Surface hardening

Dr. Riya mondal

MME dept
NIAMT
 Surface hardening: why???
 SURFACE HARDENING, a process that includes a wide variety of techniques, is used to
improve the wear resistance of parts without affecting the more soft, tough interior of the part.
 This combination of hard surface and resistance to breakage upon impact is useful in parts such
as a cam or ring gear, bearings or shafts, turbine applications, and automotive components that
must have a very hard surface to resist wear, along with a tough interior to resist the impact that
occurs during operation.
 Most surface treatments result in compressive residual stresses at the surface that reduce the
probability of crack initiation and help arrest crack propagation at the case-core interface.
 Further, the surface hardening of steel can have an advantage over through hardening because
less expensive low-carbon and medium carbon steels can be surface hardened with minimal
problems of distortion and cracking associated with the through hardening of thick sections.
 Optimization of surface properties. It includes: Fatigue Strength, Wear Resistance and
Corrosion Resistance. Surface hardening creates compressive stress on the steel surface and
tensile stresses in the core caused by the Martensitic transformation, and thus increases the
endurance limit of a component.
What type of changes ???
Types of surface hardening:
 Heating the surface alone to the austenitising temperature and quenching, called as case hardening.
 Heating the surface to austenitising temperature with hardening species such as carbon, nitrogen, boron, etc., and
subsequently quenching based on needs, called as chemical surface hardening
Diffusion Methods of Surface Hardening:
 Surface hardening by diffusion involves the chemical modification of a surface. The basic
process used is thermochemical because some heat is needed to enhance the diffusion of
hardening elements into the surface and subsurface regions of a part.
 Case depth in surface hardening refers to the thickness of the hardened surface layer after a
surface hardening process.
 CHD(case hardened depth) and defined as the depth from the surface to the point where
the hardness is 550HV, as shown in the Figure. Some times a hardness other than 550HV
is used to define the case depth.
 The depth of diffusion exhibits a time temperature dependence such that:
Case depth= K 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆
 where the diffusivity constant, K, depends on temperature, the chemical composition of the
steel, and the concentration gradient of a given hardening element.
 In terms of temperature, the diffusivity constant increases exponentially as a function of
absolute temperature. Concentration gradients depend on the surface kinetics and reactions of a
particular process.
Carburizing:
 A process of adding carbon to the surface of steels. This is done by exposing the part to a carbon-rich atmosphere
at an elevated temperature and allowing diffusion to transfer the carbon atoms in to steel.
 Carburizing is the addition of carbon to the surface of low-carbon steels at temperatures (generally between 850°
and 980° C) at which austenite, with its high solubility for carbon, is the stable crystal structure.
 With grades of steel engineered to resist grain coarsening at high temperatures and properly designed furnaces
such as vacuum furnaces, carburizing above 980° C is practical to dramatically reduce carburizing time.
 Hardening is accomplished when the high-carbon surface layer is quenched to form martensitic case with good
wear and fatigue resistance superimposed on a tough, low-carbon steel core.
According to the source of carbon, carburizing can be divided into:
 Pack carburizing
 Gas carburizing
 Liquid carburizing

Pack carburizing:
 Pack carburizing, also called solid or box carburizing, is the oldest carburizing process.
 In this case-hardening method, specimens are packed in a blend of coke and charcoal with “energizers” and then
heated in a closed container. In this process, steel components to be heat treated are packed with 80% granular
coal and 20% BaCO3 as energizer in heat resistant boxes
 The boxes are sealed with clay to exclude air and are placed in a furnace, where they are heated to temperature of
between 900°C and 950°C, for 2 to 36 hours depending on the depth of case required.
 Such a high temperature in furnace helps in absorption of carbon at the outer layer.
 case depth obtained varies from 1 mm to 2 mm.
 (i) Energizer decomposes to give CO gas to the steel surface: BaCO3⇾BaO+CO2
CO2+C⇾2CO
 (ii) Carbon monoxide reacts with the surface of steel: 2CO+Fe⇾ Fe(C)+ CO2
 (iii) Diffusion of carbon into steel
 (iv) CO2 formed in step(ii) reacts with C in the coal: CO2+C⇾2CO
 The parts are then removed from the furnace and allowed to air cool.
 Parts are removed from the pack carburizing container and heated to the austenitizing temperature just above its
critical point, or appropriately 915-925°C for fine grain steel, followed by quenching in water, brine or oil. This
hardens the skin and at the same time refines the core.
 The steel is usually given a second heat treatment (tempered) at about 760-780°C, in order to improve the ductility
and impact resistance of the core and case.
ADVANTAGES:
 This process does not require the use of prepared atmosphere
 It is efficient and economical for industrial processing of parts in small lots or for massive parts.
DISADVANTAGES:
 This process is not suited to produce thin cases.
 Close control of surface carbon cannot be achieved.
 Gas carburizing:
 It overcomes the drawbacks of pack carburising by replacing the solid carburising mixture with a
carbon- providing gas.
 It can be done with any carbonaceous gas i.e., gas containing excess of CO. In general, natural gas,
propane, or generated gas atmospheres are most frequently used.
Procedure:
 It is carried out in an air tight retort furnace, capable of maintaining positive pressure. The furnace is
initially purged with a carrier gas consisting of a mixture of CO, N2 and H2. The furnace operates at the
carburising temperature of 930oC and dew point is adjusted to about -4oC.
 The components are loaded in baskets and lowered into the furnace, so that a free flow of gas could
pass around them. A fan is situated at the top of the furnace which circulates and mixes the gases.
 When the material reaches the carburising temperature, propane or methane is added to maintain a
specific carbon potential.
 Gas carburizing temperature varies from 870-950°C.
 During gas carburizing the following reactions are take place: C3H8⇾2CH4+C
CH4+Fe⇾Fe(C) + 2H2
CH4+ CO2⇾ 2CO + 2H2
2CO+Fe⇾Fe(C) + CO2
During gas carburising, the following reactions take place.
i. The carbon monoxide in the carrier gas is the active carburising agent.
2CO → CO2 + ( C )
The carbon thus released dissolves intestinally into the surface of the steel.
ii. Methane also releases carbon
CH4 → 2H2 + ( C )

iii. Carbon dioxide formed in (i) reacts with methane.

CO2 + CH4 → 2H2 + 2CO
The concentration of carbon monoxide is thus maintained, so that carburising continues.
Gas carburising is commonly used to obtain relatively thin cases between 0.2 and 0.5 mm
Advantages:
 It is particularly adopted for
large volume production
 This process provides accurate
control of case depth and
surface carbon content
 It is a cleaner process
 It allows quicker handling by
direct quenching
 It has less cost but highly skilled
personnel are required to
maintain the necessary controls.
LIQUID carburizing - cyaniding:
 Also known as salt bath carburising.The carburising medium is a fused salt bath composed of sodium
cyanide, sodium chloride and barium chloride.
 The bath is melted in a steel cast pot type furnace heated by oil or gas.
 The process is carried out by immersing the steel components in the bath maintained at a temperature
of 815-900oC, for a periods varying from 5 minutes up to 1 hour depending on the depth of case
required . The components are then quenched.
The reactions in the salt bath are as follows, (high T)
i. 2NaCN + BaCl2 → Ba(CN)2 + 2NaCl
ii. Ba(CN)2 → BaCN2 + ( C )

 The carbon atoms dissolve interstially in the steel. A small amount of liberated nitrogen is also
absorbed.
 This process gives a thin end clear hardened layer up to a case depth of 0.08 mm. High temperature
salt baths are used for producing a deep case.
Advantages:
 This process are rapid and uniform heat transfer,
low distortion, negligible surface oxidation and
rapid absorption of carbon.
 Highly uniform case depths are obtained with
uniform carbon content.
 The cycle time for liquid carburising is shorter
than gas or pack carburising.

Disadvantages:
 Cyanide salts are extremely poisonous so care is
required during its storage and disposal.
 The salt sticks to the components and must be
thoroughly washed after treatment.
 Regular checking and adjustment of the bath
composition is necessary to obtain uniform case
depth.
vacuum carburizing :
 It is done under very low pressure.
 Sample is heated in vacuum above transformation temperature.
 Then exposed to carbon carrying gas or mixture under partial pressure.
 Temperature Range: 800°C to 1100°C
 Pressure Range: 1 to 20 torrs
Advantages:
 Absence of inter-granular oxidation.
 The process is safe & simple to operate &
easy to operate.

Disadvantages:
 Higher initial equipment cost.
 Formation of soot & tar due to pressure and
Hydrogen gas introduced.
applications:
 Gear teeth profiles
 Crane wheels
 Crane cable drum
 Support bracket for agricultural tractor
 Machines worm steels
 Hydraulic clutch
 Fly wheels
 Ball bearings
 Gear wheels & pinion blanks
 Railway wheels
 Crankshaft
 Shackles of lock
 Bevel Gears
Comparison of different thermo-chemical Treatment