MATERIAL SELECTION (BBM10103)

DR. NUR SOFURAH BINTI MOHD FAIZ

HEAT TREATMENT
 HEAT TREATMENT

 Process in which a metal is heated to a certain

temperature and the cooled in a particular manner to
alter its internal structure for obtaining desired degree
of physical and mechanical properties such as
brittleness, hardness, and softness without letting it
change its shape.
 3 MAJOR STEPS IN HEAT TREATMENT

 Stage 1 - Heating the metal slowly to ensure a uniform

temperature
 Stage 2 - Soaking (holding) the metal at a given
temperature for a given time and cooling the metal to
room temperature
 Stage 3 - Cooling the metal to room temperature
 STAGE 1 - HEATING
 The primary objective in the heating stage is to maintain
uniform temperatures. If uneven heating occurs, one
section of a part can expand faster than another and
result in distortion or cracking. Uniform temperatures are
attained by slow heating
 STAGE 2 - SOAKING
 After the metal is heated to the proper temperature, it is
held at that temperature until the desired internal
structural changes take place. This process is called
SOAKING. The length of time held at the proper
temperature is called the SOAKING PERIOD.
 STAGE 3 - COOLING
 After a metal has been soaked, it must be returned to
room temperature to complete the heat-treating process.
To cool the metal, you can place it in direct contact with a
cooling medium composed of a gas, liquid, solid, or
combination of these.
 HEAT TREATMENT PROCESS

HEAT
TREATMENT
PROCESS

SURFACE
HARDENING TEMPERING NORMALIZING CARBURIZATION
HARDENING
 HARDENING
 Hardening involves heating of steel, keeping it at an
appropriate temperature until all pearlite is transformed
into austenite, and then quenching it rapidly in water or
oil. The temperature at which austentizing rapidly takes
place depends upon the carbon content in the steel
used. The heating time should be increased ensuring
that the core will also be fully transformed into austenite.
The microstructure of a hardened steel part is ferrite,
martensite, or cementite.
 TEMPERING
 Tempering involves heating steel that has been quenched
and hardened for an adequate period of time so that the
metal can be equilibrated. The hardness and strength
obtained depend upon the temperature at which tempering is
carried out. Higher temperatures will result into high ductility,
but low strength and hardness. Low tempering temperatures
will produce low ductility, but high strength and hardness. In
practice, appropriate tempering temperatures are selected
that will produce the desired level of hardness and strength.
 NORMALIZING
 Normalizing involves heating steel, and then keeping it at
that temperature for a period of time, and then cooling it
in air. The resulting microstructure is a mixture of ferrite
and cementite which has a higher strength and
hardness, but lower ductility. Normalizing is performed on
structures and structural components that will be
subjected to machining, because it improves the
machinability of carbon steels.
 CARBURIZATION
 It is a heat treatment process in which steel or iron is
heated to a temperature, below the melting point, in the
presence of a liquid, solid, or gaseous material which
decomposes so as to release carbon when heated to the
temperature used. The outer case or surface will have
higher carbon content than the primary material. When
the steel or iron is rapidly cooled by quenching, the
higher carbon content on the outer surface becomes
hard, while the core remains tough and soft.
 SURFACE HARDENING
 In many engineering applications, it is necessary to have
the surface of the component hard enough to resist wear
and erosion, while maintaining ductility and toughness, to
withstand impact and shock loading. This can be
achieved by local austentitizing and quenching, and
diffusion of hardening elements like carbon or nitrogen
into the surface. Processes involved for this purpose are
known as flame hardening, induction hardening, nitriding
and carbonitriding.