CHAPTER 05
SURFACE
HARDENING
OF STEEL
• There are four main types of the
surface hardening which are :-
• 1. Case hardening
• 2. Nitriding
• 3. Flam hardening
• 4. Induction hardening
• The first two types include a change in the
chemical structure of the
• surface while the other types include a
change in the micro constituents as
• a result for the positional heat treatment.
• 1. Case hardening
• Is one of the most used for producing a hard surface
on a ductile steel. It involves the introduction of
additional carbon into the surface of mild steel,
effectively producing a composite material consisting
of low carbon steel with a thin case, about 0.5 – 0.7
mm in thickness, of high carbon steel, this was the
principle of case-hardening that have been used for
centuries in the conversion of mild or wrought iron to
steel by the cementation process.
• The case-hardening consists in surrounding the
component with suitable carbon material and heating
it to above its upper critical temperature for long
enough to produce a carbon enriched layer of
sufficient depth. Solid, liquid and gaseous carburizing
media are used. The nature and scope of the work
involved will govern which media is best to employ.
• The case-hardening process has two distinct steps, as
shown in figure 1:
• Carburising ( the additional of carbon)
• Heat treatment ( hardening and core refinement)
Figure 1. Case hardening : (a) carburising, (b) after carburising, (c) after quenching
component.
• 1. Carburising
• Carburizing makes use of the fact that low
carbon steel absorb carbon when heated
to the austenitic condition various
carbonaceous materials are used in the
carburizing process as follows:-
1.1 Carburising in solid media
• "Pack-carburising", as it is usually called,
involves packing the components into cast-iron
or steel boxes along with the carburizing
material so that a space of approximately 50
mm exists between the components. The lids
are then luted on to the boxes, which are slowly
heated to the carburizing temperature for
between 900 and 950 C. they are maintained at
this temperature for up to five hours, according
to depth of case required.
• Carburising media vary in composition,
but consist essentially of some
carbonaceous material, such as wood or
bone charcoal or charred leathers together
with an energiser which may account for
up to 40% of the total composition. This
energiser is usually a mixture of sodium
carbonate ("soda ash") and barium
carbonate, and its purpose is to accelerate
the solution of carbon by the surface layer
of the steel.
• 1.2 Carburising in a liquid bath ( Cyaniding)
• Liquid-carburising is carried out in baths containing
from 20 to 50% sodium cyanide, together with up to
40% sodium carbonate and varying amounts of
sodium chloride.
• One of the main advantages of cyanide-hardening is
that pyro metric control is so much more satisfactory
with a liquid bath. Moreover, aft e r treatment the
basket of work can be quenched. This not only
produces the necessary hardness but also gives a clean
surface to the components.
• Cyanides are, of course, extremely poisonous,
and every precaution should be taken to avoid
inhaling the fumes from a pot. Every pot should
be fitted with an efficient fume-extracting hood.
Likewise the salts Should in no circumstances
be allowed to come into contact with an open
wound. Needless to say, the consumption of
food by operators whilst working in the shop
containing the cyanide pots should be
Absolutely forbidden
• 1.3 Carburising by gaseous media
• Gas-carburising is carried out in both batch-type and
continuous furnaces. The components are heated at about 900°
C for three or four hours in an atmosphere containing gases
which will deposit carbon atoms at the surface of the
components. The most important of these gases are the
hydrocarbons methane CH4 , and propane, C3H8
• Gas-carburising is becoming increasingly popular, particularly
for the mass production of thin cases. Not only is it a neater and
cleaner process but the necessary plant is more compact for a
given output. Moreover, the carbon of the surface layers can be
controlled more accurately and easily with thickness of
about 0.25 – 1.0 mm.
• 2. Heat treatment after Carburising
• If carburising has been correctly carried out, the core
will still be of low carbon content (0.1 – 0.2% carbon),
whilst the case should have a maximum carbon
content of 0.83% carbon (the eutectoid composition
• Considerable gain growth occurs in the material
during a carburizing treatment, therefore a three stage
of heat treatment must be given to the carburized
parts to produce the desired final properties. This heat
treatment involves:
Figure 2. Heat-treatment After
Carburising.
A Indicates the temperature of
treatment for the core, and B the
temperature of
treatment for the case.
• 2.2 Refining the case
• The component is now heated to about 760° C, so that
the coarse martensite of the case changes to fine-
grained austenite. Quenching then gives a fine-grained
martensite in the case.
• At the same time the martensite produced in the core
by the initial quench will be tempered somewhat, and
much will be reconverted into fine-grained austenite
embedded in the ferrite matrix
• The second quench will produce a structure in the core
consisting of martensite particles embedded in a
matrix of ferrite grains surrounded by bainite.
• 2.3 Tempering
The component is tempered at about 200 – 220 ° C to
relieve any quenching strains present in the case.
• 2. Nitriding
• The process is used to put a hard, wear-resistant ( مقاومة
) البلىcoating on components made from special alloy
steels, for example, drill bushes. The alloy steels used
for this process contain either 1.0% aluminium, or
traces of molybdenum, chromium and vanadium.
Nitrogen gas is absorbed into the surface of the metal
to form very hard nitrides. The process consists of
heating the components in ammonia gas at between
500 and 600 °C for upwards of 40 hours.
• Carking and distortion are eliminated since the
processing temperature is relatively low and there is
no subsequent quenching.
• Surface hardnesses as high as 1150 HD are
obtainable with'Nitralloy' steels.
• Corrosion resistance of the steel is improved.
• The treated components retain their hardness up to
500 °C compared with the 220 °Cfor case-hardened
plain carbon and lowalloy steels.
• Resistance to fatigue is good.
• The process is cheap when large number of
components are to betreated.
• Carbonitriding.
• This is a surface-hardening process which makes use
of a mixture of carburising gases and ammonia. It is
sometimes known as "dry cyaniding" — a reference
to the fact that a mixed carbide-nitride case is
produced as in the ordinary liquid cyanide process.
The relative proportions of carbon and nitrogen in the
case can be varied by controlling the ratio of ammonia
to hydrocarbons in the treatment atmosphere.
• 3. Flame hardening
• Localised surface hardening can also be achieved in
medium- and high-carbon steels and some cast irons by
rapid local heating and quenching. Figure 3 shows the
principle of flame hardening. A carriage moves over the
work piece so that the surface is rapidly heated by an
oxy-acetylene or an oxy-propane flame. The same
carriage carries the water-quenching spray. Thus the
surface of the work piece is heated and quenched before
its core can rise to the hardening temperature. This
process is often used for hardening the slideways of
machine tools, such as gears, spindles and pins, that are
confidently treated by this process,since they can be
spun between centers.
• 4. Induction hardening
• These processes are similar in principle to flame-
hardening, except that the component is held
stationary- whilst the whole of its surface is heated
simultaneously by electro-magnetic induction, as
shown in figure 4. The component is surrounded by an
inductor block through which a high-frequency
current in the region of 2ooo Hz, passes. This raises
the temperature of the surface layer to above its upper
critical in a few seconds. The surface is then quenched
by pressure jets of water which pass through holes in
the inductor block.
CHAPTER 06
•Phase Equilibrium
Diagrams
• Phase equilibrium diagram is a graphic
relationship between temperature and weight
ratios of elements and alloys contribute to the
built of the diagram.
• Where Phase is a uniform part of an alloy,
having a certain chemical composition and
structure, and which is separated from other
alloy constituents by a phase boundary.
• For example the salt – water solution have a four
possible phases:
• - Water vapor (steam)
• - Liquid salt solution (sodium chloride in water)
• - Crystals of water (ice)
• - Crystals of salt (sodium chloride)
• Alloying systems :
• Alloy is a metal composing of a mixture of elements.
Most of alloys are composed of a base metal with small
amounts of additives or alloying elements. The typical
examples of alloys are steel/cast iron (iron base
alloys), bronze/brass (copper base alloys), aluminum
alloys, nickel base alloys, magnesium base alloys,
titanium alloys.
• There are many types of alloying systems which they
are:
• - Binary system
It means that alloying have two metals only.
• Ternary system
It means that alloying have three metals only.
• Multi system
• It means that alloying have three and more than that
metals.
Simple eutectic type The two components are soluble in each other in
the liquid state but are completely insoluble in each other in the solid state.
Solid solution type The two components are completely soluble in each
other both in the liquid state and in the solid state.
Combination type The two components are completely soluble in the
liquid state, but are only partially soluble in each other in the solid state.
Thus this type of alloy combines some of the characteristics of both the
previous types, hence the name ‘combination type’ phase equilibrium
diagram.
• 1) Phase equilibrium diagrams (Eutectic
type):
• If you refer to figure 1, you can see that the line joining
the points where solidification begins is referred to as
the liquidus and that the line joining the points where
solidification is complete is referred to as the solidus.
• With this composition the liquidus and the solidus
coincide at the same temperature, thus the liquid
changes into a solid with both A crystals and B crystals
forming instantaneously at the same temperature.
This point on the diagram is called the eutectic, the
temperature at which it occurs is the eutectic
temperature, and the composition is the eutectic
composition.
• 2) Phase equilibrium diagrams (Solid solution
type):
• Solid solution is a phase, where two or more
elements are completely soluble in each other.
Depending on the ratio of the solvent (matrix) metal
atom size and solute element atom size, two types of
solid solutions maybe formed: substitution or
interstitial.
• Substitution solid solution
• If the atoms of the solvent metal and solute element
are of similar sizes (not more, than 15% difference),
they form substitution solid solution, where part
of the solvent atoms arc substituted by atoms of the
alloying element.
• Interstitial solid solution
If the atoms of the alloying elements are
considerably smaller, than the atoms
of the matrix metal, interstitial solid solution
forms, where the matrix solute
atoms are located in the spaces between large
solvent atoms as shown in figure 3.
• When the solubility of a solute element in
interstitial solution is Exceeded, a phase of
intermediate compound forms. These compounds
(WC, Fe3C etc.) play important role in
strengthening steels and other alloys.
• Some substitution solid solutions may form
ordered phase where ratio between concentration
of matrix atoms and concentration of alloying
atoms is close to simple numbers like AuCu3 and
AuCu. Solid solution formation usually causes
increase of electrical resistance and mechanical
strength and decrease of plasticity of the alloy.
• In this type as shown in figure below the line
marked liquids joins the points where
solidification commences, whilst the line marked
solidus joins the points where solidification is
complete. This time there is no eutectic
composition. It has already been stated that
copper and nickel are not only mutually soluble
in the liquid (molten) state, they are a/so
mutually soluble in the solid state and they form
a substitutional solid solution. The phase
equilibrium diagram for copper-nickel alloys is
shown in figure 4.
Phase equilibrium diagrams (Combination
type)
• Many metals and non-metals are neither
completely soluble in each other in the solid
state nor are they completely insoluble.
Therefore they form a phase equilibrium
diagram of the type shown in figure 5. In this
system there are two solid solutions labelled α
and β. The use of the Greek letters α, β, γ, etc., in
phase equilibrium diagrams may be defined, in
general, as follows:
• A solid solution of one component A in an
excess of another component B, such that A is the
solute and B is the solvent, is referred to as solid
solution α.
• A solid solution of the component B in an
excess of the component A, so that B now
becomes the solute and A becomes the solvent, is
referred to as solid solution β.
• In a more complex alloy, any further solid
solutions or intermetallic compounds which may
be formed would be referred to by the subsequent
letters of the Greek alphabet. That is, γ, β, etc.
• We will steady the iron-carbon phase diagram as an
example on the phase equilibrium diagram which it
describes the iron-carbon system of alloys,
containing up to 6.67 % carbon, discloses the phases
compositions and their transformations occurring
with the alloys during their cooling or heating,shown
in figure 6. Carbon content 6.67 % corresponds to the
fixed composition of the iron
• The following phases are involved in the
transformation, occurring with iron-carbon alloys:
• L Liquid solution of carbon in iron.
• δ ferrite solid solution of carbon in iron. Maximum
concentration of carbon in δ-ferrite is 0.09 % (1493˚C)
temperature of the peritectic transformation. The
crystal structure of δ-ferrite is BCC (cubic body
centered).
• Austenite interstitial solid solution of carbon in γ-
iron. It has FCC (cubic face centered) crystal
structure, permitting high solubility of carbon up to
2.06 % at (1147˚C). It dose not exist below (723˚C)
and maximum carbon concentration at this
temperature is 0.83 % .
• α – ferrite solid solution of carbon in α-iron . It has
BCC crystal structure and low solubility of carbon up
to 0.25 % at (723˚C). It is exists at room temperature.
• Cementite iron carbide, intermetallic compound,
having fixed compositionFe3C. It is a hard and
brittle substance, influencing on the properties of
steel and cast irons.
• In practice only hypoeutectic alloys are used. These
alloys (carbon content from 2.06% to 4.3%) are called
cast irons. When temperature of an alloy from this
range reaches 2097 °F (1147 °C), it contains primary
austenite crystals and some amount of the liquid
phase. The latter decomposes by eutectic mechanism
to a fine mixture of austenite and cementite, called
ledeburite.
• All iron-carbon alloys (steels and cast irons)
experience eutectoid transformation at (723°C), The
eutectoid concentration of carbon is 0.83%.
• When the temperature of an alloy reaches (723°C),
austenite transforms to pearlite (fine ferrite-cementite
structure, forming as a result of decomposition of
austenite at slow cooling conditions
• Critical temperatures
• Upper critical temperature (point) A3 is the
temperature, below which ferrite starts to form as a
result of ejection from austenite in the hypoeutectoid
alloys.
• Upper critical temperature (point) ACM is the
temperature, below which cementite starts to form as
a result of ejection from austenite in thehypereutectoid
alloys.
• Lower critical temperature (point) A1 is the
temperature of the austenite-to-pearlite eutectoid
transformation. Below this temperature austenite
does not exist.
• Magnetic transformation temperature A2 is
the temperature below which a-ferrite is
ferromagnetic .
• Phase compositions of the iron-carbon alloys
at room temperature:
• Hypoeutectoid steels (carbon content from 0 to
0.83%) consist of primary (proeutectoid) ferrite
(according to the curve A3) and pearlite.
• Eutectoid steel (carbon content 0.83%) entirely
consists of pearlite.
• Hyperelltectoid steels (carbon content from
0,83 to 2.06%) consist of primary
(proeutectoid)cementite (according to the curve ACM)
and pearlite.
• Cast irons (carbon content from 2.06% to 4.3%)
consist of proeutectoid cementite CT ejected from
austenite according to the curve ACM , peaiiite and
transformed ledeburite (ledeburite in which austenite
transformed 10 pearlite).
