What Happens to

Steel During Heat

Treatment? Part
One: Phase
Transformations

Daniel H.
Herring - Tel:
(630) 834-3017)
dherring@heat-
treat-doctor.com
www.heat-treat-
doctor.com
TTT n& CCT (Continuous cooling Transformation)
By Daniel H. Herring

TTT and CCT

Once weve heated a piece of steel to elevated temperature, it must be cooled in order to complete its transformation into a
useful engineering material. Understanding cooling transformations is another important responsibility of the heat treater.

Types of Cooling Transformation Diagrams

Transformation diagrams are simply another form of roadmap to allow us to predict a steels response to heat treating. There
are two main types of cooling transformation diagrams, and it is important that we understand what each is and how we can
use them.

Time-Temperature Transformation (TTT) Diagrams

Also known as isothermal transformation (IT) diagrams, TTT diagrams measure the rate of transformation at a constant
(isothermal) temperature (Fig. 1). In other words, once a part is austenitized, it is rapidly cooled to a lower temperature and
held at that temperature while the rate of transformation is measured. The different types of microstructures produced
(ferrite, pearlite, bainite, martensite) are then indicated on the diagram together with the holding times required for each
transformation to begin and end.

Fig. 1 [1] TTT Diagram (52100 Steel

Also known as cooling transformation (CT) diagrams, CCT diagrams measure the degree of
transformation as a function of time for a constantly changing (decreasing) temperature (Fig. 2). In
other words, a sample is austenitized and then cooled at a predetermined rate, and the degree of
transformation is measured using such techniques as dilatometry, magnetic permeability or other
physical methods.

A Closer Look at TTT Diagrams

TTT diagrams are useful in planning heat treatments and in determining the critical cooling rate on
quenching, which is the cooling rate at which one just avoids the nose of the TTT curve. If the
austenite-to-martensite transformation is incomplete, retained austenite usually transforms during
tempering into the transformation product indicated on the TTT diagram.
In general, TTT diagrams allow us to gain limited information on the influence of alloying elements on
transformations during continuous cooling by comparing the temperatures at which the transformation
products occur.

A Closer Look at CCT Diagrams

CCT diagrams provide a useful tool for predicting the microstructure achieved during a typical quench
after heat treating. We can measure (or calculate) the rates of cooling at any point within a steel part
(surface, core, mid-radius).
CCT diagrams have been developed for many steel compositions by using various experimental
methods. One such method is the use of Jominy bars with thermocouples attached along the length of
the bar. Microstructures are correlated with the cooling rates calculated from the thermocouple readings.
A CCT diagram that indicates the transformation products obtained at various cooling rates is then
developed from the Jominy information. Thus the hardenability of steel allows us to develop an
engineering approach to understanding the effects of quenching in various cooling media (see Jominy
Testing, The Practical Side, - October 2001).

CCT diagrams show the approximate proportions of the major phases and the hardness of the
microstructures obtained. The effect of tempering on hardness levels is often shown as well. The
hardenability effect of the steel can be seen directly from the diagram low-hardenability steels show
early transformation, mainly from the upper left-hand side of the diagram (to ferrite and pearlite or
bainite). By contrast, high-hardenability steels exhibit curves in the lower right-hand side of the diagram
with austenite changing predominately to martensite over a wide range of part thicknesses and
quenching rates.

A Comparison of TTT and CCT Diagrams

Despite the general similarity in shape between CCT and TTT diagrams for identical steels, the data is
presented differently. On CCT diagrams the products of transformation (martensite-bainite-pearlite) are
indicated along the bottom of the diagram, whereas they are shown on the right side of the TTT
diagram. Phase changes are recorded within the starting and finishing boundaries on CCT diagrams,
whereas on TTT diagrams these regions indicate the transformation phase themselves.

Although similar in shape to TTT diagrams, the nose of the CCT diagram is shifted down to the right,
indicating that more time is available for martensite transformation than is shown on the corresponding
TTT diagram. TTT diagrams actually err by indicating a faster cooling rate than necessary to form
100% martensite on quenching. This error is usually on the conservative side since the goal of most
heat-treatment operations is to produce 100% martensite.

Fig. 2 [2] CCT Diagram (52100 Steel)

Appropriate Cautions

CCT diagrams mainly refer only to the center of a bar, but the microstructures at other positions can be
inferred. For example, the microstructure produced on cooling at some mid-radius position in a larger
diameter often corresponds to that produced at the center of a bar of smaller diameter a so-called
equivalent diameter with similar microstructures being produced by similar cooling rates.

CCT diagrams usually refer to the average chemical composition. Variations in composition can lead to
considerable differences in microstructure and properties. There are also critical thickness ranges where
slightly slower or faster cooling rates produce significant changes in the predominant microstructure
indicated. Changes in carbon and manganese content can have pronounced effects on these thickness
ranges. A major difficulty in constructing CCT diagrams is the interpretation of transformation behavior.
Martensite and bainite are affected by compositional changes in the parent austenite that may have
resulted from any prior ferrite formation or carbide precipitation at higher temperatures.
Prior heat treatment can affect grain size and hence modify the subsequent transformations on cooling.
The austenitizing temperature may affect the austenite composition of steel that contains strong carbide-
forming elements. Consequently, undissolved carbides may be present. These considerations should be
taken into account when using or adapting CCT diagrams. Heating by applied energy (induction, flame,
laser) with rapid heating and short thermal cycle times has a drastic effect on the condition of the
austenite and as a result the accuracy of the CCT diagrams. Welding is another process that is very
difficult to predict using these types of diagrams.

Another factor is quench severity and the degree of agitation, the effects of which can only be
determined experimentally. Air cooling is normally the main criterion for developing these diagrams.
Water not brine quenching is represented as a standard medium-to-fast quenching medium.

Summing Up

Few heat-treatment processes involve isothermal transformation, and most microstructures are produced
as a result of continuous cooling operations. If the rate of cooling is slow, the microstructure
corresponds more closely to that indicated on the upper portion of a TTT diagram. Faster cooling rates,
however, deviate considerably during the transformation process.

While the heat treater should be aware of both types of transformation diagrams, the use of CCT
diagrams is often more directly applicable to microstructures that are produced at the center of a heat
treated part under real-world conditions. For this reason they are a valuable tool.

References

1. Atlas of Isothermal Transformation Diagrams, United States Steel, 1951.

2. Atkins, M., Atlas of Continuous Cooling Transformation Diagrams for Engineering Steels, ASM
International, 1977.
3. Moniz, B. J., Metallurgy, 4th Edition, American Technical Publications, 2007.
4. Walter, John L., Melvin R. Jackson and Chester T. Sims, Alloying, ASM International, 1988.
5. Callister Jr., William D., Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction, 3rd Edition, John
Wiley & Sons, 1994

Published with the permission of Industrial Heating Magazine