Steel Quenching

[FET] Mechanics of Materials Laboratory: ENGR 3101-A-Fall 2018/2019

Created by Group 2​:

Ariq Naufal Rabbani (2018360005)

Geraldy Cahya Denatra (2018360013)
Muhammad Aulia Anggoro (2018360007)
Wahyu Haykal Rahmanda (2017360015)

Lectured by:

Mr. Aditiya Harjon Bahar

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
SAMPOERNA UNIVERSITY
2018
 Table of Content

Table of Content 1

Chapter 1: Introduction 2

Chapter 2: Theory 3

Chapter 3: Technical Description 5

3.1 Cress Electric Furnace 5
3.2 Tongs 5
3.3 Ceramic Bowl 6
3.4 Penta 5000 Hand Grinder 6
3.5 TB II Rockwell Hardness Tester 7
3.6 Instron Ceast 9050 Pendulum Impact System 7

Chapter 4: Experiment Procedure 8

Chapter 5 : Data & Observation 9

Chapter 6: Result and Discussion 13

Chapter 7: Conclusion 26

References 27

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 Chapter 1: Introduction

Along with the development of times and technology, there are many industries that
use metal as their main operational material or even as raw material for its production. Steel
is widely used by industry to make various kinds of tooling, automotive components, and so
on. In its application, all metal structures will be affected by several external forces which can
cause deformation. To keep the metal more resistant to the friction or pressure is by heat
treatment on steel. This heat treatment has an important role to increase the hardness of steel
as needed.

The heat treatment process includes several stages such as heating steel at a certain
temperature, maintained at a certain time, and cooled in certain media as well. This heat
treatment process aims to increase ductility, eliminate internal stress, smooth the crystal
grains, increase hardness, increase the tension of metal pull, and so on. There are several
factors that influence heat treatment, such as heating temperatures and cooling methods used.

One of the heat treatment processes in steel is quenching. Heat quenching treatment
produces a product that has high hardness, therefore it is often called a hardening process.
This process is carried out by heating steel until the temperature in the area or above the
critical area is followed by rapid cooling.

The objectives of this experiment are: the students understand the conventional heat
treatment procedure of quenching and annealing of steel in modifying its properties; the
students study the effect of the heat treatment on mechanical properties of steel; and the
students understand the relationship between hardness and toughness of heat-treated steel.

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 Chapter 2: Theory

In the heat treatment, the process not only heating but the combination of heating
process and cooling process of metal or alloy in its solid state. This heat treatment process
will change the microstructure and the mechanical properties of the material. Sometimes, heat
treatment is used to engineer the desired metal material.

There are three kinds of heat treatment for the steel which are:
- Annealing : heating the semi-finished product at a temperature of 850 - 9500°C in a
certain time, then cool it slowly. This process takes place in the furnace. The granules
produced in this process are generally large / rough [1].
- Normalizing : heating half-finished products at 875 - 9800°C followed by open air
cooling. In this process, the resulting granules generally take place simultaneously
with the implementation of hot rolling conditions (rolling) [1].
- Quenching : the rapid cooling system of steel products by spraying water on
immersion and soaking products that are still hot into water or oil media [1].

During the heat treatment process, the phase transformation occurs over time in
solid-to-solid transformation. This transformation can be see or observe through TTT
(Time-Temperature Transformation) and CCT (Continuous Cool Transformation). Figure 1
and Figure 2 show the TTT and CCT diagram for eutectoid steel. M(start) is when the
transformation of phase starts, M(50%) is the half-way through phase transformation into
martensite, and M(90%) means 90% transformed as martenite. This M is three major
transformation phase line [2].
As shown in Figure 1 below, TTT has 4 different phases which are: austenite (A),
pearlite (P), bainite (B), and martensite (M). The red line (most left C-curve) shows the start
of austenite to pearlite or bainite transformation, the blue dashed line indicates 50%
completion, and the green line (most right C-curve) shows the completion of the
transformation [2].
In the Figure 2 below, there are two important cooling rates which are: the faster rate
is critical cooling rate (the minimum required cooling rate for the sample to entirely

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transform to martensite), and the slower rate (no martensite is formed, meanwhile only
pearlite) [2]. CCT is different with quenching. CCT begins and end within period of time and
it is not at constant temperature. Meanwhile quenching is a rapid cooling process that does
not allow the time for the atom diffusion to the lowest-energy equilibrium stage. The Figures
below are retrieved from Callister 7th edition [2]

Figure 1. ​Time-Temperature Transform (TTT) Diagrams for Eutectoid Steel

Figure 2. ​Continuous Cooling Temperature (CCT) Diagrams for Eutectoid Steel

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 Chapter 3: Technical Description

3.1 Cress Electric Furnace

Figure 3. ​Cress Electric Furnace

Single chamber furnace able to resist the temperature up to 2250°F and use for
hardening process and other heat treating metal process. The recirculation fan is an important
part of this machine which can help to achieve an even temperature through the chamber.
Heat transfer to the specimen is accomplished by a very efficient process called direct
radiation [3].

3.2 Tongs

Figure 4. ​Tongs

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 Tongs can be represented as human hand in a certain condition, one of the examples is
in steel quenching process. Tongs use to avoid the high temperature accident during the
experiment. This tool divided into two type, which has 45° 31.5” long and 37° 39.25” long
[1].

3.3 Ceramic Bowl

Figure 5.​ Ceramic Bowl

Ceramic bowl is a vessel to put the specimen during the heat treatment process. It able
to resist a high temperature.

3.4 Penta 5000 Hand Grinder

Figure 6.​ Penta 5000 Hand Grinder

The Penta 5000 is a five station hand grinder for manually with water supporting of
metallographic specimen. This tools has five coarse surface with different of grit (240, 360,
400, 600, 800, 1200). This machine is easy to operate, just need to turn on the faucet of water.
the volume of water can be adjusted, it depend on the needs.

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 3.5 TB II Rockwell Hardness Tester

Figure 7.​ TB II Rockwell Hardness Tester

The TB II Rockwell Hardness Tester machine is using an indentation testing method.
The indenters have various types, which later the usage will depend on the specimen used
during the experiment. Practically, this machine will show the direct measurement of the
specimen after the indentation process has finished.

3.6 Instron Ceast 9050 Pendulum Impact System

Figure 8. ​Instron Ceast 9050 Pendulum Impact System

The impact testing for each steel has been done by using an Instron Ceast 9050
Pendulum Impact System. This machine is applicable for impact resistance testing of
polymers, plastics, rubber, engineered plastics, composite materials, product components, etc.

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 Chapter 4: Experiment Procedure
1. Furnace oven was turned on. The temperature was set to 1500°F (816°C).
2. The steel specimens were placed on a ceramic bowl.
3. The bowl was placed into the furnace. SAFETY NOTE: proper personal protection was
worn for the operation!
4. Bucket of water was prepared for quenching operation.
5. After the furnace temperature has reached 1500°F, the furnace was turned off.
6. One specimen (​specimen A​) was taken with crucible tongs and immersed immediately
into the bucket of water. Let it soak for a few minutes. The specimen was dried after the
temperature is at equilibrium.
7. Another specimen (​specimen B​) was taken to be exposed in an open-air environment.
Let it cool down naturally to the room temperature.
8. Let another specimen (​specimen C​) to cool down within the furnace that has been turned
off.
9. Rockwell hardness test was taken after the three specimens have reached to room
temperature and compare with the untreated specimen (​specimen D​). Record the
hardness values!

10. Charpy impact test was performed on the specimen, record and observe the results!

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 Chapter 5 : Data & Observation
There are 4 different type of steel which tested in this experiment. Each steel has
given different treatment. The first three steel is heated inside the electric furnace in 1500°F.
For the first steel (Steel A) then immediately cooled using water after heating, the second
steel (Steel B) is cooled with room temperature, and for the third steel (Steel C) is cooled
inside the electric furnace. While for the fourth steel (Steel D), it doesn’t experience any
treatment.
Then, the surface of steel is smoothened using sandpaper in order to remove the
oxidized layer or burning layer, after that the strength of steels is tested in hardness test and
impact test. For Hardness test is using Rockwell Hardness test with C diamond indenter and
HRA unit. Below is the result of Rockwell Hardness test and Charpy Impact test

Table 1. Rockwell Hardness Test Results

Type Steel A Steel B Steel C Steel D

Treatment Water Air Cooling Slow Cooling Standard

Cooling

Attempt 1 (HRA) 73.2 51.3 47.3 59.5

Attempt 2 (HRA) 75.2 52.2 48.1 59.7

Attempt 3 (HRA) 75.2 52 48.1 60.8

Attempt 4 (HRA) 73.7 51.6 30.5 60.1

Attempt 5 (HRA) 74.1 52 42.6 60.6

Attempt 6 (HRA) 75.3 51.2 33.8 61.1

Attempt 7 (HRA) 66.6 51.2 33.6 60.9

Attempt 8 (HRA) 70.5 51.9 30.7 60.2

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 Attempt 9 (HRA) 67.6 51.8 32.9 61.1

Attempt 10 (HRA) 69.6 52.1 32.3 61

Maximum (HRA) 75.3 52.2 48.1 61.1

Minimum (HRA) 66.6 51.2 30.5 59.5

Standard Deviation 3.107 0.360 7.1880 0.558

Average (HRA) 72.1 51.7 38 60.5

Table 2. Charpy Impact Test Results

Type Treatment Energy (Joule) Impact Speed Raising Angle

(m/s)

Steel A Water Cooling 2.5114 4.043 -140.3

Steel B Air Cooling 49.9546 4.043 -1.1

Steel C Slow Cooling 49.9542 4.043 -1.15

Steel D Standard 24.8238 4.043 -86.4

The result from Table 1 shown that steel A which treated with water cooling is the
hardness steel and Steel C is the weakness one compared to the untreated Steel D.
Meanwhile, regarding to the Table 2, Steel B an Steel C is absorbing more energy compared
with untreated Steel D and the physically result for the specimen is the specimen only
experiencing bending and not totally fractured as shown in Figure 10 and Figure 11. But for
Steel A, it only absorb few amount of energy, therefore the resulting in the specimen is totally
fractured as shown in Figure 9. The interesting part from the fracture result in Steel A is the
shape of the fracture is smooth. It may caused by the hardness of the Steel A is quite big.

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Figure 9.​ Fracture in Specimen A

Figure 10.​ Fracture in Specimen B

Figure 11.​ Fracture in Specimen C

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 Figure 12.​ Fracture in Specimen D

Figure 13.​ Equipment for Steel Quenching Experiment

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 Chapter 6: Result and Discussion
1. Basically, by its definition, heat treating is the process of heating or cooling metals to
alter their physical or chemical properties, without affecting size and shape [4].
Therefore, it is revealed already that the purpose of giving the heat treatment towards
a material in engineering is to alter the physical or chemical properties from a certain
material. Why do they need to alter these properties? Simply, the alteration process
has to be done because there is another desired specification that is needed to be used
in order to form a new object. Heat treatment process is important in engineering field
because some of ​engineering properties are improved by heat treatment methods to
enhanced structural components to endure specified operating conditions. ​T​here are at
least 3 steps for achieving the purpose of the treatment and all of the steps are
consistent for all heat treatment processes:
● Heat treating to a certain temperature
● Maintaining that temperature for a specific duration
● Cooling the metal back to room temperature

2. Below are the description of the terms

a. Austenite
Austenite is referring to any ​iron that has carbon or face-centered crystalline
structures, it has another common identity known as austenitic steel or
gamma-phase iron or γ-Fe . Austenite formed when iron is heated above 910°
C (1,670° F); gamma iron becomes unstable at temperatures above 1,390° C
(2,530° F) [5​].  ​It is named after Sir W. C. Roberts Austen [5]. Austenite is a
non-magnetic iron, The non-magnetic properties was there because the
face-centered cubic arrangement of its atoms is not magnetic. In real life
application, ​Austenite is constituent material of a stainless steel used for
making cutlery, hospital and food-service equipment, and tableware. Below
are the visual example of Austenite retrieved from [5]

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 Figure 14.​ Visual Appearance of Austenite

b. Martensite
Martensite is a crystal structure, typically steel or another mineral, formed by a
displacive transformation and having a characteristic body-centered tetragonal
crystalline structure. The name was given after the German metallurgist Adolf
Martens (1850-1914) [7]. The method of Martensite creation is formed when
high-temperature austenite is quickly quenched (cooled down) below a critical
temperature. Thus, it creates some characteristics such as high strength, low
fracture resistance, and low ductility (more to brittle). In real life application,
Martensite is used to a hospital equipment (specifically on surgeon
equipment), springs, cutting utensils, and etc [8]. Below are the visual
example of Martensite retrieved from [7]

Figure 15.​ Visual Appearance of Martensite

c. Normalizing
Normalizing heat treatment is a process applied to ferrous materials. The
objective of the normalizing heat treatment is to enhance the mechanical
properties of the material by refining the microstructure and to regain the
ductility of the material. The metal is heated in a furnace for normalizing heat

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 treatment process. The temperature of the furnace is kept between 750-980 °C
(1320-1796 °F), depending upon the carbon content in the material. The
material is kept at the temperature above austenite temperature for 1-2 hours,
until all the ferrite converts into austenite, and then cooled to room
temperature in still air or Nitrogen, if run in the vacuum furnace at less than 1
bar pressure [9]. In real life application, the normalizing heat treatment is
useful to Recover the original mechanical properties of forged or cold worked
steel, ease the forging operations for high carbon steel, and stress relieve of
castings [9]. Below are the Figure 16 shows the schematic of normalizing
process along with the presence of another heat treatment process, retrieved
from [9]

Figure 16.​ Schematic of Normalizing Process

d. Quench Hardening
Quenching is the soaking of a metal at a high temperature in a water directly
after the heat treatment process finished, followed by a rapid cooling process
to obtain certain desirable material properties. Also, it has been done in order
to prevent the cooling process from changing the microstructure of the
specimen. The method to do quench hardening will involve a support of an
external media. Common media for quenching include special purpose
polymers, forced air convection, fresh water, salt water, and oil [10]. Water is
an effective medium when the purpose is to have the steel to reach maximum

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 hardness. However, using water can lead to metal cracking. But, when it is
done properly, the material will become harder and more durable.

e. Tempering
The process of tempering is used to achieve greater toughness and ductility by
decreasing hardness. Tempering is achieved by heating the quenched material
to below the critical point for a set period of time, then allowing it to cool by
the air. By tempering the quenched steel, the steel will become less brittle and
more ductile without sacrificing too much hardness. The combination of these
two processes that produces a harder, tougher steel that is more weldable and
ductile than ordinary carbon steel. In real life application, the outcome from
the usage of tempering process can create some of the tools mentioned below,
retrieved from [11]
● Gear Wheels
● Storage Tank
● Cutting Edges

f. Annealing
Annealing is a heat treatment process which alters the microstructure of a
material to change its mechanical properties. Typically, in steels, annealing is
used to reduce hardness, increase ductility and help to eliminate internal
stresses. Annealing will restore ductility by heating the materials until the
austenite phase then followed by a cold working (tempering) and thus will
allow an additional processing without cracking. Here are the advantages of
the annealing process such as softens the steel, increases the ductility of steel,
enhances the toughness of steel, enhances and improves the machinability of
steel [12].

3. Before going to the undergone process, all of those 4 specimens are initially identical
and the heat treatment is purposely applied in order to seek the behavior and
characteristic of steel after being affected by the heat treatment. However, there are
only 3 out of 4 specimen that was tested in the experiment. The first phase of the

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experiment was started by heating the steel in a furnace for a set period of time until
reach the 1500 degree Fahrenheit. After the heating process was done, there comes a
different cooling treatment for each specimens. Below are the Figure 17. of TTT (left)
and CCT (right) retrieved from [2].

Figure 17​. TTT (left) and CCT (right)

a. The first specimen was ​Steel A. ​Just after the steel reach 1500 degree
Fahrenheit, the steel was taken out from the furnace and put out by using the
tongs then directly soaked into a water. This cooling treatment known as a
quenching process. Since the steel was soaked in a water in a quick time,
hence the microstructure will be quickly warped and change into a new phase
known as a martensite. According to the TTT diagram, the quenching method
can cause a sudden drop for the temperature and change the austenite to
martensite in a short period of time. While the CCT diagram shows that the
cooling process will change the material to the martensite denotes by the
yellow line inside the CCT. Therefore, it can be concluded that both of
diagrams will center to the formation of martensite. This quenching process
will let the steel A to obtain a brittle characteristics which is vulnerable (easy
to break) but with higher hardness value.

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 b. The second specimen was ​Steel B. ​Just after the steel reach 1500 degree
Fahrenheit, the steel was taken out from the furnace and put out by using the
tongs then directly put in the table. Here, the steel B was intended to
experience an air cooling treatment which this has the same meaning with the
normalizing treatment. So, the steel was left alone within a set period of time
until the steel is able to be touched and directly observed by hand. According
to the CCT diagram, since the cooling rate is not constant-temperature but
rather to continuous cooling temperature, then the red line curve will denote
the phenomena experienced by steel B. As the CCT shows also, the
normalization treatment will result a Fine Pearlite material with some austenite
transform to pearlite (in a little) and some of the other change to martensite.
Therefore, due to the mixing composition result, the possible characteristics
of steel B will produce a moderate hardness and ductility.
c. The third specimen was ​Steel C. ​Just after the steel reach 1500 degree
Fahrenheit, the steel was left alone inside the furnace and the observer do
nothing unless shutting down the furnace. Here, steel C was intended to
experience a slow cooling treatment. Thus the process will be identified only
as an annealing treatment. The behavior of cooling process in steel C also
better to be explained by using CCT diagram since its experiencing a
continuous slow cooling. By the end of the annealing treatment, the
microstructure will transform into a coarse pearlite that mostly consist of
pearlite with the little amount of martensite. The slow cooling process will
give the steel the lower hardness but higher ductility because of the ability to
absorb more energy (approved in the charpy impact test) since the low cooling
process is taking the longest time to cooldown the temperature.

4. The process to obtain austenite and martensite is different. The austenite can be
obtained by the polymorphic transformation of Body Centered Cubic (BCC) crystal
structure of ferrite become Face Centered Cubic (FCC) crystal structure. Meanwhile,
martensite is obtained by quenching process or rapid cooling. Because of this
different heat treatment process, the behavior and the properties of these two materials

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 are different. Below are the Figure 18. shows The Stress-Strain Curves of Austenite
and Martensite

Figure 18. ​The Stress-Strain Curves of Austenite and Martensite

The Figure 18 above shows the stress-strain curve of 316L austenite and 15-5PH
martensite. Based on that stress-strain curve, the yield strength of austenite is higher
than the martensite and the ultimate stress of martensite is greater than the austenite.
From these two conditions, it can be said that martensite is stronger than the austenite
and the martensite is more capable to experience more stress than austenite. The
ductility of those two materials can be known by looking the strain experiencing.
Based on Figure 18, the austenite experiencing more strain condition before it is
broken. So, it can be said that the austenite is more ductile than the martensite. From
that, it can be concluded that austenite is more ductile but it is weak in terms of
strength, meanwhile the martensite is strong in terms of strength but it is more brittle.

5. Below are the Table 3. Showing the Important value of Rockwell Hardness Test used
to determine the relation between cooling method and Rockwell hardness value

Table 3. Rockwell Hardness Test Results

Type Steel A Steel B Steel C Steel D

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 Cooling Method Water Air Cooling Slow Cooling Standard
Cooling

Maximum (HRA) 75.3 52.2 48.1 61.1

Minimum (HRA) 66.6 51.2 30.5 59.5

Standard Deviation 3.107 0.360 7.1880 0.558

Average (HRA) 72.1 51.7 38 60.5

Based on the result from the Table 3 above, it can be revealed that the cooling method
can affect the value of hardness for each specimen. Here, the steel A obtain the
highest value of hardness. It is possible for steel A to gain such value because of the
contribution of quench rate. Basically, quench rate is simply known as the cooling
rate. If the cooling rate or quench rate is high, then it can result a greater value of
hardness because the structure of material can warp and ​reduce the crystal grain size
faster​. Meanwhile, as the cooling method changes, the hardness value become smaller
than what have been experienced by steel A. Specifically, steel B and C has
experienced much slower cooling process with lower quench rate. Therefore, the
lower quench rate will result much lower hardness value because the structure warp
slower than the steel A that is treated by a rapid cooling processes.

6. Below are the Table 4. provide the value of Energy absorbed by the specimen from
the Charpy Impact Test

Table 4. Energy Absorbed by Each Specimen from Charpy Impact Test

Type Cooling Method Energy (Joule) Percent of Energy (%)

Steel A Water Cooling 2.5114 5.024

Steel B Air Cooling 49.9546 99.90

Steel C Low Cooling 49.9542 99.90

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 Steel D Standard 24.8238 49.648

Based on the Table 4. above, it can be revealed that the value of energy absorbed after
the charpy impact test was different. The value of the absorbed energy can be
appeared as the specimen experience a tempering process. Basically, tempering
process is simply reheating the specimen below the critical point just after the
specimen being quenched. Furthermore, ​after the material has been quenched to its
hardest state, the process of tempering is used to achieve greater toughness and
ductility by decreasing hardness. Therefore, the cooling process that has been
experienced by all of the steel actually as the part of tempering itself. However, the
things that differs the value of toughness here because of the quench rate. From steel
B and C, both of these specimens perform a lower cooling process with lower quench
rate. Different with steel A that was treated by a rapid cooling with higher quench
rate. Since the steel B and C perform higher energy absorption than steel A. Since the
toughness has the definition of the ability from the material to absorb an energy,
hence it can be concluded that the value toughness will get higher as the cooling
method involve a smaller quench rate because the energy resulted in the Charpy
Impact Test was greater in steel B and C which have experienced a slow cooling
method.

7. The possible relationship for hardness and toughness in this experiment would be an
inversely proportional ratio. This can be happened because, as it has been stated in the
previous question, the way how to obtain a higher value for toughness and hardness
was totally different and reversed. While the Rockwell hardness value getting higher
by a greater value of quench rate, the toughness was resulted in reverse. The
toughness value from the charpy impact test will result higher if the quench rate much
lower along with the non-rapid cooling method. Therefore, it can be concluded that
the relationship of hardness and toughness was inversely proportional due to the
different behavior appear in the cooling process. Furthermore, the heat treatment
process can affect the toughness too. Based on the table 4. the default condition for
the steel D (Non heat treated) that has absorb energy after impact test is

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 approximately around 50%, while the Steel B and C is able to absorb more up to 99%
and steel A with the lowest percentage around 5% only. Therefore, the heat treatment
process play a significant role to determine the toughness.

8. According to the classification of heat treatment, there are at least 4 heat treatment
processes such as annealing, normalizing, tempering, and quenching. In order to be
able to distinguish the behavior of each heat treatment process, hence an external
sources will be used here to support and provide a better argument. The source was
taken from the journal of IOPscience titled “The effect of heat treatment on the
hardness and impact properties of medium carbon steel ” by Noor Mazni Ismail,Nurul
Aida Amir Khatif, Mohamad Aliff Kamil Awang Kecik, Mohd Ali Hanafiah
Shaharudin from Universiti Malaysia Pahang [13]. This journal has provided a
portrait or a Figure used as the evidence to distinguish the heat treatment effect
toward microstructure of the steel. Below are the Figure 19 shows about the
microstructure of a Non-heat treated steel with 10 times magnification [13].

Figure 19.​ Microstructure of Non-heat Treated Steel (10x)

The shaded area according to the journal is the location of a pearlite. While the white
ones is the ferrite. Basically, the pearlite itself is formed by the combination ferrite
and cementite. Furthermore, ferrite formed by the slow cooling of austenite. Ferrite
has a good strength and moderate ductility. Since it is non-heat treated, hence the
Figure 19 represent the slow cooling method process that has no connection with any

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kind of heat treatment listed above. Next, below are the Figure 20 shows about
microstructure of hardened medium carbon steel with 10 times magnification [13]

Figure 20.​ Microstructure of Hardened Medium Carbon Steel (10X)

The Figure 20 above represents the microstructure of medium carbon steel after
quench in water. Before quench in water the specimen were ​anneal with 900 degree
celsius for 1 hour and at that time microstructure become austenite [13]. Annealing
means changes of crystal structure from ferrite to austenite. From the Figure 20 it
shows the formation of martensite. When the specimen of medium carbon steel are
rapidly quenched from austenite temperature to room temperature in medium of
water, the austenite will decompose into a mixture of some medium carbon martensite
and fewer pearlite but if the specimen is not quenched sufficiently rapidly, the carbon
atom will allow the reforming of ferrite, pearlite or bainite from austenite. At this
stage, the microstructure is hard; hence increase in hardness and tensile strength but
reduction in ductility of the material. Last but not least is the Figure 21 that shows
about Microstructure of Tempered Medium Carbon Steel with 10 times
magnification [13].

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 Figure 21. ​ Microstructure of Tempered Medium Carbon Steel (10X)

However, martensite is too brittle and cannot be used directly after quench for any
application. Martensite brittleness can be reduced by applying a post-heat treatment
known as - ​tempering​. Tempering is necessary to increase ductility and toughness of
martensite. Some hardness and strength is lost after tempering treatment. The
microstructure of medium carbon steel become tempered martensite. The
microstructure of tempered at 600 degree celsius is shown in Figure 19. The
microstructure shows the formation of recrystallized ferrite grains. This particle can
increase hardness during high tempering temperature. Therefore, here are the
conclusion gained from the journal,
a. The default microstructure of a steel consist of pearlite and ferrite
b. The heat treatment process will allow the microstructure to experience a
recrystallization
c. When the steel is not subjected to any heat treatment, then the ferrite will be
much preserve in the microstructure. In this experiment it was related to ​Steel
D
d. Annealing process was intended to heat the steel up to austenite phase. In this
experiment, this heat treatment was related to ​Steel A​, ​Steel B​, and ​Steel C
e. The quenching process will allow the microstructure to warp and recrystallize.
The properties of steel after being quenched is hard but with low ductility. In
this experiment, this cooling method was experienced by ​Steel A

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f. After the quenching process, the martensite will be formed. However, since
the properties of martensite is brittle (which is weak) hence another heat
treatment called tempering was needed
g. Tempering process is a heat treatment to increase ductility and toughness but it
has to sacrifice some hardness of the steel there. The tempering process was
done by reheating the steel until below the critical point, then directly quench
the steel again.
h. The normalizing treatment will be experienced by ​steel B​. The normalization
treatment will result a ​Fine Pearlite material with some austenite transform to
pearlite (in a little) and the rest will be dominated by martensite. Therefore,
due to the mixing composition result, the possible characteristics of steel B
will produce a higher value hardness and ductility.
i. While the slow cooling process will be experienced by ​steel C​. By the end of
the annealing treatment, the microstructure from the steel C will transform into
a ​Coarse Pearlite that mostly consist of pearlite with the little amount of
martensite. The slow cooling process will give the steel the lower hardness but
higher ductility.

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 Chapter 7: Conclusion

The purpose of the experiment is to understand the heat treatment effect towards the
steel in accordance to make a modification of the mechanical properties from the steel. In
order to get the answer for that, the relation between hardness and toughness has to be found
out. Furthermore, all of the purpose stated before will center to determining how to get the
most suitable material under a certain specification for a certain environment or a condition.

Correspond with the effect of the heat treatment towards a mechanical properties of
the steel, the modification of the properties highly depend on how the specimen was treated.
Specifically, it is discussing about the type of heat treatment and the cooling method used in
the experiment. Here, 3 out of 4 specimen was experiencing an annealing heat treatment
process in the furnace which make these specimens ductile enough but with lower toughness.
Later, the properties after annealing process is begin to differs as each of the specimen will
experience a different cooling method. The quench rate or simply known as the cooling rate
will play a massive role in determining the value of hardness from the specimen. Thus, the
quenching hardening is one of the cooling method that contributes the most to result a largest
number hardness value rather than another type of cooling method.

On the other hand, the relationship between hardness and toughness is necessary to be
revealed. When the specimen is subjected to heat treatment process such as an annealing
process the specimen will result the same behavior of ductility (in terms of hardness scale)
but with lower number of toughness. However, the opposite properties will appear as the
material has undergone in a different cooling method. The conclusion that can be drawn on
each cooling method is that the quench rate or cooling rate was playing a massive role in
determining the properties of the specimen after cooling method finished. It can be seen from
the table 4 in the chapter 6, that the value of energy absorbed (or simply the toughness) by the
material after Charpy impact test distinctly great in the Steel B and Steel C, different with
Steel A that performs lower toughness value. However, especially for steel A, even though
this specimen perform lower energy absorpt but it was the only specimen that experience the
higher ductility (or simply increase) after the cooling method by a quenching.

26
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