HeatTreatment

Dr.SantoshS.Hosmani
Process annealing
It is a heat treatment that is used to negate the effects of
cold workthat is, to soften and increase the ductility of a
i l t i h d d t l It i l tili d previously strain-hardened metal. It is commonly utilized
during fabrication procedures that require extensive plastic
deformation, to allow a continuation of deformation without ,
fracture or excessive energy consumption. Recovery and
recrystallization processes are allowed to occur. Ordinarily
a fine-grained microstructure is desired and therefore the a fine-grained microstructure is desired, and therefore, the
heat treatment is terminated before appreciable grain growth
has occurred. Surface oxidation or scaling may be prevented
i i i d b li t l ti l l t t (b t or minimized by annealing at a relatively low temperature (but
above the recrystallization temperature) or in a nonoxidizing
atmosphere. p
Figure: influence of
annealing temperature
(f li ti (for an annealing time
of 1 h) on the tensile
strength and ductility
of a brass alloy of a brass alloy.
Increasing the percentage of cold work enhances the
rate of recrystallization with the result that the rate of recrystallization, with the result that the
recrystallization temperature is lowered, and
approaches a constant or limiting value at high
deformations
Figure: The variation of
recrystalization
t t ith t temperature with percent
cold work for iron. For
deformations less than
the critical (about 5% the critical (about 5%
cold-working),
recrystallization will not
occur. occur.
Recrystallization proceeds more rapidly in pure metals than in
alloys.
During recrystallization, grain-boundary motion occurs as the new
grain nuclei form and then grow. It is believed that impurity atoms
preferentially segregate at and interact with these recrystallized preferentially segregate at and interact with these recrystallized
grain boundaries so as to diminish their (i.e., grain boundary)
mobilities; this results in a decrease of the recrystallization rate
and raises the recrystallization temperature sometimes quite and raises the recrystallization temperature, sometimes quite
substantially.
For pure metals, the recrystalization temperature is normally For pure metals, the recrystalization temperature is normally
0.3*T
m
where T
m
is the absolute melting temperature; for
some commercial alloys it may run as high as 0.7*T
m
.
Plastic deformation operations are often carried out at
temperatures above the recrystallization temperature in a process
termed hot working. The material remains relatively soft and g y
ductile during deformation because it does not strain harden, and
thus large deformations are possible.
Stableaustenite
QUENCHING
H d R 65
TTTdiagramforeutectoidsteel
'
cooling rapid
HardnessR
C
65
:martensite(M)
'
g p
( )
Extremelyrapid
unstable
cooling
austenite
A+M
M
s
M
s
:Martensitestart
temperature
M
M
f
M
f
:Martensitefinish
temperature
Amount of martensite formed does
Martensitictransformation
Amountofmartensiteformeddoes
notdependupontime,onlyon
temperature.
Atomsmoveonlyafractionof
atomicdistanceduringthe
transformation:
1.Diffusionless
( ) (nolongrangediffusion)
2.Shear
BCT
(onetoonecorrespondence
between andatoms)
3.Nocompositionchange
Martensitictransformation
BCTunitcellof (austenite)
414 . 1 2= =
a
c
BCTunitcellof(martensite)
c
08 . 1 00 . 1 =
a
c
Expand~
12%
0%C(BCC) 1.2%C
Contract
~20%
H d f i f i f C
Martensitictransformation
HardnessofmartensiteasafunctionofCcontent
60
40
s
,

R
C
Hardnessof
martensite 40
H
a
r
d
n
e
s
s
martensite
dependsmainly
onCcontentand
t th
20
H
notonother
alloyingadditions
Wt % C b
0.2 0.4 0.6
Wt%Carbon
Martensitictransformation
L th t it Lath martensite
Acicular martensite
Martensitictransformation
Ref.: V. Kumar and S.S. Hosmani: Journal of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Vol. 53, Pages 393-404 (2011)
TEMPERING
Heating of quenched steel below the eutectoid temperature,
h ldi f ifi d ti f ll d b i li holding for a specified time followed by air cooling.
C Fe
tempering
3
+

T<T
E
??
Tempering (contd.)
+Fe
3
C PEARLITE
A distribution of fine particles of Fe
3
C in matrix known
as TEMPERED MARTENSITE as TEMPERED MARTENSITE.
Hardness more than fine pearlite, ductility more
than martensite than martensite.
H d d d tilit t ll d b t i Hardness and ductility controlled by tempering
temperature and time.
Higher T or t higher ductility lower strength Higher T or t higher ductility, lower strength
Tempering (contd.)
FIGURE: Impact toughness and
hardness (HB) of five heats of a Cr
MnSi steel after conventional
hardening and tempering, as a
function of tempering temperature.