FLAME HARDENING
DWI WAHYU HARDIYANTO
AFANDI YUSUF
• Flame hardening and induction hardening are two methods
which, in many respects, give equivalent results.
• The advantages of induction hardening enumerated in the
preceding section also apply, by and large, to flame hardening.
• The capital investment costs for flame hardening are lower
than for induction hardening, but the operating costs are
higher.
• Flame hardening in its simplest form consists of heating the
steel to the hardening temperature by a flame from a welding
torch and then quenching it in water or oil.
• If the steels exhibit sufficiently high hardenability, the requisite
hardness can be achieved by cooling in air.
• In certain cases flame hardening is preferred to induction
hardening, because it is easier to direct the heat to selected
surface areas.
• The grades of steel which were recommended for induction
hardening are also suitable for flame hardening, which,
moreover, can be used for the partial hardening of tools from
alloy tool steels.
Methods of hardening
• Use mixture gas of oxygen and a combustible gas, usually
acetylene, natural gas or propane.
• Mixed in a burner unit which has a shape to suit the part to be
hardened.
• The appearance of the part also governs the method of hardening
employed. We can distinguish between the following three main
types.
1. Manual Hardening
2. Spin Hardening
3. Progressive Hardening
MANUAL HARDENING
• Heating the steel part by hand with a welding
torch or other burner to the hardening
temperature and then cooled in water, oil or air.
• This method is suitable for a small surface, like a
tip of a screw.
• Larger surfaces can be hardened by hand, but
this requires larger burners.
• By sweeping movements with the burner to
ensure that the temperature is uniform over the
entire surface.
• hardening a large number of parts by keep the burner stationary and hold
the parts by hand or by a fixture.
• Hardening can also be automated so that the parts are held in a fixture
which travels past the burner, where they are heated for some seconds and
then dropped into the quenching liquid.
SPIN HARDENING
• Applied to bodies that have a rotational
symmetry, the bodies placed on a rotating
table or in a chuck.
• The rotation speed is relatively low,
normally about 60 rpm.
• The number of torches used depends on
the size and shape of the part.
• The method is also applicable to parts that
are not absolutely symmetrical.
• Since the heating operation may take
several minutes, the temperature tends to
be equalized by heat conduction into the
steel.
• After heated to hardening temperature, the bodies cooled by spray or by
immersion into a quench tank.
PROGRESSIVE HARDENING
• Can be carried out on a flat
surface or in combination
with spin hardening.
• In the first instance a
burner combined with a
cooling spray is passed
over the surface which is to
be heated (see figure).
• Rate of movement relatively low, 50-200 mm/min, and adapted to size of
burner and required depth of hardening.
• Tip of the inner cone of the flame is kept only a few mm away from the
workpiece.
• Combined with spin hardening
(see figure), the speed of
rotation and feed consider to
uniformity of the hardened
layer.
• The cooling water is thrown off
tangentially.
• At higher rotational speeds,
cooling process can interfere
with the heating-up process
and can also become a
nuisance owing to water
splashing into the workshop.
• At low rotation speeds, with a high feed and only a few torches, it is
possible appearing 'spirals' around the workpiece which contain alternate
soft and hard bands . In such case, a ring burners should be used.
Hardness and depth of hardening
• In conventional hardening, the hardness is governed by the
composition of steel (mainly C content), by hardening
temperature and by cooling rate.
• The hardness values given for induction hardening apply also
to flame hardening.
• Depth of hardening affected by the factors mentioned
above. Steel cooled at a certain rate, the heatingup time and
intensity of heating are the decisive factors.
• Hardening temperature reached more rapidly with
acetylene-oxygen than with propane-oxygen. Hence, with
acetylene-oxygen gas, a more sharply depth of hardening
can be achieved.
• In flame hardening there is a risk of oxidation of the steel
surface, particularly if the steel should be overheated.
• At temperatures of around 1100°C and under oxidizing
conditions, the steel can become so oxidized that copper
becomes concentrated and melts.
• If the steel surface is subjected to tensile stresses, copper
diffuses into the steel along the grain boundaries and causes
surface cracking.
• Temperature distribution in the steel surface was determined on sample
bars (size 25 x 50 x 100 mm) and 25 x 100 mm surface being subjected to
the hardening trial.
• The temperature distribution with water cooling shown in figure.
• Burner distance : distance between the burner orifice and the steel
surface.
• The temperature distribution with air cooling shown in figure.
• Burner distance : distance between the burner orifice and the steel
surface.
• Figure shows the hardness distribution in test bars made from carbon
steel C 50 after trial hardening when using a feed rate of 50 mm/min
and different burner distances.
• Type O 1 and D 2 tool steel can be process by flame hardening without
cracking.
• Its sufficient to cooling them in air in order to obtain surface hardness
values of around 800 HV.
• Figure show result of tool steel O1 with flame hardening treatment.
• During a hardening process, with the minimum burner distance, the steel
became coarse grained in the surface layer.
• Steel D2 is unaffected by overheating as regards grain size, but it is liable
to contain retained austenite and be easy to melt.
• During the tests, it was clear that effect was due to low heat conductivity
of the steel, which resulted in a steep temperature gradient.
• Figure above show that the temperatures measured 10 mm below the
surface are considerably higher than in the preceding case.
Microstructure on normal and overheat
• Flame hardening on a edges of sample bars, and with only a slight change
in the feed rate, both normal and overheated structures were obtained.
Examples of flame-hardened machine components
and tools
Gears can be flame-hardened by several
methods.
• Up to module 5, spin hardening is used. If
only the tooth tips are to be hardened, gears
of larger modules can be spin hardened.
• Gears of module 4 or more, one tooth at a
time can be progressively hardened. This can
be undertaken in such a way that either the
flanks on one tooth are hardened
simultaneously (flank hardening) or the
flanks on two teeth are hardened
simultaneously (tooth-gap hardening).
• From modules 6 and up it is also possible to harden the space between the
teeth (tooth bases), so that the fatigue strength is increased.
Gear hardening continue…
• Progressive hardening can be carried out with a quenching spray directly
after heating, this being essential for gears made from carbon steel.
• In the case of alloy steel gears, each tooth is heated progressively, after
which the gear wheel is rotated 15-60° and the tooth allowed to cool in
air.
• The other parts of the gear are kept cool by means of cooling water.
• A similar method is employed for spur gears and sprocket wheels which
are placed vertically, with roughly one quarter of the wheel immersed in
water. When the tooth located at the highest position has been heated to
the hardening temperature, the wheel is rotated through 180°, so that the
heated tooth is quenched.
• For single-tooth hardening pre-indexed machines are used which give
symmetrical stresses in the gear wheel, and thereby only slight
deformation is created.
Flame hardening: long object
• Long objects, such as lathe
guides, are hardened
progressively, whereby a
flame-cutting machine can be
used for the feed.
• The depth of hardening is
regulated by the amount of
heat supplied (gas pressure)
and the feed rate.
• Figure above show lathe guide that have been hardened by using the
same gas-pressure setting but different feed rates.
• One special case is illustrated in Figure above, where a cam shaft for a printing
press is hardened simultaneously along four sections, length about 100 mm
each.
• The larger part of the cam shaft is immersed in water, which provides sufficient
cooling to ensure that satisfactory hardening is achieved
• A similar procedure can be used when hardening long edges, for example.
The object is placed in water with the edge just level with the surface. As
the flame sweeps towards the edge, the water is blown away and the
edge is exposed and heated. As the burner travels onwards, the water
flows back and quenches the edge.
• During the flame hardening of long and relatively thin objects it is difficult
to avoid deformation.
• When one side of a straight edge is being hardened it might be presumed
that this will become convex, since the martensite formed has a greater
volume than the other structural constituents.
• This does in fact occur quite frequently and is advantageous when
straightening is called for.
• The straight edge may also become concave, which is due to the fact that
the upsetting occurring during heating exceeds the increase in volume
that has taken place during the martensite formation.
• The degree of contraction can be regulated by means of the feed rate.
Flame hardening: Plate
• Plates can be successfully flame hardened with the aid of wide burners.
• Large plates can be hardened in several passes, but a soft zone between the
passes must be allowed for.
Flame hardening: Shear and blanking tools
• Blanking tools (punching tools), as mentioned
previously, can be given a wear-resistant cutting edge by
means of flame hardening. This method is used mainly
for tools employed in blanking large plates.
• Such a tool can either be built up of shear plates which
are bolted firmly to a parent tool, or it can be
manufactured from plate in which the desired contour
has been cut to shape by flame cutting and then
machined. In the former instance the shear plates can
be dismantled and flame hardened separately if so
required.
• Carbon steel containing 0-50% C, as well as steel W 1,
can be used for simple tools. Quenching is carried out by
water spraying. It may also suffice to keep the tools
immersed in water, with the cutting edge just above the
surface of the water.
Flame hardening: Moulds for plastics
• Moulds for plastics are largely made from steel P20 hardened and tempered. If
the plastic is very abrasive or if the pressure at the mating surfaces is extremely
high, flame hardening of these mating surfaces can impart a considerable
improvement in wear resistance. After flame hardening and cooling in air, the
hardness of P20 (Bofors DRO 86) is 50-53 HRC .
• The following recommendations are given
for flame hardening the edges of moulds
made from steel P20 when using a
conventional welding torch or burner
which is passed over the edges of the
mould.
1. The area to be hardened should be clean and free from scale.
2. An oxy-acetylene flame is preferable, initially with slightly more acetylene
than oxygen—a 'blue or green cone' will be noticed in the flame.
3. Oxygen should be increased until the 'blue or green cone' disappears.
4. A slight pre-heat by movement of the flame over the beginning of the
area to be hardened should be given.
5. The tip of the core flame should then be held about 8 mm in) back from
the edge of the material, approximately 8 mm ( | in) above the material
and at an angle of 60-90° to the horizontal plane and 15-30° to the
vertical.
6. Once a dull-red hot spot becomes visible, the flame must be moved
slowly along, so that the red spot follows the flame at a constant speed
and remains a constant size. Speed is approximately 50 mm (2 in) per
minute.
7. The flame should not be allowed to dwell or the process to discontinue
and then be restarted. If the flame dwells, sparks may appear, which
indicates burning of the metal. If the process is discontinued it is virtually
impossible to start where the flame left off and the localized uneven
heating gives rise to stressed or soft areas.
8. Tempering at 180-200 °C is recommended, but not necessary, after flame
hardening. Local heating with the flame is used.
Thank You
