Carry out Heat treatment

This learning guide is developed to provide you the

necessary information regarding the following
content coverage and topics –
 Determining work requirements
 Selecting Heating equipment as heat treatment
process
 Select equipment to standard operating procedures
 Use Personal protective equipment/devices
 1.Introduction
Heat Treatment can be defined as a combination
of heating and cooling operations applied to
metals and alloys in the solid state to obtain
desired microstructure conditions or
predetermined properties (physical, mechanical).
Heat treatments are most commonly applied in metallurgy,
aircraft industry, automobile manufacturing, defense sector,
forming, foundry, heavy machinery manufacturing and powder
metal industry

The process of altering the physical, chemical, and

mechanical properties of a metal by applying controlled
heating and cooling is known as heat treatment.
 It is a procedure that is applied to improve or
restore a product’s manufacturability.
 Heat treatments are most commonly applied in
metallurgy, manufacturing, hot forming,
welding, etc.
 The usual methods of heat-treating processes
ferrous metals (metals with iron) are annealing,
normalizing, hardening, tempering and others.
 Most nonferrous metals can be annealed,
but never tempered, normalized, or case-
hardened.
 Thermal treatments of metallic alloys are also
employed to alter the surface chemistry of a
material.
 This is achieved by diffusing Carbon,
Nitrogen and other gaseous or solid
material in to the surface of the
component.
 These processes are used to give defined
surface hardness and to improve wear,
corrosion and fatigue resistance.
 In general three kinds of treatments are: (i)
Thermal (heat treatment), (ii) Mechanical
(working), (iii) Chemical (alteration of
composition). Combinations of these
treatments are also possible (e.g. thermo-
mechanical treatments, thermo-chemical
treatments).
Heat treating operations consist of three
separate functions: material movement, the
application of energy, and the supervision of
process conditions. Heat treaters is that the
same flexibility that allows us to manipulate
the end result of a heat treatment,
Principles of Heat Treatment of steel
 Materials are never heated to the melting point in heat treatment.
 Therefore, all reactions within the metal during the heating and
cooling cycle, takes place while the metal is in the solid state.
 During ordinary heating operations, steel is seldom heated above
983 OC.
 In using the iron-iron carbide diagram, we need only to concern
ourselves with that part which is always solid steel.
 The area where the Carbon content is 2% or less and the
temperature is below 1130OC.
Purpose of Heat Treatment processes

 Metal and alloys are heat treated for a number of purposes to:
 To increase strength, hardness and wear resistance ( Bulk hardening,
Surface hardening)
 To increase ductility and softness ( Tempering, Recrystallization Annealing)
 To increase toughness ( Tempering, Recrystallization Annealing)
 To obtain fine grain size (Recrystallization Annealing, Full annealing,
Normalizing)
 To remove internal stress induced by different deformation by cold
working, non-uniform cooling from high temperature during casting and
welding ( Stress relief annealing)
 To improve machinability ( Full annealing and Normalizing)
 To improve cutting properties of tool steels ( Hardening and
Tempering)
 To improve surface properties ( Surface hardening, high temperature
resistance-precipitation hardening, surface treatment )
 To improve electrical properties (Recrystallization, Tempering, age
hardening)
 To improve magnetic properties ( Hardening, Phase transformation)
 etc.
Determining work requirements
In manufacturing workshop in order to
produced the required work (as customer
need). Worker or heat treating operator has
to perform some operations. It is important
that the sequence of operations be carefully
planned in order to produce a part quickly
and accurately.
Following a wrong sequence of operation
can often result in spoiled work. The best
methods of job planning is first interpret the
instruction of the given job sheet or verbal
instructions correctly, and arrange the
sequence of heat treating line operation to
plan technically to obtain the given
components to the required properties.
 Selecting Heating equipment as heat
treatment process
1.Introduction to Heat treatment process

Heat treatment is operation is an operation or

combination of operations involving heat a specific rate,
soaking at temperature for a period of time and cooling
at some specified rate. The aim is to obtain a desired
microstructure to achieve certain predetermined
properties (physical, mechanical, magnetic or electrical).
 2.Types of Heat Treating Furnaces

Sizes and designs of heat treating furnaces vary over such a wide
range that any precise classification is virtually impossible. In size,
furnaces vary from a small model that sits on a bench and has a work
space capacity for only a few ounces (often used for heat treating
instrument parts) to a large car-bottom furnace that is capable of
handling hundreds of tons in a single heat. Regardless of size, furnaces
may be directly fired with fuel, where the work is exposed to combustion
gases, or indirectly fired where the work is separated from combustion
gases. Furnaces may also be heated by electrical resistance.
 2.Selecting Heating equipment

The choice of heat treating equipment varies with

application. Selecting the right style and type of
equipment will ensure the highest quality product.
Often times a number of furnace types can do the
job, so the choices come down to economy of
operation. who to dedicate staff to this endeavor
may wish to consider batch equipment or
continuous processing or look at outsourcing to
qualified commercial heat treaters.
 Other shops need to evaluate which
technology is the best fit to their product
mix and skill sets.
 The most common heat treatments
performed in furnaces are annealing,
normalizing, tempering, spheroid zing,
carburizing, stress relieving,
 On furnaces generally depends on the
size of the load, the pressure and
temperature to be attained, and the
medium (oil or gas) to be used in cooling
the load.
 Ovens and Furnaces
The Industrial Heating Equipment
Association (IHEA) classifies heating
devices as ovens and furnaces. This
separation, based on operating temperature,
is related directly to heating mode.
 Modes of Heat Transmission
 The three basic modes of heat
transmission are conduction, convection,
and radiation. In industrial heat treating,
these modes may be used singly, or in
combination.
 Conduction
 of heat in a solid such as a metal work
piece is the transfer of heat from one part
of the solid to another, under the influence
of a temperature gradient and without
appreciable displacement of the particles.
For instance, if the temperature of the
surface of a part is elevated, the heat flow to
the center is by a molecular mechanism.
Conduction involves the transfer of kinetic
energy from one molecule to another in a
chain reaction. Heat flow continues until
equilibrium occurs.
 Convection
involves the transfer of heat by mixing one
parcel of fluid (fluid refers to either liquid or
gas) with another. The motion of the fluid
may be entirely the result of density
differences resulting from temperature
difference, as in natural convection, or it
may be produced by mechanical means, as
in power convection.
Fans commonly are used to increase the
overall heat transfer coefficient of the
system. A hot-air home heating system is an
excellent example of heating by convection.
Tempering of steel is a common application
of convection heating in heat treating.
 Radiation
A body emits radiant energy in all directions
by means of electromagnetic waves, the
wavelength ranging from 4 to 7 lm. When
this energy strikes another body, some of
the energy is absorbed, raising the level of
molecular activity and producing heat. Some
of the energy is reflected. The amount
absorbed depends on the emissivity of the
surface of the receiver.
The sender gives up heat or energy. On this basis, if two
pieces of metal, one hot and one cold, are placed in a
completely insulated enclosure, the hot piece cools and the
cold one is heated. The exchange of energy takes place
until both objects come to equilibrium or to the same
temperature level. Even after equilibrium of temperature is
established, the process continues with each piece
radiating and absorbing energy from each other.
 1.Types of Heat Treatment processes

Basic types of heat treatment are used

today. They are annealing, normalizing,
hardening, tempering and surface
hardening, and others ( austempering,
martempering, etc). More of them can be
shown below figures.
 ANNEALING
 In general, annealing is the opposite of hardening, you anneal
metals to relieve internal stresses, soften them, make them more
ductile, and improve their grain structures.
 Annealing consists of heating a metal to a specific temperature,
holding it at that temperature for a set length of time, and then
cooling the metal to room temperature.
 The cooling method depends on the metal and the properties
desired. Some metals are furnace-cooled, and others are cooled
by burying them in ashes, lime, or other insulating materials.
 Purpose

 Reduce hardness and brittleness

 Alter the microstructure for a special property
 Soften the metal for better machinability
 Recrystallize cold worked (strain hardened)
metals
 Relieve induced residual stresses
 ANNEALING Types
 Full Annealing
 Recrystallization Annealing
 Stress Relief Annealing
 Spheroidization Annealing
 NORMALIZING
 Normalizing is a type of heat treatment applicable to ferrous
metals only. It differs from annealing in that the metal is heated
to a higher temperature and then removed from the furnace for
air cooling.
 The purpose of normalizing is to remove the internal stresses
induced by heat treating, welding, casting, forging, forming, or
machining. Stress, if not controlled, leads to metal failure;
therefore, before hardening steel, you should normalize it first to
ensure the maximum desired results.
 HARDENING
The hardening treatment for most steels consists of heating the
steel to a set temperature and then cooling it rapidly by plunging
it into oil, water, or brine. Most steels require rapid cooling
(quenching) for hardening but a few can be air-cooled with the
same results. Hardening increases the hardness and strength of
the steel, but makes it less ductile. Generally, the harder the
steel, the more brittle it becomes. To remove some of the
brittleness, you should temper the steel after hardening.
 Some purpose of hardening ; to harden
the steel slightly, refine grain structure to
hardening, to reduce segregation in
casting or forgings, etc.
 TEMPERING
After the hardening treatment is applied, steel is often harder
than needed and is too brittle for most practical uses. Internal
stresses are set up during the rapid cooling from the hardening
temperature. To relieve the internal stresses and reduce brittle-
ness, you should temper the steel after it is hardened.
Tempering consists of heating the steel to a specific
temperature (below its hardening temperature), holding it at
that temperature for the required length of time, and then
cooling it, usually instill air. The resultant strength, hardness,
and ductility depend on the temperature to which the steel is
heated during the tempering process.
 Surface Hardening
Sometimes called case hardening, Case hardening
produces a hard, wear-resistant surface or a “thermo
chemical” treatment whereby the surface is altered by
the addition of carbon, nitrogen, or other elements.
Materials of surface hardening only ferrous metals are
case-hardened. Commonly applied to low carbon
steels for get a hard wear resistant shell,
The common techniques; Carburizing,
cyaniding, Nitriding, Carbonnitriding,

Chromizing, flame hardening, boronizing,

induction hardening, etc.
 Carburizing
 Heating a low carbon steel in the presence of carbon rich
environment at temperature ~ 900°C
 This results in carburized steel that has a high-carbon surface
and a low-carbon interior.
 When the carburized steel is heat-treated, the case be-comes
hardened and the core remains soft and tough. Two methods
are used for carburizing steel.
 One method consists of heating the steel in a furnace con-
taining a carbon monoxide atmosphere.
 QUENCHING
Steel parts are rapidly cooled from the
austenitizing or solution treating
temperature. Stainless and high-alloy steels
may be quenched to minimize the presence
of grain boundary carbides or to improve the
ferrite distribution, but most steels, including
carbon, low-alloy, and tool steels, are
quenched to produce controlled amounts of
martensite in the microstructure.
Heat treating materials as required

NTRODUCTION
Steel can be processed to produce a large variety
of microstructures and properties. The required
results are achieved by heating the material in
temperature ranges where a phase or combination
of phases is stable (producing microstructural
changes or distribution of stable phases) and / or
heating or cooling between temperature ranges in
which different phases are stable (producing
beneficial phase transformations).
 1.Classification metals

The commonly heat treated metals they are

classified in to two types ferrous and non ferrous
metals.

 Ferrous metals like, steel, cast iron, alloys,

stainless steel, tool steel.
 Non ferrous metals like, aluminum, copper, brass,
titanium.
Heat treating is a vital part of manufacturing. Thus, it
is critical for any organization that relies on this
technology to understand the relationship that exists
between the variables that influence product
response to heat treatment; namely material
choice, properties, part design, manufacturing
practices and heat-treating methods.