Engineering Materials

Effects of Heat Treatment on Engineering Materials

 Subject : Engineering Materials

 Course: Diploma in Mechanical Engineering
 Lecturer: K.Vikneshwaran 1
 Engineering Materials

Heat treatment
• This is the controlled process of heating and cooling of metals to change their properties
and improve their performance.
Annealing
• A combination process of heating and cooling. Its typically executed to make materials soft.
This process alters the mechanical and physical properties to deliver an unequivocal
microstructure.
Normalizing
• A heating process of a material to a austenitic temperature level. The material is later
cooled by air cooling. Through this process the microstructure of material is typically
conveyed to pearlite matrix. This increases more the hardness of the material compared to
initial condition.
Hardening
• A process of a material is heated to maximum temperature until the material change in color
(red-hot). This causes the microstructure to becomes austenite. Later it is cooled through
water. This makes the material to become harder and brittle.

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 Engineering Materials
Quenching
• A process that cools the material after undergoing heating process. Normally , air cooling
and water cooling is implemented on materials after undergoing heating process. The basic
cooling rate will deform the microstructure to marten-site.
Tempering
• A process of heating the material in a constant temperature underneath the lower basic
toughening. The material is cooled and becomes ductile. The tempering temperature rises
and changes the microstructure from marten-site to cementite and finally ferrite.
Benefits of heat treatment
• Heat treatment is experimented on a material to explore the crystalline imperfection and
their properties.
• This acquires certain attractive properties or conditions. For example, changing
microstructure , grain structure , changing appearance colour , thickness and length and
also stress and strain properties of a material.

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Phase Diagram of a Heat Treatment Process Engineering Materials

Figure 1.1 : Shows the Heat Treatment Phase Diagram

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 Engineering Materials
Heat and Microstructure

Figure 1.2 : Normalized Molybdenum 42 High Speed Steel

Figure 1.3 : Untreated Molybdenum 42 H.S Figure 1.4 : Normalized Molybdenum 42 H.S
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Steel Microstructure Steel Microstructure
Microstructure Comparison For Molybdenum 42 High Speed Steel Engineering Materials

UNTREATED
MICROSTRUCTURE
Ferrite

Pearlite

Pearlite NORMALIZED
MICROSTRUCTRUE

Ferrite