Measurement of C a s e Depth
B y DALE J . W R I G H T , G e n e r a l S u p e r i n l e n d e n t
N out U M E R O U S methods are e m p l o y e d t h r o u g h -
industry to measure the depth of
c a r b u r i z e d cases o n steel, l a r g e l y b e c a u s e t h e r e
is a p p a r e n t l y n o s t a n d a r d i z e d p r o c e d u r e w h i c h
is a c c e p t a b l e t o a l l . A r t i c l e s h a v e b e e n p u b l i s h e d
describing various "approved" or "standard"
procedures, b u t generally each company or i n -
d u s t r y has p r e f e r r e d t o a p p l y its o w n p a r t i c u l a r
t e c h n i q u e b a s e d o n its o w n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of
case d e p t h a n d t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y of e i t h e r shop or
laboratory equipment.
U n t i l a p p r o x i m a t e l y seven years ago, the
heat treating division of Caterpillar Tractor Co.
e n c o u n t e r e d inconsistencies i n case depths o n
test bars w h i c h w e r e n o t a l w a y s e x p l a i n a b l e .
E a c h such instance i n v o l v e d considerable extra
expense because of additional testing and
destruction of piece parts. A n analysis of the
problem revealed that very often the fault was
i n t h e m a n n e r of d e t e r m i n i n g case d e p t h r a t h e r
than in the carburizing operation. A t that time,
t h e r e f o r e , w e set o u t t o d e f i n e t h e m o s t a p p l i c -
able and economical m a n n e r of checking this
metallurgical quality and standardizing accord-
ingly. T h e objectives w h i c h w o u l d have to be
m e t f o r o u r u s e w e r e as f o l l o w s :
1. Determinations must be accurate and
repetitive. T h e m e t h o d must eliminate differ-
ences of j u d g m e n t b e t w e e n people m a k i n g t h e
determination, something w e found to be the
greatest p r o b l e m i n our previous practices.
2. D e t e r m i n a t i o n s m u s t b e m a d e q u i c k l y so
that " i n process" heats can be checked at a n y
time w i t h o u t delay.
3. T h e p r o c e d u r e m u s t b e s i m p l e so as n o t
to d e m a n d h i g h l y skilled technicians, a require-
ment particularly important during week-end
or holiday operation.
4. E q u i p m e n t s h o u l d be r e l a t i v e l y i n e x p e n -
M E T A L PROGRESS; PAGE 86
H e a t T r e a t Div., C a t e r p i l l a r T r a c t o r Co.
P e o r i a , ill.
sive a n d d u r a b l e , a n d cost of i n d i v i d u a l deter-
m i n a t i o n s b e as l o w as p o s s i b l e . I m p o r t a n c e o f
t h e l a t t e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n is a t t e s t e d b y t h e f a c t
that w e average 250 determinations a day.
5. T h e m e t h o d u s e d s h o u l d r e p r e s e n t a
measure of the control of the carburizing
process, a n d n o t a t t e m p t to evaluate other
v a r i a b l e s s u c h as m a t e r i a l o r d e s i g n o f t h e p i e c e .
6. T h e d e t e r m i n a t i o n s h o u l d i n d i c a t e a c a s e
d e p t h w h i c h w o u l d find a c c e p t a n c e u n d e r a
broad interpretation of the t e r m "effective"
d e p t h o f case.
A n u m b e r of approaches were tried during
the investigation for a method which w o u l d
m e e t these r e q u i r e m e n t s . T h u s , test bars of
c a r b o n a n d a l l o y steels w e r e etched or heat
t i n t e d t o resolve t h e c a r b u r i z e d case f o r its
m e a s u r e m e n t w i t h a special scale. B r i n e l l or
equivalent l o w - p o w e r magnifications i n con-
junction w i t h appropriately calibrated lineal
divisions w e r e used t o m e a s u r e t h e case o n frac-
t u r e d or p o l i s h e d a n d etched transverse sections.
T w o o t h e r ideas s t u d i e d w e r e hardness tests o n
step-ground and tapered bars and transverse
sections; a n d t h e microscopic e x a m i n a t i o n of
carburized, and of carburized and hardened
b a r s w h i c h h a d b e e n t e m p e r e d a t 1100° F. in
cast i r o n borings.
I n k e e p i n g w i t h o u r stated objectives, we
d e c i d e d o n a c o m b i n a t i o n o f t h e first t w o
m e t h o d s , r e g u l a t e d so as t o c o n t r o l t h e k n o w n
variables a n d m a d e to c o n f o r m easily w i t h all
of o u r needs. A f t e r m a n y years of its use w e are
w e l l pleased w i t h the results, a n d confident that
a n y troubles w e m a y encounter are n o t d u e to
t h e m e t h o d of c h e c k i n g case d e p t h .
T h e f o l l o w i n g describes the procedure w e
e m p l o y , w h i c h is a c t u a l l y v e r y s i m p l e t o a p p l y
after a brief initial instruction.
 D e s c r i p t i o n o f Test Bars — Test bars are
procured f r o m a m i l l heat of k n o w n charac-
teristics a n d i n sufficient q u a n t i t y to last a
n u m b e r of years. T h e cold finished bars are
7 / 1 6 i n . s q u a r e a n d 3/4 i n . l o n g , a n d a h o l e i s
drilled near one end o n those w h i c h require
suspension i n the furnace. C h e m i c a l composi-
t i o n o f t h e bars is: 0.17 t o 0.20 C , 0.80 t o 0.90
M n , 0.17 t o 0.22 S i , 0 . 0 4 0 S, 0 . 0 2 0 P , 0 . 1 2 N i ,
0.08 C r , 0.02 M o , 0.05 C u , 0.15 t o t a l N i p l u s C u ;
a l l b u t t h e first t h r e e a r e m a x i m u m v a l u e s .
T h e A . S . T . M . g r a i n size is N o . 1 t o 4, w i t h a
m a x i m u m spread of t w o n u m b e r s . T h e test bars
are r u n w i t h the p r o d u c t i o n parts i n every fur-
nace charge a n d at regular f r e q u e n t intervals
on continuous furnaces. Test bars w h i c h h a v e
b e e n checked f o r case d e p t h i n t h e m a n n e r t o
be described are used to accept or reject p r o d u c -
t i o n m a t e r i a l w i t h w h i c h t h e y h a v e b e e n car-
b u r i z e d . U s e of test bars of u n i f o r m c a r b u r i z i n g
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s is n e c e s s a r y i n o r d e r t o i s o l a t e
the variable being checked to t h a t of the car-
b u r i z i n g r o u t i n e itself.
H a r d e n i n g o f Test Bars — A f t e r cooling
f r o m c a r b u r i z i n g t o at least a "black" heat, bars
F i g . 1 — I n s t r u m e n t D e s i g n e d at C a t e r p i l l a r T r a c -
tor C o . for A c c u r a t e M e a s u r e m e n t of Case
D e p t h . P r i n c i p a l p a r t s c o n s i s t of a n i l l u m i n a t e d
Bausch and L a m b i O X Brinell microscope and
a dial indicator m o u n t e d on a metal base.
T h e case d e p t h is r e a d o n t h e d i a l i n d i c a t o r
instrument Eliminates Human Element
are loaded i n t o a s m a l l H e v i - D u t y electric
furnace equipped with a circulating fan. U p to
20 pieces are l o a d e d at o n e t i m e i n a n a l l o y p a n .
T h i s f u r n a c e is u s e d f o r t h i s w o r k o n l y a n d is
m a i n t a i n e d a t 1440° F . ± 5° F . a t a l l t i m e s .
H e a t i n g t i m e is h e l d t o 2 2 m i n . ± 3 0 s e c , a n d
n o p r o t e c t i v e a t m o s p h e r e is u s e d . T e s t b a r s a r e
t h e n q u e n c h e d u n t i l c o l d i n a f u l l flow o f w a t e r
a t 75° F . ± 5° F .
F r a c t u r i n g and E t c h i n g — T h e bars are
b r o k e n transversely at a p p r o x i m a t e l y their m i d -
p o i n t a n d e t c h e d i n 10% n i t a l f o r 8 s e c . C a r e
m u s t be exercised to use fresh nital w h i c h has
not been exposed to air for m o r e t h a n 2 hr. T h e
e t c h e d f r a c t u r e is r i n s e d i n w a t e r a n d d r i e d w i t h
compressed air, r e s u l t i n g i n a clear, definite l i n e
of d e m a r c a t i o n b e t w e e n case a n d core.
Reading Case D e p t h — T h e instrument w e
d e v e l o p e d f o r d e t e r m i n i n g d e p t h is o f a s i m p l e ,
inexpensive design, yet it has eliminated the
difference b e t w e e n individuals m a k i n g the de-
termination and the natural inclination of
p e o p l e t o " i n t e r p r e t " t h e c a s e m e a s u r e m e n t as
t h e y m a y h a p p e n t o s e e fit. T h e p r i n c i p a l p a r t s
of this i n s t r u m e n t are an i l l u m i n a t e d Bausch &
L o m b B r i n e l l m i c r o s c o p e ( m a g n i f i c a t i o n 10 X ) ,
F i g . 2 — R e a r V i e w of M e a s u r i n g I n -
strument W i t h a Test Bar in Place
 tent a n d a hardness of
R o c k w e l l C-50. O n this in-
strument accuracy of repe-
titive readings, between
individuals as w e l l as b e -
tween different readings b y
the s a m e individual, is w i t h -
i n 0.001 i n .
Figure 3 (reproduced at
the same magnification the
operator receives in the in-
strument) clearly shows
the darker case depth.
It is r e c o g n i z e d that the
methods described in this
article could not be applied
to all s h o p s as a m e a n s of
production control, because
s o m e e q u i p m e n t is neces-
sary, a l t h o u g h it is b y n o
m e a n s elaborate or expen-
sive. H o w e v e r , it is v w t h
some hope of standardiza-
F i g . 3 - E n d V i e w of T e s t B a r A f t e r B e i n g F r a c - tion that this description
t u r e d a n d E t c h e d . T h e case d e p t h is c l e a r l y de- has been prepared, since
f i n e d by t h e d a r k e r p o r t i o n ; free f e r r i t e is i n d i c a t e d there certainly is a n e e d i n
by t h e l i g h t .spots i n t h e center portion. l O X
• industry for closer measure-
m e n t as w e l l as uniformity
a n d a dial indicator m o u n t e d on a metal base. in methods employed. Perhaps variations f r o m
W h e n t h e test b a r is p l a c e d i n t h e i n s t r u m e n t , the f o r e g o i n g w o u l d at least p e r m i t u s all to
t h e hairline of t h e m i c r o s c o p e is z e r o e d to its "speak the same language" and m a k e compari-
e d g e . T h e b a r is m o v e d so t h a t t h e h a i r l i n e sons from the same basic beginning. If there
c o i n c i d e s w i t h t h e first f r e e f e r r i t e . T h e c a s e were e n o u g h interest in standardization, it
d e p t h is t h e n r e a d d i r e c t l y o n t h e d i a l i n d i c a t o r . w o u l d n o t b e difficult to m a k e test bars a n d
F r o m our investigational w o r k it w a s f o u n d r e a d i n g instruments available, just as standard
t h a t a r e a d i n g t o t h e first g r a i n o f f r e e f e r r i t e methods a n d e q u i p m e n t for hardness measure-
w o u l d c o i n c i d e c l o s e l y w i t h a 0.40% c a r b o n c o n - ments have b e e n available for m a n y years. ^

Current Russian Metallurgical

I N CONTINUATION of the survcy of contempo-
rary Russian metallurgy, presented in the
c o p p e r (a f e w critical i s s u e s e x c e p t e d ) a n d t h e
other d a b b l i n g w i t h a n u m b e r of the so-called
A u g u s t 1951 a n d M a r c h 1953 issues of Metal "rare metals", including m o l y b d e n u m , titanium
P r o g r e s s , five a d d i t i o n a l b o o k s p u b l i s h e d i n t h e a n d the transuranics.
S o v i e t U n i o n i n t h e p e r i o d 1947 t o 1951 a r e h e r e
a p p r a i s e d . T h e first t h r e e a r e o f s p e c i a l i n t e r e s t SOVIET M E T A L S AND ALLOYS
because they give a comprehensive and detailed
description of b o t h ferrous a n d nonferrous "Introduction to M e t a l l u r g y , " b y G . I . P o g o -
m e t a l s a n d a l l o y s i n p r o d u c t i o n a s o f 1950-51. din-Alekseev, Yu. A. Geller and A. G. Rakh-
T h e other two are concerned w i t h nonferrous shtadt; Governmental Publication for the War
industries, one extensively describing nickel a n d Industry, Moscow, 1950, 455 p.

M E T A L PROGRESS; PAGE 88