HEAT TREATMENT

Heat Treatment
carried out first by heating it in solid
state and then cooling it.
to impart the required or desirable
mechanical properties to steel or alloys for
normal operations.

Objectives of Heat Treatment

To relieve internal stresses, which are set up
in the metal due to cold or hot working
To soften the metal
To improve hardness of the metal surface
To improve machinability
To refine grain structure
To improve mechanical properties like tensile
strength, ductility, and shock resistance etc
To improve electrical and magnetic properties
To increase the resistance to wear, tear, heat
and corrosion, etc.

Process of Heat Treatment

The process consists of:
1. Heating the metal to a specified
temperature
2. Holding (soaking) the metal at increased
temperature for a specified period
3. Cooling the metal (i.e., quenching)
according to specified process

Types of Heat Treatment

Processes
Annealing
Normalizing
Quenching/Hardening

Annealing
Heating and soaking metal at suitable
temperature for a certain time, and slowly
cooling
Reasons for annealing:
Reduce hardness and brittleness
Alter microstructure to obtain desirable
mechanical properties
Soften metals to improve machinability or
formability
Recrystallize cold worked metals
Relieve residual stresses induced by shaping

Full Annealing
Main objective is to soften the metal,
refine its grain structure, to relieve stress
and to remove trapped gases in the metal
Consists of heating the steel 30C to 50C
above the upper critical temperature and
then slowly cooled in the furnace.

Stress-Relief Annealing
Stress Relief Anneal is used to reduce
residual stresses in large castings,
welded parts and cold-formed parts. Such
parts tend to have stresses due to thermal
cycling or work hardening.
Parts are heated to temperatures of up to
600 - 650 C (1112 - 1202 F), and held for
an extended time (about 1 hour or more)
and then slowly cooled in still air.

Normalizing
The process consists of heating the steel
30C to 50C above its upper critical
temperature),held at this temperature at
certain period and then cooled in air .

Normalizing (cont.)
Main objects of normalizing are:
To refine the grain structure
To improve machinability, tensile strength and
structure of the weld
To remove strains caused by cold working
processes like hammering, rolling which makes
the metal brittle and unreliable
To remove dislocations caused in the internal
structure of the steel due to hot working
To improve certain mechanical and electrical
properties

Quenching/ Hardening

Consists of heating the metal up to 30C 50C above its upper critical temperature,
held for a considerable time and quenched
(cooled suddenly) in a suitable cooling
medium.
Water and brine used in rapid cooling for
low and medium carbon steels.
Mineral oil used for high carbon and alloy
steels.

Quenching/ Hardening (cont.)

The steel is heated to Austenitic region. When
suddenly quenched, the Martensite is formed.
When slowly quenched it would form Austenite
and Pearlite which is a partly hard and partly soft
structure. When the cooling rate is extremely
slow then it would be mostly Pearlite which is
extremely soft.

Purpose of Quenching/ Hardening

To increase the hardness of metal so that
it can resist wear
To enable it to cut other metals, i.e., to
make it suitable for cutting tools.

Quenching Media
Water: Quenching can be done by plunging the hot steel in water. This
slows down cooling until the bubbles break and allow water contact with
the hot steel. As the water contacts and boils, a great amount of heat is
removed from the steel. Water is a good rapid quenching medium,
provided good agitation is done. However, water is corrosive with steel,
and the rapid cooling can sometimes cause distortion or cracking.

Salt Water: Salt water is a more rapid quench medium than plain water
because the bubbles are broken easily and allow for rapid cooling of the
part. However, salt water is even more corrosive than plain water, and
hence must be rinsed off immediately.

Oil: Oil is used when a slower cooling rate is desired. Since oil has a very
high boiling point, the transition from start of Martensite formation to the
finish is slow and this reduces the likelihood of cracking. Oil quenching
results in fumes, spills, and sometimes a fire hazard.

Polymer quench: Polymer quenches that will produce a cooling rate in

between water and oil. The cooling rate can be altered by varying the
components in the mixture-as these are composed of water and some
glycol polymers. Polymer quenches are capable of producing repeatable
results with less corrosion than water and less of a fire hazard than oil. But,
these repeatable results are possible only with constant monitoring of the
chemistry.

EFFECT OF HEAT TREATMENT ON STEEL