2010

Study of tempering process of mild steel

The purpose of tempering is to make the metal more reliable for engineering operation
Tempering of steel is a multi-step process. First it is heated to create a solid solution of iron and carbon in a process called austenizing. Austenizing is followed by quenching to produce a martensitic microstructure. The steel is then tempered by heating between the ranges of 150260 C (302500 F) and 370650 C (6981,202 F).

Figure: Correlation of carbon content of martensite and hardness of different Fe-C alloys at different tempering temperatures.
K.M.Mostafizur Rahman SUST 6/11/2010

Name of the experiment: Study and operation of tempering

process of mild steel. Objectives:
1. 2. 3. 4. Learn about tempering process. To view the microstructure of tempered mild steel. To learn about the characteristics of tempered mild steel. To learn about the comparative properties between mild steel and tempered mild steel.

Introduction: The definition of heat treatment is given by, A combination of heating

and cooling operations, timed and applied to a metal or alloy in the solid state in a way that will produce desired properties. All basic heat treating processes for steel involve the transformation or decomposition of austenite. The nature and appearance of these transformation products determine the physical and mechanical properties of any given steel. There are several types of heat treatment process shown in the figure

Tempering is one of the most common and widely used hardening processes.

Tempering of steel is a multi-step process. First it is heated to create a solid solution of

iron and carbon in a process called austenizing. Austenizing is followed by quenching to produce a martensitic microstructure. The steel is then tempered by heating between the ranges of 150260 C (302500 F) and 370650 C (6981,202 F). Tempering in the range of 260370 C (500698 F) is sometimes avoided to reduce temper brittling. The steel is held at that temperature until the carbon trapped in the martensite diffuses to produce a chemical composition with the potential to create pearlite (a crystal structure formed from a

mixture of ferrite and cementite). It should be noted that when producing a truly pearlitic steel the steel must be once again taken up to the austenite region (austenizing) and cooled slowly to a controlled temperature before being fully quenched to a low temperature.

Process Characteristics:

Improves ductility and toughness Reduces cracking Improves machinability Increases impact resistance Improves malleability Increases hardness Improve the toughness Refine the grain structure Remove the residual stresses Improve the wear resistance

Process of tempering: We can divide the tempering process operation

into three main stages. 1. Main tempering operation. 2. Preparation of workpiece for observation operation. 3. Microstructure observation operation. Now Im going to describe the whole process briefly.

Main tempering operation:

Before performing this operation we cut our workpiece form mild steel rod into a suitable size and shape. Main tempering operation consists of two types of heat treatment process.

1. Austenizing (Annealing). 2. Tempering.

1. Austenizing: Austenizing is followed by Annealing to produce a martensitic

microstructure.

I.
II. III. IV.

In this process we put our workpiece into the maple furnace and set temperature limit into 700 C. It takes almost 1 hour to reach that temperature from room temperature. After reaching our desire temperature the machine automatically starts to loss temperature. We waited for 1 week to make our workpiece cool by slow cooling by putting the workpiece on the maple furnace.

 Characteristics of austenite formation: As the temperature is

increased, more and more ferrite and cementite are dissolved in austenite and the structure becomes completely austenitic after reaching the upper critical temperature. However, some undissolved carbides are still present and formation of homogeneous austenite occurs after holding the steel at this temperature. The formation of homogeneous austenite is dependent upon the time and temperature of heating as shown bellow.

99.5% Austenite

0.5% Austenite

Temperature, C

A1
Time, S

Figure: Pearlite to austenite transformation on heating in eutectoid steel as a function of time Figure shows that the formation of homogeneous austenite takes a very long time at low temperatures of austenitizing but becomes rapid at temperatures above 800 C. Therefore, in practice, temperatures above 800 C ate used for austenitization.

Transformation of austenite during cooling:

The important characteristic of annealing treatment is the slow cooling if steel during the critical transformation range, this slow cooling results in the formation of spherodial carbides and coarse lamellar pearlite. These products of transformation are very soft and result in the softening of steel. In practice steels are generally annealed by simply switching off the furnace after the formation of homogeneous austenite.

Properties after annealing:

Annealing results in the formation of ferrite spherodial cementite and coarse pearlite. All these phase and micro-constituents are relatively soft. Therefore, annealing is called as softening treatment and produces relatively lower hardness values. After annealing, hardness of steel can vary from 110 BHN to 230 BHN depending upon the carbon content and the alloying elements.

2. Tempering: After the austenitizing process we reheated our workpiece to

about 300 C to make it tempered. I. First we put our cool heat treated workpiece to the oven and set the temperature limit to about 300 C.

II. III. IV.

Figure: Oven It usually takes about half an hour to reach that temperature from room temperature. After reaching that temperature we again left our workpiece in the oven for slow cooling. After sufficiently cooling we remove our workpiece from the oven and prepare it for next stage. Workpiec e

Figure: Workpiece is being removed from the oven

Changes occurring during tempering:

Tapering process produces some changes in the structure and properties of steel. These changes are as follows: 1. Relief of internal Stresses hardening process produces internal stresses in the steel due to following two reasons. I. An increase in volume (about 5%) of the specimen due to transformation of austenite to martensite. The resulting stresses are called structural stresses. II. A rapid decrease in the temperature of the specimen causing what is known as thermal stresses.

Amount of these stresses is greatly increased due to the fact that above changes does not take place at the same time at the surface and at the centre of the specimen. Internal stresses are further increased for larger cross sections, higher austenitizing temperatures, and cooling rates. If they exceed a critical value severe distortion and cracking may be observed after quenching. These internal stresses in hardened steel may be decreased by heating the steel. Heating upto 250 C relieves most of these stresses. 2. Formation of stable phases Microstructural phases such as martensite and retained austenite, formed after hardening, are not stable phases they change or transform with time to other stable phases. This transformation is undesirable, because it results in changes in dimensions and physical and mechanical properties of the steel. The unstable phases obtained after hardening ate transformed to stable phases during tempering. 3. Increase in toughness Martensite obtained after hardening is quite brittle, and cannot be allowed as such in structural and tool steels. Its brittleness can be decreased by tempering at successively higher temperature. Increased ductility and toughness are obtained due to formation of tempered martensite, ferrite, and at high temperatures, coarsening and spheroidization of carbides. 4. Hardness Changes Hardness of steel is continuously decreased during tempering there is no appreciable decrease in the hardness at tempering temperatures upto 180 C. Only the internal stress are relieved upto this temperature. Secondary hardening

Hardness Rc

Austenitizing temperature 1220 C

Tempering time 1 hour

Tempering temperature C Figure: effect of tempering temperature on the hardness of mild steel.

Preparation of workpiece for observation operation:

After tempering operation we prepared our workpiece for the observation operation. This operation can be dividing two stages. 1. Mechanical polishing. 2. Chemical polishing.

Mechanical polishing operation:

polishing like, I. II. III. Filling or rough grinding. Intermediate polishing. Fine polishing.

Mechanical polishing is consists of three

I. Filling or rough grinding operation: The tempered workpiece surface was very much rough so weve to go for filling operation. A soft sample may be made flat by slowly moving it up and back across the surface of a flat smooth file. Before filing operation weve attached our workpiece into a vice. Filing is done in one surface where the structure of mild steel is to be inspected. Filing ensures the smoothness of the workpiece and the better the smoothness the better the result.

Figure: Filing operation

II. Intermediate polishing: After sufficient filling we stopped filling and then start
polishing by a series of emery papers containing successively fine abrasives. The first paper is usually No.3 then 2.5 2, 1.5, 1 & 0. This type of polishing helps to make mirror image type smoothness on the test part. The important thing is to maintain the serial of the emery papers.

Figure: Emery papers

The intermediate polishing is shown bellow serially

Figure: Intermediate polishing (Serially)

III. Fine polishing: In this stage, the specimens polished on a polishing machine which
contain velvet clothe on its rotator disc. In time of polishing operation we hold the smooth side of our specimen on the rotator disc and give NH4Cl salt and water as a smoothing agent. This fine polishing helps the leftover roughness from the specimen

Figure: Fine polishing machine

Figure: After fine polishing

Chemical polishing: Chemical polishing is done to give the workpiece a very

smooth surface which is very important to view its microstructure. Chemical polishing is done by etching operation.

Etching operation: The purpose of etching is two-fold. Grinding and polishing

operations produce a highly deformed, thin layer on the surface which is removed chemically during etching. Secondly, the etchant attacks the surface with preference for those sites with the highest energy, leading to surface relief which allows different crystal orientations, grain boundaries, precipitates, phases and defects to be distinguished in reflected light microscopy.

In our workshop weve used Nital as our etching agent. Now Im giving some brief information about this reagent. Etching reagent Nitric acid (Nital) Composition White nitric acid 1-5ml Uses In carbon steels: Remarks Etching rate is increased selectivity decreased with increasing percentages of HNO3. Reagent 2 (picric acid) usually superior.

100ml Ethyl or methyl alcohol 1. To darken pearlite (95% or absolute) also and give contrast amyl alcohol between pearlite colonies

2. To reveal ferrite boundaries. 3. To differentiate ferrite from martensite.

Inspection of microstructure of specimen: After etching

operation our workpiece is ready for final inspection. This time we used metallurgical microscope to view the micro structure of tempered mild steel.

Inspection process: This time we mount the smooth side of workpiece on the
metallographic microscope. After putting the specimen on the microscope and setting at proper zoom we found a very clear view of the microstructure on the monitor of metallurgical microscope. Place to put the workpiece

Figure: Metallurgical microscope

Figure: Microstructure of tempered mild steel

 Characteristic of tempered mild steel: 1. As from monitor weve found that microstructure of tempered mild steel contain
austenite and pearlite.

2.

We also have seen that all metastable martensite and retained austenite has transformed into stable phase.

3. 4.

As tempering relief the unnecessary stress in the martensite thats why it is very much suitable for engineering applications. As tempering produce a very fine mixture of austenite and pearlite thats why tempering increase ductility, hardness and toughness of the material.

Figure: A pearlite colony advancing into an austenite grain.

Figure: Microstructure of pearlite in 1080 steel (formed from austenite of eutectoid composition.) The light regions are ferrite, the dark regions are carbide.

 Discussion: Study of tempering process of mild steel is very important for an

engineer. Because structure of steel obtained after hardening is not suitable for engineering applications. It possesses following three drawbacks.

1. 2.

Martensite obtained after hardening is extremely brittle and will result in failure of engineering components by cracking. Formation of martensite from austenite by quenching produces high internal stresses in the hardened steel. Existence of these high internal stresses in an engineering component is undesirable because it can result in heavy distortion and cracking of the part during service. Structure obtained after hardening consists of martensite and retained austenite. Both these phases ate metastable and will change to stable phase with time. Subsequent transformation of these unstable phases to more stable phases results in change in dimensions and properties of the steel, which may be undesirable for many engineering applications.

3.

Therefore, of hardened steel should be improved to take care of the above drawbacks. And thats why tempering is done. We are very thankful to our respective teacher for giving us such this opportunity to us. But in time of operation weve face some problem now Im writing them in a mind that our teacher will inspect them. The problems are, weve seen from the above graph that the temperature should be above 800 C to make austenite formation faster but weve heated our workpiece into 700 C so I think all the ferrite are not transformed into austenite another limitation is weve learnt that the tempering operation should be done as early as possible after hardening operation, but in practical case weve done the tempering operation about 1 weak after the hardening operation! So I dont think our result is so much perfect as we desired. The problem was created because lack of time, the slow cooling process takes about 1 day to cool the workpiece but if we quenched our workpiece into water and make Annealing in place of slow cooling I think this limitation can be removed then.

Conclusion: The purpose of tempering is to make the metal more reliable for

engineering applications. Thats why in modern days this operation is getting popularity. This is a series of process contain hardening and then tempering so as hardening are many types thats why we can change the properties of material many types by selecting different types of hardening. It is very important for an engineer to determine the right kinds of material for any engineering applications and as were going to be an IPE engineer so it is very important for us to learn how to develop the properties of a metal so the study of tempering operation is very important for us. Edited by Sobuj SUST Dept of Industrial & Production Engineering Registration No. 2008334053 k.sobuz@gmail.com