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Hardenability

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 HOT D. SCOTT MACKENZIE
SEAT
RESEARCH SCIENTIST – METALLURGY
HOUGHTON INTERNATIONAL INC.
HARDENABILITY
Factors that affect hardenability and the rate of austenite transformation —
carbon content, grain size, and alloying elements — can be used to calculate
hardenability for comparing alloy grades.
STEEL IS A MIXTURE OF IRON, CARBON FROM 0.0 TO 1.2
percent, and alloying elements. Carbon provides the hardness, and
the alloying elements provide how deep this hardness will occur. This
concept is called “hardenability.” Hardenability should not be confused
with the maximum hardness after quenching, which is only dependent
on the amount of carbon present and the percentage of martensite.
Rather, hardenability is how deep a steel alloy can be hardened. Steels
that deeply harden are called high hardenability steels, while steels that
do not harden deeply are called low hardenability steels.
The major factors affecting hardenability and the rate of austenite
transformation are carbon content, grain size, and alloying elements.
TRANSFORMATIONS OF AUSTENITE
Heat treating steel requires that the component be heated into the
austenite phase range. Once the part is thoroughly heated into the
austenite range, then the part is cooled in a controlled fashion to
achieve the desired microstructure. If the part is cooled slowly, the
microstructure will consist of pearlite and ferrite; if cooled rapidly,
the part will consist of martensite. If an intermediate cooling rate is
achieved, bainite or a mixed microstructure will result. The required
rates to achieve the desired microstructures are governed by the
carbon and alloy content. This is shown schematically in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Decomposition of austenite into different microstructures
In general, for most heat-treated products, the desired microstruc-
ture is martensite. Martensite provides a hard microstructure for high
wear and strength applications. It is also brittle and must be tempered
to improve ductility. Non-martensitic transformation products such
as pearlite and bainite are avoided because they reduce hardness. In
case-carburized parts, the core may be a mixture of ferrite, pearlite,
and bainite to provide additional ductility for the tooth loads.
GRAIN SIZE
The effect of grain size is similar to that of alloy additions. Increasing
the grain size retards the diffusion of carbon (a further distance to
travel), promoting the formation of martensite. Nucleation of pearlite
occurs at prior austenite grain boundaries. With a coarse grain size,
20 gearsolutions.com
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Figure 2: Effect of ASTM grain size on the hardenability of four shallow-hardening steels
there is less surface area at the grain boundaries to nucleate. Finer
grain size increases the grain boundary area and promotes nucleation
of pearlite. The higher nucleation rate at finer grain sizes will result
in the decrease of time needed to complete the formation of pearlite.
As the grain size increases (ASTM grain size decreases), the harden-
ability increases. This is shown in Figure 2.
In general, the effect of grain size is independent of composition.
For instance, an increase of ASTM grain size number (e.g., ASTM
6 to 5) will exhibit the same proportional increase in hardenability.
Grain size can also have deleterious effects of decreasing tough-
ness. Modern steel practice is to create a fine grain size to improve
properties, especially toughness. While it is possible to increase the
hardenability of a lean alloy by increasing the grain size, this is usually
impractical due to the objectionable decrease in toughness. Modern
steel mill practice has excellent grain size control, achieving, on a
routine basis, grain sizes that exceed an ASTM number of 8 and often
averaging 9 to 11. In mills where there is not good control of grain
size, the grain size can vary from ASTM grain size number of 2 to
8. This can cause variability in heat treating response and problems
with localized high hardenability. This combination can increase the
tendency of cracking and distortion.
COMPOSITION (CARBON AND ALLOYING ELEMENTS)
Increasing the carbon content tends to retard austenite transformation.
This enables a slower quench for reduced distortion while maintaining
hardness. The as-quenched hardness of an alloy is only dependent
on the amount of carbon present (see Figure 3). Additional alloying
elements do not increase the achievable maximum as-quenched hard-
ness of the steel. Alloying elements, such as nickel, chromium, and
others, retard diffusion of carbon within the steel. This diffusion of
carbon is needed for the formation of pearlite. Martensite formation
is promoted. Therefore, alloying elements promote the formation of
martensite and allow martensite formation at lower quenching rates.
This enables a part to be more deeply hardened.
1/24/17 10:58 AM
 Figure 4: Hardness distribution of AISI 1040 and AISI 6140 in various bar diameters,
Figure 3: Maximum hardness as a function of carbon in plain carbon steels and alloy steels [1] quenched in water [2]
Figure 4 shows the effect of hardening two different compositions of
steels with equal carbon contents. Different diameter bars are quenched,
and the hardness was measured across the diameter. The alloy steel is
through-hardened at the 13 mm diameter, but only the surface of the
carbon steel was hardened. The center of the carbon steel showed a
significant drop in the hardness in the center of the 13-mm-diameter
bar. As the diameter increased, the carbon steel hardness at the surface
dropped significantly, and at the 125 mm diameter, the bar shows little
hardening. In the case of the alloy steel bar, significant hardening still
occurred to a measurable depth in the 125-mm-diameter bar.
Figure 5: Hardenability, expressed as ideal critical diameter, as a function of
CALCULATION OF HARDENABILITY austenite grain size and carbon content for steels
Grossman [3] defined DI as the ideal diameter of a given steel that
would harden to 50-percent mar-
tensite when quenched in a bath
where H = ∞. This is the hypo-
thetical infinite cooling rate that
is equivalent to instantly reducing
the surface temperature of the
steel bar to the quenchant tem-
perature. The definition of DI
also has the advantage of being Table 1: Example illustration of the
easily calculated from heat trans- calculation of the ideal diameter calculation
fer. The ideal diameter is a true measure of hardenability associated
with a steel composition. The concept of the ideal diameter can be Figure 6: Multiplying factors as a function of concentration of various common
used to determine the critical size of steels quenched in quenchants alloying elements in alloy steels
of differing severity. From a known chemistry, the ideal diameter can be calculated. This
The calculation of the ideal diameter, DI, for non-boron containing is useful in comparing alloy grades and the specific alloy chemistries
steels relies on a series of multiplying factors. This base DI is deter- within an alloy grade. The concept of hardenability can be extended
mined from the grain size and carbon content and then is multiplied to predict expected microstructures for a specific quenchant, which
by the various factors from the composition: will be discussed in subsequent Hot Seat columns. 

These multiplying factors are tabulated in ASTM A255 [4]. The base
ideal diameter from carbon content and austenite grain size is shown in
Figure 5. Multiplying factors for alloy content are shown in Figure 6.
Consider an alloy with the composition shown in Table 1, with an
austenite grain size of 7.
From either the tabulated values from ASTM A255 or from Table
1, the base DI is determined to be 0.21 inches (5.3 mm). Taking
into account the chemistry of the alloy, the multiplying factors are
determined (see Figure 6). The resultant multiplying factors (shown
in Table 1) are multiplied together to determine the DI of this alloy
of 1.23 inches (31.2 mm).
REFERENCES
1. ASM International, “Introduction to Steel Heat Treatment,”
in Steel Heat Treating Fundamentals and Processes, vol. 4A,
J. Dossett and G. E. Totten, Eds., Materials Park, OH: ASM
International, 2013, pp. 3-25.
2. M. A. Grossman and E. C. Bain, Principles of Heat Treatment, 5th
Edition ed., Cleveland, OH: American Society for Metals, 1964.
3. M. A. Grossman, “The Nature of the Quenching Process,” in
Elements of Hardenability, Metals Park, OH: American Society for
Metals, 1952, pp. 61-91.
4. ASTM, “Standard Test Methods for Determining Hardenability of
Steel,” ASTM International, West Conshocken, PA.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: D. Scott MacKenzie, Ph.D., FASM, is a research scientist of metallurgy at Houghton International, a global metalworking fluids supplier.
He obtained his B.S. from The Ohio State University in 1981 and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 2000. He is the author of several books and
over 100 papers, articles, and chapters, and he is a member of ASM International. MacKenzie can be reached at smackenzie@houghtonintl.com.

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