Paper Presentation On Role Of Cryogenic Engineering In Tool Manufactuing

By L.Karthik Chakravarthy & G. Satish Kumar B. Tech ME III/IV Department of Mechanical Engineering. Balaji Institute Of Technological Sciences. Laknepally, Narsampet. E-mail: L.Karthik : sunnyasha@yahoo.co.in Ph No: 9885590284

ABSTRACT: Tool manufacturing is considered to be the most important task in production. Keeping in view of metal properties often different methods are used to produce the tools. Now a days the role of cryogenic engineering in tool manufacturing is tremendous. The thermal treatment of metals must certainly be regarded as one of the most important development of the industrial age. Modern process of chilling a part down to relatively near absolutely zero and maintaining the condition until the material has cold soaked. This paper describes about cryogenic tempering, its working and the changes that occur in metal structure when the treatment of metals is done. By the cryogenic treatment tool life, performance gets improved. To do this Process no equipment is required. This increases resistance to abrasive, wear, durability, tensile strength, toughness and stability. It decreases residual stresses in tool steels and brittleness. The paper also describes about a cryoprocessor which is a computer controlled processor. By this processor desirable cooling curves can be easily programmed. Overall this paper keeps an view about cryogenic processing, cryogenic tempering and how to improve the tool life by cryogenic tempering, advantages and its application by using a computer controlled processor. BASICS OF CRYOGENIC METALLURGY Introduction Why Cryogenic Tempering is Important An Overview of How Cryogenics Works The Ideal Role of Cryogenic Tempering Cryprocessor Conclusions

INRTODUCTION The thermal treatment of metals must certainly be regearded as one of the most important developments of the industrial age.After more than a century, research continues into making metallic components stronger and more wear-resistant. One of the more modern processes being used to treat metals ( as well as other materials) is cryogenic tempering . While the science of heat treatment is well known and widely understood, the principles of cryogenic tempering remain a mystery to most people in industry. Information regarding this process is full of contradictions and unanswered questions. Until recently, cryogenic tempering was viewed as having little value, due to the often brittle nature of the finished product. It is only since the development of computer modeled cooling and reheat curves that the true benifits of cryogenically treated materials have become available to industry and the general public. The purpose of this work is not to break new ground in cryogenic science, nor will it answer all of the questions surrounding this process.Rather, this is a consideration of much of the information available concerning the effects cryogenic treatment has on metal structure,as well as an overview of the actual process involved in treating parts. Also included are theories and conclusions regarding the optimum use of cryogenic tempering on steels, costs and feasiblity not withstanding. All information is as up to date as possible, having been gathered from various scientific and industrial databases (no books were harmed during the preparation of this treatise). WHY CROGENIC TEMPERING IS IMPORTANT Possilby the most important to industrial productivity is metallic parts wear. Tool bits, punch dies, and bearing surfaces are all subject to wear under normal use conditions. The cost and downtime associated with parts replacement has limited the speed of production equipment since the beginning of the industrial age. Proper cryogenic tempering offers impressive gains in terms of tool and component life. Increases of 400% in number of operations before resharpening are not uncommon, and claims go beyond 25 TIMES the normal tool life in some applications (Frozen Gears). Cryogenic treatment has also found favourable results in auto racing, sporting goods (golf balls that fly farther!), and firearms manufacturing . In short, there is little doubt about the effectiveness of the process in enhancing wear- and fatigue-resistance. Questions remain however, as to what actual structural changes take place during the cryogenic process.

AN OVERVIEW OF HOW CRYOGENICS WORKS Cryogenic tempering may be oversimplified into a process of chilling a part down to relatively near absolute zero and maintaining that condition until the material has coldsoaked. The temperature is then allowed to rise until ambient equilibrium is reached.The part may then be subjected to a normal tempering reheat, although this step is not always included in this process. The complexity of the process involves determining and achieving the proper duration for the cooling,soaking, and warming cycles.It is here that developments in computer modeling and controls have placed cryogenic tempering on the cutting edge of metal treatment. Scientists in provinces of the former Soviety Union typically disagree with western methods of cryogenic treatment, as tests there have revolves around unceremoniously dumping parts into a flask of liquid nitrogen, removing them, and allowing the material to cool uncontrolled in ambient air. Predictably, reports of extended tool life have not been as favourable as those achieved using more tightly contolled processes(History). ALTERATIONS IN METAL STRUCTURES An explanation of the effect of deep cooling on metallic structures requires a connection be drawn to the more standard elevated temperature treatment process.When a metal is heated, the increase in energy expands the molecules. Figure 1:
MARTENSITE FORMATION TEMPERATURES FOR VARIOUS PERCENTAGE CARBON CONTENT STEELS

THE IDEAL ROLE OF CRYOGENIC TEMPERING As previously discussed, the transformation of austenite into useful martensite is dependent on two factors, carbon content and temperature.The steel must first be heated to a temperature suficient to allow carbon atoms to enter into the solution. This temperature must then be maintained until enough time has passed for a complete austenitic reaction to take place. This is known as soak time, and is dependent on the mass of the part being treated. Next, the part must be partially quenched down to the martensite start temperature for the particular carbon content of the steel. The part is then held at this temperature until thermal equilibrium is reached (the entire thickness of the part is the same temperature). Under ideal circumstances, the part would immediately be placed into the cryogenic chamber and cooled to the relevant Mf temperature for carbon content and maintained at that temperature until thermal equilibrium was once again reached at Mf.It is at this point that complete martensite transformation will have occured and the part may be allowed to return to ambient temperature at a rate which will minimize internal stresses.

CRYOGENIC TREATMENT WILL REDUCE YOUR TOOLING COSTS Significant Savings: Cyro-processing enhances tooling life, performance and value. Requires no capital equipment investment. Cyro-processing is one-time, permanent treatment. Requires less material removal when re-sharpening. Deep Cryogenic Processing Advantage: Increased resistance to abrasive wear Increased durability. Increased tensile strength, toughness and stability Decreases residual stresses in tool steels Decreases brittleness Changes the materials entire structure, not just the surface A VARIETY OF USES Drill Reamers End Mills Progressive Dies Punch Dies Press Dies Forge Dies Hammer Mills Extruders Granulators

Circular Slitters Cutters Gears Hobs Shear Blades ....... and Many Other High Wear Parts CRYOGEINC PROCESSING INCREASES THE LIFE OF TOOLS USED FOR MACHINING METALS WE CAN CUT YOUR CONSUMABLE TOOLING COSTS IN HALF. Both carbide and high speed cutting tools show significant life increases. Cryogenic processing is an excellent method of stretching the perishable tooling budget of large or small companies. Typical inserts cost $2.00 to treat. The pictures at the right show carbide inserts that were on the same milling cutter. Notice thr difference in the wear. This is avery rugged test because the treated insert had to take up the slack as the untreated one wore out. Cryogenics and Coatings Cryogenic Processing works synergistically with coatings such as Titanium Nitriding (TiN). Coatings act to reduce the coefficient of friction between the tool and the metal being cut. They also act as abarrier so the cutting tool does not weld itself to the part. Coatings typically do not fail by wearing off.The material under the coating fails due to repeated stress. Crogenic processing acts as to delay the failure of the material under the coating and therefore protects the coating. CRYO-PROCESSOR What is a cryo-processor: It is a computer-controlled processor. It comes with proven processing cooling curves programmed into the computer. Any other desired cooling curves can be easily programmed into the processor. To run the Model 701 Cryo Processor, one icon is clicked and the program will run automatically.

It is a dry process. Liquid nitrogen is converted to a gas before it enters the chamber so that at no time does liquid nitrogen come in to contact with the parts assuring that the dangers of cracking from too cooling are eliminated. The model 701 uses conventional electrical cooling to reduce the temperature to 100F, making it the most economical processor on the market. At -100F, the liquid nitrogen syatem cuts in, and the dry vapours of liquid are used to cool to the desired cycle. The electric cooling has another advantage. At the end of the run the processor is set to hold a temperature below freezing and not return to room temperature where condensation and rusting can be a problem. The standard Model 701 Processor uses 220 volt,single phase 11.2 amp service. For a small fee, any other power requirements can be built into the processor. We list the capacity of the processor at 1500 lbs. We customarily run at 1800 to 2000 lbs. when we make our runs. We have run loads in excess of that although this practice is not recommended. When the processor is loaded about half ful while running a normal load of ferrous tools, it uses about one pound of liqiud nitrogen for every pound of material processed. Loads less then this are somewhat less efficient, while loads more the half are significantly more efficient. Because of its case of operation , its economy, and its great reliability, there are over 120 of these units running worldwide. The question is often raised if the (heat) tempering should be performed inside the Cryo Processor or if it should be done in a seperate tempering oven. We here at 300 below inc. considered the question very early in our existence. It certainly would make for a smoother running operation if the material did not have to be transfered from one vessel to another. We found that there are certain considerations that did not make tempering in the cryo processor a good idea: First: different materials get different (heat) tempering cycles. Second: different cross sectional areas need different tempering times. Therefore how would it ever be possible to run loads of mixed materials or sizes. If you do, it is a compromise at best. Next: we pack our processor thightly - in our case about 2000 pounds. We do this to make the cooling operation more efficient meaning that we will use less nitrogen. We cool this mass slowly so there is plenty of time for the cold nitrogen gas to penetrate the mass to achieve the desired temperature. The opposite is required during (heat) tempering, by heating the material rapidly and uniformly. This is just not possible when one attemp to heat a large mass heaters either on the top or on the bottom of that mass. The outside fo the mass will tend to be overheated, while the center may never get to the desired temperature. Thus some of the material may be way over tempered , while some may be barely tempered at all.

CONCLUSIONS It is apparent that cryogenic tempering offers many benifits where ductility and wear resistance are desirable in hardened steels. These benefits extend to cast iron, aluminium, stainless steel, and other materials. While this paper discussed only the effect on high carbon steel, the concept of continuing alloy grain structure formation through temperature reduction applies to these other materials in the same fashion. While various experts dispute the time-at-temperature control; available research, along with a correlation with standard heat treating processes indicates that this control is the key to maximizing the potential of cryogenictemppering. As is the case with many scientific discoveries, the cost factor limits the usefulness of this process in the production phase of the materials industry. Usage of cryoprocessor in studying cooling curves of various metals is found advantageous.