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.) der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa

2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.