Heat Treatments
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Quenching
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Heat Treatment
It is a set of controlled metallurgical processes involving the heating and cooling of metals with the purpose of modifying their physical, chemical, or mechanical properties, thereby optimizing characteristics such as hardness, strength, toughness, or ductility for specific applications.
Carburizing
This is a thermochemical process in which carbon is introduced onto the surface of low-carbon steel. The goal is to enrich the surface layer with carbon so that, after subsequent quenching and tempering, the surface achieves high hardness and wear resistance, while the core remains tough and ductile.
This process is typically carried out in a carbon-rich atmosphere at temperatures ranging between 850 °C and 950 °C.
The exposure time and temperature determine the depth of the carburized layer, known as the effective case depth, which is later transformed into a martensitic structure after quenching.
Carbonitriding
A treatment similar to carburizing but performed in an atmosphere containing ammonia, simultaneously introducing carbon and nitrogen into the surface. It is carried out at moderate temperatures (~850 °C).
The ammonia dissociates on the steel surface, allowing nitrogen to diffuse in, producing a more consistent surface hardness, which improves wear resistance and toughness.
Because lower temperatures can be used, carbonitriding offers better control of distortion compared to carburizing.
Quenching and Tempering
Quenching
Rapid cooling of steel previously heated into the austenitic region, generally by immersion in oil or water, to form martensite, increasing hardness.
Tempering
Reheating after quenching to a temperature below the critical A₁ point (150–600 °C). This reduces internal stresses, improves toughness and ductility, stabilizes the structure, and adjusts mechanical properties.
Normalizing
Normalizing aims to provide a uniform microstructure to steel and is mainly used for carbon steels and low alloy steels to normalize the structure after forging, hot rolling, or casting.
During normalizing, the steel is heated to a temperature above the austenitizing range (~900–950 °C), followed by air cooling.
Annealing
A heat treatment process involving heating and holding at an appropriate temperature followed by slow cooling, primarily used for softening metallic materials.
Generally, in carbon steels, annealing produces a ferrite-pearlite microstructure, facilitating cold working and improving machinability.
Stress Relieving
A subcritical process where steel is heated to a temperature typically between 550–700 °C and held for some time to relieve residual stresses from mechanical or thermal processes without significantly altering microstructure or hardness.
Press Quenching
A heat treatment method in which a part is rapidly cooled while being held under constant mechanical pressure. The main goal is to minimize dimensional distortions during the martensitic transformation, mainly in bearings and gears.
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