Practical 2

Design of chemical composition for steels

with desired hardenability

Overview of practical
The goal of heat treatment of steel is very often to attain a satisfactory hardness.
In practical heat treatment, it is important to achieve full hardness to a certain minimum depth
after cooling, that is, to obtain a fully martensitic microstructure to a certain minimum depth,
which also represents a critical cooling rate. If a given steel does not permit a martensitic
structure to be formed to this depth, one has to choose another steel with a higher
hardenability.
Hardenability refers to the ability of a steel to be transformed partially or completely from
austenite to martensite at a given depth when cooled under prescribed conditions. The depth
of hardness at a given work-piece dimension is determined by chemical composition of the
steel, the austenite grain size as established during the austenitizing treatment, and the cooling
rate. There are various ways to characterize the hardenability of a steel.
Jominy End-Quench Test. The most commonly used experimental method for determining
hardenability is the well-known Jominy test. For this test, a round bar specimen that is 100
mm (4 in.) in length and 25 mm (1 in.) in diameter is used. The specimen is heated to the
austenitizing temperature of the steel with a holding time of 20 min. One end face of the
specimen is quenched by spraying it with a jet of water. This causes the rate of cooling to
decrease progressively from the quenched end along the length of the bar. When it is cool,
two diametrically opposite flats 0.4 mm (0.015 in.) deep and parallel to the axis of the bar, are
ground and the hardness is measured along the flats. The hardness values are plotted on a
diagram at specified intervals from the quenched end. The representation of Jominy data
provides hardness as a function of distance from the water quenched end of the bar which is
related to the cooling rate and hardenability of the alloy. The hardness at the water quenched
end of the bar should correspond to the maximum hardness attainable in the steel, based on
the carbon concentration. The hardness usually decreases with increasing distance from the
quenched end. Steels of low hardenability will drop in hardness rather quickly. Steels with
higher hardenability will drop less rapidly because higher hardenability steels are able to
maintain their hardness at lower cooling rates.
Grossmann Hardenability Test. A number of cylindrical steel bars of different diameters are
hardened in a given cooling medium. By means of metallographic examination, the bar that
has 50% martensite at its center is singled out and the diameter of this bar is designated as the
critical diameter (D0). This D0 value is valid for the particular cooling medium used as well as
its cooling intensity. An ideal cooling situation is when the surface of the test bar is
immediately cooled to ambient temperature, that is, an infinite cooling rate occurs at the
surface. Although such cooling cannot be carried out in practice, one can mathematically
extrapolate this situation and derive the ideal Grossmann diameter, DI, defined as the bar
diameter that, when the surface is cooled at an infinite rate, will yield a structure containing
50 % martensite at the center of the specimen. The obtained value of DI is a measure of the
hardenability of the steel and is independent of the cooling medium.
The additional effect of alloying elements has been determined for a number of alloying
elements and is expressed as hardenability factors, f, which are multiplying factors
corresponding to the percentage of the alloying element present. The ideal diameter, DI, for a
certain steel can then be expressed as:
DI = DIbase · f1 · f2 · f3 . . .
where f1, f2, f3 are the factors for alloying elements 1, 2, 3. . ., respectively, and DIbase applies
to Fe-C alloys. The base ideal diameter, DIbase, is determined from the carbon content and
austenite grain size. The value of DIbase can be calculated from the equation:

DIbase  k  %C
where: k – approximately factor dependent on austenite grain size.

The values of the k factor are tabulated in Table 1.

Tab. 1. Values of k factor to calculation of DIbase

Grain size according to ASTM Values of factor k
1 32.5
2 31.0
3 29.5
4 28.2
5 26.8
6 25.5
7 24.3
8 23.1
9 22.0
10 21.0

The value of the f factor for alloying elements can be calculated from a following equation:

% M 
f x  Bx x
where: Bx – specific factor to the alloying element
%Mx – weight percentage of alloying element

The values of B factor are tabulated in Table 2.

Tab. 2. Values of B factor to calculation of f factor

Alloying element Values of B factor
Mo 3.275
Mn 2.21
Cr 2.13
Si 1.40
Ni 1.47

The Grossmann method is frequently used but gives a very approximate measure of
hardenability. However, it can be reliably employed to compare steels of different
compositions.
Objective of practical
The objective of this practical is to understand the role, which play the alloying elements in
low-alloy steels destined for heat treatment consisting of quenching and tempering.

Design objective

Design the chemical composition for three grades of steel with given carbon content and with
one (the first grade), two (the second grade) and three (the third grade) alloying elements,
which permit them to attain the highest hardenability. For evaluation of hardenability use the
Grossmann method.

Additional assignment

Evaluate the hardness of each designed steel after direct quenching and subsequent tempering
at three different temperatures within the range from 200 to 650C.

Design assumptions
The same cylindrical shape and diameter of steel samples.
The same cooling rate during quenching (quenching medium with the same cooling intensity).
The same austenite grain size as established during the austenitizing treatment.

Design Constrains
Carbon content in steel: maximum 0.6 wt%
Content of each alloying element in steel: maximum 1.0 wt%

Procedure

The general procedure for calculating the hardenability of a steel from the composition
includes the following steps:
 Step 1: Determine the ASTM grain size
 Step 2: Obtain the chemical composition
 Step 3: Determine DIbase from the carbon content and the grain size
 Step 4: Determine alloy factors
 Step 5: Multiply the factors according to the above equation to provide the calculated
ideal critical diameter

Hardnesses of quenched-and-tempered steels can be estimated by a method established by

Grange et al. The general equation for hardness is:

HV = HVC + HVMn + HVP + HVSi + HVNi + HVCr + HVMo + HVV

where HV is the estimated hardness value (Vickers).
In order to use this relationship, one must determine the hardness value of carbon (HVC) from
Fig. 1. For example, if one assumes that a tempering temperature of 540 °C (1000 °F) is used
and the carbon content of the steel is 0.2% C, the HVC value after tempering will be 180 HV.
Second, the effect of each alloying element must be determined from a figure such as Fig. 2.
This graph represents a tempering temperature of 540 °C (1000 °F). The graphs representing
other tempering temperatures can be found in Appendix 1 and 2.

Fig. 1. Relationship between hardness of tempered martensite

with carbon content at various tempering temperatures.

Fig. 2. Effect of alloying elements on the retardation or softening during tempering at 540 °C
(1000 °F) relative to iron-carbon alloys.
Questions you should try to answer

1) What does the term that steel has a higher hardenability mean?
2) What does hardenability of steel depend on?
3) Why does the selected alloying element improve hardenability of steel? Use the TTT
diagrams describing decomposition of austenite.
4) Why does the selected alloying element increase hardness of heat-treated steel after
tempering at established temperatures? Try to explain this influence on the basis of the
theory relating to strengthening mechanisms of metals and alloys.
5) How does carbon affect hardness of steel after quenching in comparison with other
alloying elements?

References

[1] George E. Totten: Steel Heat Treatment Handbook - Metallurgy and Technologies, CRS Press
Taylor&Francis Group, 2 edition, 2007.

[2] George E. Totten: Steel Heat Treatment Handbook - Equipment and Process Design, CRS Press
Taylor&Francis Group, 2 edition, 2007.

[3] ASM Materials Information, ASM Handbooks on-line, vol. 4, 2010.