Heat Treatment

Motivation
Stapler (~HK$ 5)

Approx. 15 components

- How do we select the best material for each component?

- How are each of these manufactured?

Car: ~ 15,000 parts;

Boeing 747 plane: ~6 million parts
Intel core 2 duo processor: 65 nm feature size, 291 million transistors
Properties of materials
Steels are heat treated for one of the following reasons:

Mechanical properties of materials

Strength, Toughness, Hardness, Ductility,
Elasticity, Fatigue and Creep

Physical properties
Density, Specific heat, Melting and boiling point,
Thermal expansion and conductivity,
Electrical and magnetic properties

Chemical properties
Oxidation, Corrosion, Flammability, Toxicity,
 Materials

Ferrous metals: carbon-, alloy-, stainless-, tool-and-die steels

Non-ferrous metals: aluminum, magnesium, copper, nickel,

titanium, super alloys, refractory metals,
beryllium, zirconium, low-melting alloys,
gold, silver, platinum,

Plastics: thermoplastics (acrylic, nylon, polyethylene, ABS,)

thermosets (epoxies, Polymides, Phenolics, )
elastomers (rubbers, silicones, polyurethanes, )

eramics, Glasses, Graphite, Diamond, Cubic Boron Nitride

omposites: reinforced plastics, metal-, ceramic matrix composites

Nanomaterials, shape-memory alloys,

superconductors,
Heat Treatment
is the controlled heating and cooling of metals to
alter their physical and mechanical properties
without changing the product shape.

Heat Treatment
is often associated with increasing the strength of
material, but it can also be used to alter certain
manufacturability objectives such as improve
machining, improve formability, restore ductility.
Heat Treatment


A: Definition
"Hardening is the process of heating a piece of
steel to a temperature within or above its critical
range and than cooling it rapidly"
(Begeman, M.L. - Manufacturing processes - 1977)

B: Definition
"Hardening is that property of a material that
enables it to resist plastic deformation,
penetration, indentation, scratching"
(Lindberg, R. A. - Material & Manufacturing
Technology - 1968)
Hardening:
Hardening of steel is done to increase the strenth and wear
properties. One of the pre- requisites for hardening is sufficient
carbon and alloy content

Softening:
Softening is done to reduce strength or hardness, remove
residual stresses, improve tough-ness, restore ductility, refine
grain size or change the electromagnetic properties of the steel.

Material Modification:
Heat treatment is used to modify properties of materials in
addition to hardening and softening. These processes modify
the behavior of the steels in a beneficial manner to maximize
service life, e.g., stress relieving
Tempering
Tempering is a process done subsequent to quench
hardening. Quench-hardened parts are often too brittle.
This brittleness is removed by tempering.

Tempering results in a desired combination of:

Hardness, Ductility, Toughness, Strength, structural
stability
QUENCHING

Cooling alloy fast enough to retain a

supersaturated solid solution of alloying
constituents without introducing adverse
metallurgical or mechanical conditions; water
is most common quenching media (immersion
or spray); other media include air blasts, soap
solutions, ind hot oil.
 HARDNESS TESTING
ROCKWELL TEST
Measures the difference in penetration between a
minor and major load
Minor load 10 Kg
Major load 60(a), 100 (B), 150 ( c) kg
A= Diamond, B= 1/16 in. ball, C= diamond

Rockwell scale runs to 130 bur only useful in range

20 -100
SURFACE
HARDENING
HARDENING
l. Carburizing or Case Hardening
Steel is heated in contact with some carbonaceous
material in solid, liquid, or gas form; the steel
absorbs carbon, which is gradually diffused into the
interior of the part.
Pack carburizing
(.030 to .160 thick); it employs packing parts in
charcoal or coke.
Gas carburizing
(.005 to .030 thick); it employs hydrocarbon fuels.

Liquid carburizing
(up to .250 thick); it employs a cyanide salt bath

FLAME HARDENING:

Heating by oxyacetylene flame to above critical

temperature; heated part immediately quenched
by water spray; produces hard surface with ductile
backing.