Heat treatment

Definition: Heat treatment can be defined as the

process of changing the structure and

properties of metals and alloys by

controlled heating and cooling.

1
 Contd…
• The properties of steel depend on the composition

and its structure.

• The structure of steel can be changed by heat

treatment.

• So, properties of steel can be changed through heat

treatment.

2
 Stages of Heat Treatment

• Heating to required temperature

• Holding at this temperature for a period of time to

attain uniform temperature throughout the section.

• This stage is called soaking.

• Cooling the steel at specified rate.

3
 Purpose of Heat Treatment:

• To improve machinability

• To increase corrosion resistance & wear

resistance

• To refine grain size

• To relieve internal stresses

• To alter surface conditions

4
Principle of Heat Treatment

5
 Different Heat treatment processes:

• The following heat treatment processes are generally

applied to steel for obtaining the desired conditions.

Different Heat treatment processes:

1. Annealing - To soften the steel

2. Normalising - To refine the structure

6
 Different Heat treatment processes:

3. Hardening - To increase the hardness

4. Tempering - To eliminate brittleness in

hardened steel

5. Surface hardening - To provide wear resistance

surface with tough core

7
 Annealing

• Full annealing

• Process annealing (Recrystallisation annealing)

• Spheroidise annealing

• Isothermal annealing

8
 Annealing Temperatures

Type of Steel Carbon Content Annealing temp. 0C.

Dead mild Less than 0.12% 875 – 925

Low carbon 0.12 – 0.25% 840 – 870

Medium Carbon 0.25 – 0.5% 815 – 840
0.5 - 0.9% 780 - 810
High Carbon 0.9 - 1.3% 760 - 780

9
 Full Annealing

• Full annealing may be defined as the process of heating

the steel to austenite phase .

• And then cooling slowly within a closed furnace by

putting - off the heat supply.

10
 Purposes

The purposes of full annealing are

• To soften the steel,

• To relieve the internal stresses,

• To improve machinability,

• To refine the grains, and

• To reduce the hardness,

• After annealing steel becomes more ductile.

11
Full annealing

12
Process:

Full annealing consists of

• Heating the hypo-eutectoid steel to a temperature

30 to 50°C above A3 (upper critical point) and the

same amount above A1 (lower critical point) for

hypereutectoid steel.

13
• Holding at this temperature for sufficient time to allow
necessary changes to occur (i.e. to obtain austenite
structure throughout the volume)

• And then, slow cooling in the furnace.

• Too high a temperature or too long time at heat may

produce a coarsening of the grains which results loss
of toughness, hardness and strength

14
• Annealing is commonly employed for castings and

forgings to reduce the coarse grain structure prior to

machining.

• Slow cooling results the equilibrium structures

which are predicted from the equilibrium diagram.

15
Process Annealing
The main purposes of process annealing are

• To reduce the distortion of the crystal lattice

produced by cold working.

• To remove the strain hardening i.e. , improve the

ductility.

• To relieve the internal stresses, and

• To obtain a homogeneous fine-grained structure

16
Process

• Process annealing consists in heating the steel

to a temperature 600 -700°C (i.e. below critical

point, A1 ), holding at this temperature for a

prolonged period and slow cooling.

17
Process

• It should be noted that the process annealing is a

sub-critical operation (i.e., operation is carried below
lower critical temperature).

• For this reason there is no phase change and

the constituents ferrite and cementite i.e. pearlite
remain present in the structure throughout the
process.

18
• The process annealing is used extensively in the

treatment of sheet and wires.

• It is also applied to cold worked steel in order to

restore ductility and softness.

19
Process annealing
20
 Spheroidise Annealing

• spheroidise annealing consists in heating

the steel just above the lower critical temperature
(730° - 770° C) and prolonged holding at this temperature
followed by slow cooling to 600°C within the furnace.

• The subsequent cooling may be conducted in still air.

• This results in a completely spheroidised structure.

21
 Spheroidise Annealing

• Improve machinability and ductility.

• The process is applied to high carbon steel and

alloy steel.

• For low carbon steel spheroidisation makes it soft and

does not improve machinability.

22
Spheroidise annealing

23
 Isothermal Annealing

• The process of isothermal annealing is more often in

use since it saves time.

• In this process the steel is heated above the upper

critical temperature.

• And held there for a certain time at this temperature to

form austenite.

24
 Contd…

• Then the steel is suddenly cooled to a temperature

50° to 100°C below lower critical temperature.

• At this temperature the austenite is completely

decomposed to form pearlite.

• Finally, the steel is cooled in still air.

25
 Contd…

• This process is widely employed for reducing the

hardness of alloy steel.

• The major limitation of the process is, it is suitable only

for small components.

• For heavy components the structure obtained is

not uniform.

26
Isothermal annealing

27
 Normalising
• Normalising is the process of ,heating the steel to
above the upper critical temperature (810 - 930°C)
followed by cooling in still air.

Purposes
• The most common reason for normalising is to
adjust mechanical properties to suit the service
conditions.
• To relieve the internal stresses.
28
Process

• Heating the steel 30 to 50°C above upper

critical temperature (A3 for hypo-eutectoid steel
and A3 for hyper-eutectoid steel)

• Holding at this temperature for shorter time to

prevent grain growth.

29
Normalising

30
 Process

• The time allowed should be sufficient so that the

temperature is uniform throughout the section

• Cooling in air.

• The cooling rate is the major difference between

Normalising and annealing.
.
31
 Process

• The micro structures produced by normalising is

similar to that of annealing.

• But, slightly more rapid cooling results in finer grained

structure than for annealing.

• The Normalised structure of low- alloy steel

consists of sorbite (fine pearlite) and fine ferrite.

32
Process

• The increased rate of cooling in normalising

results high hardness and low ductility than

annealed steel.

• The effect of rapid rate of cooling also increases

the strength and toughness of the steel.

33
 Process

• Normalising is widely used in industry

because it is more economical than annealing.

• This process is usually performed after cooling

forging or casting for grain refinement and to
put steel in the best condition for machining or
hardening.

• Normalising temperature generally varies from

810° to 930°C.

34
Normalising

35
 Differences between annealing and
normalising

Criterion Annealing Normalising

1. Temperature 30 - 50°C above A3 for 30 - 50°C above

range hypoeutectoid steel and upper critical points
same amount above A1 (A3 for
for hypereutectoid steel hypoeutectoid and
A cm for
hypereutectoid
steel).

36
 Differences between annealing
and normalising

Criterion Annealing Normalising

2. Method of Cooled within the Cooled in the air

cooling furnace i.e. slow rate of i.e.faster rate of
cooling cooling

3. Grain Coarse grains Fine grains

structure

37
 Differences between annealing and
normalising

Criterion Annealing Normalising

4. Properties Annealed steels Normalised steels

possess high ductility posses high
and low hardness strength ,hardness
and toughness
5. Cost Takes costly furnace Cheaper,
time components spent
less time in furnace

38
Hardening:
• Hardening may be defined as the process of
heating steel to austenite phase following by
rapid cooling in a liquid bath ,such as water or oil.

Purposes:
• To develop high hardness, wear resistance

• To improve the ability to cut other materials.

• To improve strength and toughness

39
Process:
• Heating the steel to a temperature 30°C to 50°C

above A3 point for hypoeutectoid steels and 30°C to

50°C above A1,3 point for hypereutectoid steel.

• Holding at this temperature for considerable time

to complete phase transformation and

• Sudden cooling in water or oil.

40
Hardening Process

41
Process of Hardening

• Carbon steels are usually quenched in water

• Alloy steels are quenched in oil.

• The sudden cooling is called quenching.

• Quenching is non-equilibrium process and the

cooling rate is greater than or equal to critical rate.

42
• Therefore, the martensite structure obtained after

cooling is not predicted in phase diagram.

• After quenching, the hypoeutectoid steel has fine

grained martensitic structure

43
 Salient points of Hardening

• A high temperature of hardening coarsens the

austenite grain.
• A structure of this type has a low toughness.
• Steels with low carbon (upto 0.3%) will not
respond to hardening process.
• The hardness increases with carbon content.
• Above 0.6% C, the hardness cannot increase
appreciably.

44
• To obtain martensitic structure the cooling rate
should be higher than the critical rate.

• Increasing the temperature of tempering results in

decreasing the hardness of steel.

• Hardening is applied to cutting tools and machine parts

where high hardness and wear resistance is desirable.

45
Hardening Process

46
• Structure of steel obtained after hardening is no
suitable for industrial applications because of the
following reasons:
• Martensite obtained due to quenching is extremely
brittle and is not stable.
• Quenching produce high internal stresses in the
hardened steel which results heavy distortions and
cracking of the part in service.
• These unfavorable characteristics are eliminated by
subsequent heat treatment called tempering.
47
Tempering:
• Tempering is a process of heating hardened steel to
a temperature below lower critical temperature,
followed by slow cooling.
• Tempering renders the steel tough and ductile.

Purposes:
• Hardening increases strength and hardness in steel
but decreases ductility and toughness I.e. imparts
brittleness.

48
• Thus the steel under hardened condition is rarely used and
is subsequently tempered to relive brittleness.

Main purposes of tempering are :

• To reduce the thermal stresses

• To stabilize the structure of the metal

• To reduce the brittleness, and

• To increase the toughness and ductility.

49
• The process involves heating the hardened steel

below lower critical temperature.

• Holding at this temperature for sufficient time and

slow cooling in air.

• The tempering temperature must not exceed the
critical point

50
• The steel would become austenite and the benefits

of hardening treatment would be lost.

• The temperatures are related to the function of

components.

• Cutting tools are tempered between 230 -300°C

51
• If greater ductility and toughness are required as

in case of shafts and high strength bolts, the steel is

tempered at 300°C to 600°C.

• Tempering causes transformation of martensite

into troostite or sorbite.

• Formation of these structures depends on

temperature.

52
• These structures consists of ferrite and finely

divided cementite, and are different from those

produced by slow cooling which are of laminated

form.

• The change of structure due to hardening and

tempering is shown in Fig.3

53
Change of structure due to hardening and
Tempering Fig.3
54
• Tempering and its types

• Low - temperature tempering

• Medium - temperature tempering

• High - temperature tempering

55
Low Temperature Tempering (150° C - 250°C)

The purposes of low temperature tempering are

• To relieve internal stresses, and

• To increase ductility without changing the

structure

• The process is done in the temperature interval

from 150°C to 250°C.

56
Low - Temperature tempering

Fig 1

57
Medium- Temperature Tempering (350°C - 450°C):

• In this case the hardened steel is heated between the

temperature range 350°C and 450°C.

• The object of heating upto this temperature is to change

the martensite structure into troosite.

• As a result of change in structure the steels are become

more tough and ductile.

• The hardness is considerably reduced.

58
• The process is more useful in case where

strength and reliability are more important than

extreme hardness.

• Medium temperature tempering is commonly

employed for coils and laminated springs.

59
Medium-Temperature Tempering

Fig 2

60
High-Temperature Tempering (500° C - 650°C):

• High temperature tempering consists of heating the

steel to the temperature intervals of 500°C - 650°C.

• At this temperature martensite is transformed to

sorbite.

• In this process the internal stresses are completely

eliminated and the toughness is improved.

61
• Sorbitic steels are softer and more ductile than
troostitic steels.

• Sorbite and troostite are usually known as

tempered martensite.

• High temperature tempering is applied to gear

wheels, axle.

• Shaft and connecting rods.

62
High - Temperature Tempering

Fig 3

63
Austempering:
• In austempering the steel part is heated to the
hardening temperature range.

• Then quenched down to a temperature of 300°C .

• It is held there sufficient time to decompose

austenite into bainite.

• Then it is cooled to room temperature.

• A schematic representation of austempering is

shown in Fig 1.

64
• The hardness and strength of the austempered steels are
nearly same as conventional hardened tempered steels

• But ductility and impact strength are usually higher to

austempered steel compared to tempered steel

• This method is applied for small size components made of

high carbon steel or low-alloy steel

65
Martempering:
• Martempering is the hardening process with minimum
distortion and residual stresses

• The process consists of heating the steel to the hardening

temperature and then cooled suddenly (at above the
critical rate of cooling) down to a temperature just above
'MS ' point

• Temperature at which martensite formation begins and is

nearly equal to 240°C
Contd…
66
• It is held there sufficient time to equalise the temperature
throughout the section.

• But the time is too short to decompose austenite, into

Bainite.

• From above Ms point it is cooled in air. A schematic

representation of martempering is shown in Fig 2.

67
• The martensitic transformation takes place under lower

cooling rate

• Hence the internal stresses are reduced to greater

extent

• This method can be used for heavy sections and the

pieces of irregular shape

68
Surface Hardening:
General Description
• There are many important industrial products e.g cams,
gears, camshafts, piston pins, etc.

• They should have a hard, wear resistant surface and a

tough core.

• Such conditions in the steel are obtained by the following

two methods.

1. Surface hardening, and

2. Chemical heat treatment

69
• In surface hardening, only the surface layers of the steel

parts are heated to the hardening temperature and it is then

quenched in water or some other medium

• Surface hardening is advantageous over chemical heat

treatment as it requires appreciably less time

Contd…
70
• Since only a small portion of the component is heated

there is a minimum tendency to crack.

• Chemical heat treatment involves the change in

composition of the surface layers.

• This method of treatment is called case hardening.

71
Advantages of Case Hardening Vs Surface Hardening

• The process is independent of the shape of article.

• The effect of surface overheating can be eliminated, and

• The properties are determined by structure and

composition of metal.

72
 Methods of Surface Hardening:

• Surface hardening is a selective heat treatment in

which a high hardness is imparted to the surface
layers of the work while the tough core is retained.

• According to the method of heating, the surface

hardening processes are two types.

1. Flame hardening, and

2. Induction hardening

73
Flame Hardening:
• The process of flame hardening consists of heating

the metal surface by using an Oxyacetylene flame.

• Only a thin layer of the heated surface is brought to

the hardening temperature.

• The flame is followed by a stream of cold water which

quenches the heated layer of metal and thereby

hardens it .(Fig. 1(a))

74
Principle of Flame Hardening

Fig 1(a)

75
• Small parts may be heated individually and

then quenched.

• Parts of cylindrical shape may be slowly rotated

and heated by exposing their surfaces to the flame

of the torch (Fig.1(b)).

76
• Parts which may be flame-hardened successfully
include machine tool beds, gears, cams and
camshafts.

• The process is recommended for medium carbon

and low - alloy steels.

77
Principle of Flame Hardening

Fig 1(b)

78
Induction Hardening:

• The procedure for induction hardening is the same

as flame hardening.

• But the high temperature is produced by high

frequency alternating current.

• The surface to be hardened is enclosed (without

contact) in an induction coil.

79
• The passage of current through the coil causes
induced current to heat the steel very rapidly to
the hardening range, and is immediately followed by spray
quenching.

• The process of surface hardening by induction is

expensive.

• However, when large quantities of identical parts are to be

surface hardened.

80
Principle of Induction Hardening

Fig 1(b)

81
• This process is economical and efficient.

• Parts which are induction hardened include crankshafts,

transmission shafts, camshaft, connecting rods, gears,

spindles cylinders.

82
Principle of Induction Hardening Fig 2

83
 Carburising:
• Carburizing involves the diffusion of carbon into the
surface layers of a low carbon steel by heating it in
contact with carbonaceous materials.

• It is carried out in the temperature range of 900 – 950°C

in solid, liquid and gaseous media.

• In each treatment the transfer of carbon from

carbonaceous medium takes place via the gaseous state,
usually carbon monoxide.
Contd…

84
• Carburizing is most widely used for securing hard,

wear resistant surface and a tough core.

• The two principal types of the processes are:

1. Solid (pack) Carburizing, and

2. Gas carburizing

Contd…
85
Solid carburizing or Pack carburizing :

• In solid carburizing, the components are placed in a

heat resistant alloy box filled with carburizer (charcoal)

mixed with an energizer (barium carbonate or sodium

carbonate).

Contd…
86
• The purpose of these energizer is to increase the

concentration of carbon monoxide and thus improves the

rate of carburizing (i.e. to accelerate the process).

• The filled box is closed with a steel cover. The joint

between the box wall and cover is sealed with fireclay to

prevent excess air and it is heated to about 940°C.

Contd…

87
• At that temperature oxygen(air in the box) combines with
carbon to form carbon monoxide.

• Carbon monoxide unstable at that temperature and is

decomposed upon contacting the iron surface according
to the reaction

2 CO CO 2 + C

Contd…

88
• The atomic carbons is absorbed (by diffusion) by the

steel surface and Fe3C is formed

3 Fe + C Fe3C

• The formation of Fe3C on the surface gives a very high

hardness and wear resistance

Contd…
89
• Carburised steel is always quenched in order to
achieve maximum benefit from the carburizing
treatment.

Gas carburizing :

• Gas carburizing is carried out in a tight sealed furnace

chamber filled with a carburizing gas (hydrocarbons
methane CH4 and propane C3H8).

Contd…
90
• More often, the gas flows through the chamber at a

given speed.

• The parts are heated in furnace to the temperature of

900 - 950° C.

• At this temperature, hydrocarbons decompose with

the formation of free carbon.

• The steel surface absorb the carbon liberated in

the process.
91
Advantages of Gas Carburizing are :

• Operation time is less

• Plant is more compact for given output.

• Carbon content of the surface layers can be

controlled easily

• The process is very suitable for mass production

92
 Nitriding:
• Nitriding consists of introducing nitrogen into the

surface of the steel.

• Nitriding is usually done at 500-600° C.

• Parts (machined to accurate size and heat treated) are

placed in a gas-tight chamber through which ammonia is
allowed to circulate.

• In this temperature interval ammonia dissociates

according to the following reaction.
NH3 3H + N
Contd…
93
• And the atomic nitrogen that forms diffuses into the
steel surface.

• The atomic nitrogen combines with elements in the

steel to form nitrides.

• This gives extreme hardness to the surface.

• The nitrided case is usually from 0.2 to 0.4 mm deep

and no machining is done after nitriding.

• The process is usually applied to medium carbon and

alloy steels.
Contd…
94
• Quenching is not required for development of hardness
and therefore the parts do not tend to crack.

• Since the parts are slowly cooled, no further heat

treatment is required.

• Nitriding increases the wear resistance, corrosion

resistance and fatigue strength of the steel.

• Since nitriding is done at low temperature it requires

more time than gas carburizing and produces relatively
shallow hardening

95
 CYANIDING:

 Cyaniding is case hardening process in which both carbon

and nitrogen are added to the surface layers of the steel.

 The process is based on the decomposition of molten

cyanides salts with the formation of free atoms of carbon

and nitrogen which diffuse into the surface.

Contd…
96
 The steel to be case hardened is placed in the molten salt

bath (maintained at 800°C to 900°C) consisting of about 40%

sodium cyanide, with about 60% of barium carbonate and

sodium chloride.

 At this temperature the steel will absorb carbon and nitrogen

from the bath.

 The usual depth of a cyanide case is about 0.1 to 0.3 mm.

97
CARBONITRIDING :

 Carbonitriding involves the addition of carbon and

nitrogen (in a single operation) by heating the steel in a

gaseous mixture of ammonia and hydrocarbons.

 These processes increase the surface hardness, wear

resistance and fatigue limit. They are specially effective

for medium and small parts such as gears, pistons,

pins, small shafts, etc.

98
 Process Procedure features
1. Flame  Heating of metal  Suitable for medium
hardening surface by an carbon and low-alloy
oxyacetylene flame steels.
The surface is  Suitable for machine
quenched by a stream beds, fixture bodies, gears,
of cold water cams, camshafts etc.

2. Induction The surface Process is economical for

hardening temperature of metal is large quantities of identical
increased by heating it parts.
in an electrical induction Takes less time than
coil. flame hardening.
The surface is Suitable for crank shafts,
quenched by water camshafts, connecting
spray or some other rods, gears, cylinder lines
medium etc.

99
 Process Procedure features
3. Solid or pack The parts are placed in a The carbon atoms are
carburising chamber filled with carburiser diffused into metal
(charcoal) and an energiser surface.
(barium carbonate or sodium- Energisers accelerate
carbonate). The parts are the carbursing process
heated to about 9400c.
Quenching of carburised
parts
4. Gas The parts are placed in a Takes less time.
carburising chamber filled with a Equipment is more
carburising gas C (methane, compact for a given
propane etc.) output
The parts are heated in the Carbon content on
furnace to a temperature of surface layers can be
900 to 9500c easily controlled.
The parts are quenched in a Process is suitable for
suitable medium. huge quantities
100
 Process Procedure features
5. Nitriding Parts are placed in a gas- Nitrogen is deposited on
tight chamber in which t6he surface of parts.
ammonia is allowed to The atomic nitrogen form
circulate. nitrides on the surface of
The chamber is heated to a part.
temperature of 500 to 600 oC. Case depth varies from 0.2
The parts are slowly cooled to 0.4 mm.
to room temp. Suitable for medium carbon
and alloy steels.
6. Cyaniding The parts are placed in a Carbon and nitrogen are
molten salt bath consisting add to surface layers of steel.
40% sodium cyanide and Cyanided case depth varies
60% barium carbonate and from 0.1 to 03 mm.
sodium chloride. Case depth is uniform.
The bath is maintained at a Distorition is less.
temperature of 800 to 900 0C.
Cyanided parts get bright
The part is soaked in bath finish.
for about 10 to 200 minutes
Fatigue strength increases
101
 Process Procedure features
7. Carbonitriding The parts are heated in Carbon and nitrogen are
a gaseous mixture of added to surface layers of
ammonia and steel.
hydrocarbons. Wear resistance and
The parts are kept at fatigue limit increases.
heated temperature for Suitable for gears, pistons
some time. The parts gudgeon pins, shafts ets.
are slowly cooled.

102
 Heat Treatment

Definition:

Heat treatment can be defined as the process of

changing the structure and properties of metals and

alloys by control heating and cooling.

103
 The properties of steel depend on the composition

and its structure.

 The structure of steel can be changed by heat treatment.

 So, properties of steel can be changed through

heat treatment.

104
Purpose of heat treatment:
 To improve machinability

 To increase corrosion resistance & wear

resistance

 To refine grain size

 To relieve internal stresses

 To alter surface conditions

105
 Definitions
Critical rate of cooling :
• The minimum rate of cooling at which austenite is
transformed into complete martensite is called
critical rate of cooling.
Martensite:
• Martensite is a super saturated solid solution of carbon
in α - iron.
• It is very hard and brittle.
• Structure of martensite is body centered tetragonal.

106
Bainite:
• Bainite is a mixture of ferrite and cementite and it is
feather like in appearance.
• It is obtained by an isothermal decomposition of
austenite at about 350 °C- 450 °C .
Sorbite:
• Sorbite possess the same structure of pearlite
(ferrite +cementite), but only the difference is the size
of particles.

107
• At lower temperature (600°C), i.e., higher rate of cooling,

the austenite is transformed into fine mixture of ferrite and

cementite.

• This structure is called sorbite.

• Sorbite is weaker but more ductile than troostite.

Troostite

• Troostite possess the same structure of pearlite

(ferrite + cementite), but only the difference is

the size of particles.

108
Heat treatment processes

1. Annealing - To soften the steel

2. Normalising - To refine the structure

3. Hardening - To increase the hardness

4. Tempering - To eliminate brittleness in

hardened steel
5. Surface hardening - To provide wear resistance
surface with tough core

109
Annealing

• In general, the term Annealing refers to any heating

and cooling operation that is usually applied to

induce softening.

110
• Depending on the specific purpose, annealing
processes are classified as follows:

1. Full annealing

2. Process annealing (Recrystallisation

annealing)

3. Spheroidise annealing

4. Isothermal annealing

111
Full annealing:
• Full annealing may be defined as the process of
heating the steel to austenite phase and then cooling
slowly within a closed furnace by putting - off the
heat supply.
Process annealing:
• To reduce the distortion of the crystal lattice produced
by cold working.
• To remove the strain hardening i.e., improve the
ductility.

112
Spheroidise Annealing
• Spheroidise annealing transforms lamellar
pearlite into globular type (matrix of ferrite with
carbon in the form of spheroidal carbides).

Isothermal Annealing
• In this process the steel is heated above the
upper critical temperature.
• Held for a certain time at this temperature to
form austenite.

113
Normalising

• Normalising is the process of heating the steel

to above the upper critical temperature (810oC –

930°C) followed by cooling in still air.

114
Hardening
• Hardening may be defined as the process of heating

steel to austenite phase followed by rapid cooling in a

liquid bath, such as water or oil.

Tempering

• Tempering is a process of heating hardened steel to

a temperature below lower critical temperature,

followed by slow cooling.

115
 Tempering
Low - temperature tempering:

• The process is done in the temperature interval

from 150°C to 250°C.

Medium - temperature tempering:

• The process is done in the temperature range
350°C and 450°C.
High - temperature tempering:
• The process is done in the temperature intervals of
500°C - 650°C.

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Austempering
• Process of changing austenite into Bainite at lower
temperature (300oC).

Martempering
• Process of changing austenite into martensite with
minimum internal stress and crystal distortion.

Surface Hardening
• Hard and wear resistance surface with tough core may
be obtained either by hardening the surface layers or
changing the chemical composition of the surface layer.

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Flame hardening
• The process of Flame Hardening consists of

heating the metal surface by using an

Oxyacetylene flame.

Induction hardening

• The procedure for induction hardening is the

same as flame hardening.

• But the high temperature is produced by high

frequency alternating current.

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Carburising

• Involves heating the component in carbonaceous

medium at 940°C and then quenching.

Nitriding

• Nitriding consists of introducing nitrogen into the

surface of the steel.

• Nitriding is usually done at 500°C-600°C.

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Cyaniding
• Cyaniding is case hardening process in which

both carbon and nitrogen are added to the

surface layers of the steel.

Carbonitriding

• Carbonitriding involves the addition of carbon and

nitrogen (in a single operation) by heating the

steel in a gaseous mixture of ammonia and

hydrocarbons.

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