NORMALIZING OF STRBL isa heat treating process thet is often consid red from both thermal and microstruc. fara standpoints Inthe. thermal Sense, normalizing is an sustenitizing heating eycle fillowed by cooling stil or slightly agitated air. Typically the work is heated to a temperature bout 55 °C (10D *F) hove the upper Critical line of the jon = iron carbide ‘hase dingram, ss shown in Pig. 1: that vabove Acs for hypoeutetord steels and. above. Amy for—hypereutectoid steels. To be properly classed as a Forauising truntinant, the beating Portion ofthe process must predce an fustenitic phase (face-conered cubic ryatal structure) prior to cooling. Typ- SP enmaliaing tomperseares for ‘many standard steel are given in Te tie Normalizing is also frequently thought of in terms of microstructure ‘Tho areas of the microstructure that contain about 0.35% carbon are peariie {lamellae of ferrite and iron carbide) ‘The areas that are low in carbon are ferrtie(body-centered cubic atomic structure). In hypereutectoid steels Drowutectoid iron carbide (iron carbide Erencess of that within the pearite Structure) can be present in the micro- Structure. Airhardening steels are ex: Glnded from the class of normalined steels beeause they do not exhibit the “normal” pearlitic microstructure that characteris normalized steels. Uses, A broad range of ferrous prod- ucts can be normalized, All ofthe stan- Created by Neevia docuPrinter trial version of Steel by Sunvel L, Willis General Engineer Rock Island Arsenal dard low-carbon, medium-carbon, and high-carbon wrought steels ean be nor- malized, as well as many castings. Aus- tenitie steels, stainless steels and maraging steels either cannot be nor- malized, or usually are not normal- ied. ‘The purpose of normalizing varies considerably. Normalization may in- crease or decrease the strength and hardness of a given steel in a given product form depending on the thermal land mechanical history of the product. Actually, the functions of normalizing may overlap with or be confused with those of annealing, hardening and stress relieving. Improved machinabil- ity, grain-structure refinement, ho- ‘mogenization, and modification of residual stresses are among the rea- sons for which normalizing is done. Homogenization of castings by normal- izing may be done in order to break up fr refine the dendritic structure and facilitate a more even response to sub- sequent hardening. Similarly, for wrought products, normalizatian can obliterate banded grain structure due ‘to hot rolling, as well as large grain size or mixed large and small grain size due to forging practice. The details of nor- ‘malizing treatments applied to threeNormalizing’ 1 Typical normalizing tomperatures for standard carbon annealed mechanicsl properties versus steels ‘typical normalized properties are pre- ‘protction experiance, nermalzing temperetore may vor from at much as 27°C (50 sented in Table 8. Depending on the SEs much or $5 °C (100 7) cbove indlceed temperotum, The sea sheuld be eecled mechanical properties required, nor- ors indicted ferperature, malizing may be substituted for con- ventional hardening when the size or shape of the part is such that liquid quenching might result in cracking, distortion or excessive dimensional 1700. changes. Thus, parts that are of com- 11700 plex shape or that incorporate sharp 11600. changes in section may be normalized 11700 and tempered, provided that the prop- 11650 erties obtained are acceptable. 1650 The rato of heating generally is not 1600 critical for normalizing; on an atomi 1600 Seale, it is immaterial. In parts having 3600 great variations in section size, how- 1800 ever, thermal stress can cause distor 600 7 {eo _ Time at temperature is critical only {foo in that it must be sufficient to cause {Too homogenization. Sufficient time must Tigo. be allowed for solution of carbides, if 188) present, and/or for movement of alloy 1700 toms to obtain @ desired final struc- 1700 ture. Generally, time “sufficient for ‘complete austenitization is all that is required. One hour at temperature, after the furnace recovers, per inch of 1650 part thickness, is considered to be very 1600, liberal. Parts often can be austenitized jeo0 sdequately in much less time (with a jeoo saving in energy). 1600 The rate of cooling significantly 1600 fluences both the amount of pearlite 1600 and the size and spacing ofthe pearlite 1700 lamellae. At higher cooling rates, more 1700 pearlite forms, and the lamellae are 1600 finer and mare elosely spaced. Both the 1700 increased amount of pearlite and the 1650 greater fineness of the pearlite result in 3680 higher strongth and higher hardness 1650 Conversely, lower cooling rates result 1700 in softer parts. The effect of mass on 1600 hardness (via its effect on cooling rate) i illustrated by the data in Table 4, In 1600 any part having both thick and thin 1600 sections, the potential exists for varia 1600 tions in cooling rate, and thus for vari- 1600 ations in strength and hardness as well 1600 as an increase in the probability of dis- 1600 tortion or even cracking. Cooling rate 1600 sometimes is enhanced purposely with 1700 fane, to inerease strength and hardness 1100 of parts or to decrease the time re- 1650 quired, following the furnace opera- 3650 ton, for sufficient cooling of paris to permit convenient handling. ‘After parts have cooled evenly to production parts are given in “black hest” below Ar, (the partsare no '2, which altolists the reasons for malized and tempered condition. Com- longer red, a8 when they were removed ‘normalizing and gives come of the me- parisons of typical hot rolled or fromthe furnace), they may be water or Created by Neevia docuPrinter trial version8/Heat Treating of Stee! ‘Table 2 Typical applications of normalizing and tempering Propertion Reason for Past Steet Host treatment after westment normalising (Cast 50am (2m) NiGrMo Fullannesled at 965°C ‘Tensile strength, 620 MPa To meet mechanical- valve body, 18 to (1750 °F), normalized (00 ks); 0.2% yield ‘property require 25 mm (to 1 ‘at 670 °C 1600"), ‘strength, 415 MPa (60 ments in) in section ‘tempered at 685 °C ‘ka elongation in 50 thickness 225 ‘F) rm or 2 in, 20% re- ‘duction in area, 40% Forged flange ast Normalize at 810°C Hardness, 200 to 225 HB ‘To refine grain size (1600 "F, tempered ‘and obtain required ‘at 570 °C (1060 *F) hardness Valve-bonnot forging: 4140 ‘Normalized at 870°C Hardness, 20 to 240 HB ‘To obtain uniform (1600 °F) snd tem- structure, improved ered ‘machinability and required hardness oil quenched to decrease the total cool- {ng time, In heavy sections, cooling of the center material to "black heat” may require considerable time. ‘Thermal shock, residual thermally induced Stress, and resultant distortions are factors 10 be considered. ‘The micro- structure remains essentially unaf- fected by the increased cooling rate, provided that the entire mass is below the lower eritical temperature, An, although changes involving precipi= tates may occur. Carbon Steels. Table 1 lists typical normalizing temperatures for some Standard grades of carbon steel. These temperatures can be interpolated to obtain values for carbon contents not listed Steels containing 0.20% C or less usually receive no treatment sub- sequent to normalizing. However, ‘medium-carbon or high-carbon steels fre often tempered after normalizing to Obtain specific properties, such as a ower hardness for straightening, cold ‘working or machining. Whether or not tempering is desirable depends primar- ily on carbon content and section size ‘Table 3 presents typical mechanical properties of selected carbon and alloy Steels inthe hot rolled, normalized and annealed conditions. A low-carbon or mediumcarbon steel of thin section may be harder after normalizing than & hhigh-earbon steel of large section size subjected to the same treatment. Alloy Steels. For alloy steel forg- ings, rolled products and castings, normalizing is commonly used asa con- Gltioning treatment before final heat treatment, Normalizing also refines the structures of forgings, rolled prod- tucts and castings that have cooled hontuniformly from high temperatures, ‘Table 1 lists typical normalizing tem- peratures for some standard alloy steel. ‘Alloy carburizing steels, such as 19810 and 4320, usually are normalized at temperatures higher than the carbu- izing temperature, to minimize distor- tion in carburizing and to improve machining characteristics. Carburiz- ing steels ofthe 3800 series sometimes are double normalized with the expec tation of minimizing distortion; these steels are tempered at about 650 °C (1200 °F) for intervals of up to 15 h to reduce hardness to below 223 HB for machinability. Carburizing steels of ‘the 4300 and 4600 series usually ean be normalized to a hardness not exceeding 207 HB, and therefore, need not be tem pered for machinability. Hypereutectoid alloy steels, such a3 52100, are normalized for partial or Complete elimination of carbide net Sworks, thos producing a structure that jg more susceptible t0 100% spheroidi- zation in the subsequent spheroidize ‘nealing treatment. The spheroidized Structure provides improved machina- bility and'a more uniform response to hardening Forgings ‘When forgings are normalized before carburizing or before hardening and tempering, the upper range of normal- ining temperatures 1s used. However, when normalizing is the final heat treatment, use is made of the lower range of temperatures. Furnaces. Bither batch-type or con- ‘tinuous furnaces may be used for nor ‘malizing steel forgings. Ina continuous furnace, forgings to be normalized are usually placed in shallow pans, and a pusher mechanism at the loading end Created by Neevia docuPrinter trial version of the furnace transports the pas through the furnace. Furnace burners, located on both sides ofthe furnace, fire ‘below the hearth, and combustion prod- ‘ucts rise along the walls of the work zone mufite and exhaust into the roof of the furnace, No atmosphere control is used, Combustion products enter the ‘work zone through ports lining both ides of the entire hearth. A typical fur- ‘nace is 9 m (30 f) long and has 18 gas ‘burners (or 9 oil burners) on each side. For purposes of temperature control, such a furnace is divided into three 3-m (o-R) zones, each having a vertical thermocouple extending into it through ‘the roof of the furnace. Processing. Small forgings are usu- ally normalized as received from the forge shop. They are placed or piled loosely on the pans to.» maximum depth of 75 mm (3 in.) A typical fur- nnace has five pans in each of the three furnace zones. Heating is adjusted so that the work reaches normalizing temperature in the last zone. After passing through the last zone, the pans fare discharged onto a cooling conveyor. ‘The work, while still in the pans, is cooled in’ still air to below 480°C (G00 “Fit is then discharged into tote ‘boxes, in which it cools to room temper- ature, Total furnace time is approxi- mately 3h, but during this period the ‘work is held at the normalizing temper- ature for only 1 h, ‘Normalizing of large open-die forg- {ngs usually is performed in bateh-type furnaces pyrometrically controlled to narrow temperature ranges. Forgings fre held at the normalizing tempera- ture long enough to allow complete aus- tenitizing and earbide solution to occur {usually one hour per inch of section thickness), and then are cooled in still