Austenite: This is the term used to describe the structure of iron which exists above its upper critical

temperature. Above this temperature, iron has a face centered cubic (FCC) structure which can dissolve a
maximum of 2% carbon in solid solution. Austenite is a hard, non-magnetic substance.
Cementite: This material is a chemical compound of iron and carbon. The chemical formula for
cementite is Fe3C and it is a very hard, brittle material. As the amount of Cementite in steel increases,
its hardness and brittleness increase.
Pearlite: At room temperature, a steel with less than .87% carbon will contain regions of ferrite and
pearlite. The regions of Pearlite consist of layers of ferrite and Cementite. Each unit of Pearlite contains .
87% carbon.
Ferrite: This is the term used to describe iron which contains a maximum of .02% carbon dissolved in
solid solution. Ferrite has a body centered cubic (BCC) structure.
Martensite: This is the structure which is produced when austenite is quenched rapidly. It is a very hard
brittle structure.
The lower critical temperature is the temperature at which carbon steel must be heated to before changes
will occur in its structure. This temperature is 723 C.
The term allotropy refers to the ability for some elements to exist in more than one crystalline structure.
Steel can exist as a body centered structure when cold or as a Face centered cubic structure or austenite
when heated above its upper critical temperature. For a 0.4 % carbon steel this temperature would be
about 880 Celsius.
A eutectic reaction occurs at the eutectic point this means that the material has changed from a liquid to a
solid . This occurs at approx. 115 C for a 4% carbon steel.
Slow cooling of 0.4% carbon steel from 1000 C
At 1000C a 0 .4% carbon steel consists of a solid solution of carbon dissolved in FCC iron.
As the steel cools, it reaches its upper critical temperature 880 C :Ferrite begins to form at the grain
boundaries of the austenite. As ferrite has a BCC structure, the carbon can't dissolve in it so the carbon
remains dissolved in the FCC austenite.
Once the steel reaches its lower critical temperature,723 C, all of the ferrite will have formed. The
remainder of the structure consists of FCC austenite containing all of the dissolved carbon.
As the temperature drops below 723C, the austenite changes to Pearlite. The structure now consists of
ferrite and Pearlite.
Quenched rapidly from 1000C:
If the steel is cooled rapidly from 1000 C, the changes that occurred above do not have time to take place.
The carbon does not have time to come out of the iron before it changes from FCC to BCC: The result is
that the structure of the steel is a distorted B.C.C, resulting in a hard, brittle material called Martensite.
Quenched rapidly and then heated to 500 C:
Quenching the steel as described above results a hard, brittle steel being formed. Tempering the steel
removes much of this brittleness: Tempering involves heating the steel to below the lower critical
temperature and cooling it rapidly: This allows some of the carbon to diffuse out of the BCC lattice,
producing a tougher and less brittle steel.
Tempering: Quenched steel is in a very unstable condition. It is too brittle for general use and some form
of further treatment is necessary. This normally consists of tempering, which involves heating the steel to

a temperature below the lower critical temperature and then cooling it. The rate of cooling is generally
not very important. The hardness of the martensite formed on quenching depends on its carbon content.
Martensite of a low carbon content has a lower hardness than that of a medium or high carbon martensite.
During tempering the highly strained, distorted lattice of martensite breaks down, the structure changing
into a ferrite matrix containing a fine dispersion of cementite particles. The strength of this aggregate
depends on the fineness of the particles, and higher tempering temperatures, bring about coarsening of the
particles and rapid softening. These particles are sub-microscopic until temperatures above 400 C are
used, when they become visible in the microstructure
Stress relieving: This is a heat treatment process in which a component is heated and held at that
temperature for a long time. And then cooled slowly. The time and the temperature depends on the
component.
Normalizing: This is a process carried out as an intermediate treatment on steels requiring further
machining. This gives the materials a finer grain size, which gives a better machine finish. The internal
stresses are removed from the component before it is machined by this process. The component is heated
to the prescribed temperature and allowed to soak until it is heated uniformly. It is then allowed to cool
in air.
Normalizing is a similar operation to annealing in that the metal is heated above the upper critical line
and carbon goes into solution in the austenite so formed. Draughts should be avoided since they may
cause it to cool too quickly.
The rate of cooling in air is too fast to allow complete carbon diffusion and, therefore, small crystals of
ferrite appear in more numerous positions at the crystal boundaries and within the austenite crystals. A
much finer crystal structure is produced since the ferrite is formed not before, but at the same time as, the
pearlite. By refining the structure in this way the hardness and toughness of the steel is increased and
many low carbon steels are used in the normalized condition in the form of plates, bars, beams and
sections.
Slip is less likely to occur in a BCC because the atoms are more loosely packed together than the atoms of
a FCC unit cell. The closer together atoms are packed in a layer, the more likely it is for slip to occur. The
diagram shows that close packed atoms (FCC structure)can slip more easily than atoms which are not
close packed. The face-centered cubic unit cell has a number of close packed layers, called slip planes,
along which slip can occur. However, the body -centered cubic structure is not so closely packed and slip
is less likely to occur. In the FCC structure the atoms can slip easily which
means that this type of structure is ductile.
Austenitic iron is easier to work than Ferritic iron because it has a face centered cubic structure which
allows slip to occur more readily, which in turn makes it more workable than ferritic iron which has a
body centered structure.
Steel which have less than 0.3 % carbon cannot be hardened by heating and quenching. Carbon can be
added to the outer surface of the steel which will then allow the outer surface to be hardened .This is
called surface hardening or case hardening.
Water will conduct heat from a component almost twice as fast as oil. Oil is used on material where
cracking or distortion may be likely to occur due to rapid cooling in water.
White cast iron: This forms when quick cooling occurs, the carbon is present as cement and the iron is
hard, brittle and difficult to machine. Tensile strength 400 N/mm 2 It is tougher than grey cast iron. There
are three main types , whiteheart, blackheart and pearlitic iron.

Grey cast iron: This is an alloy of iron, carbon and silicon. This forms when slow cooling occurs at 4 C
per hour. approx.; the carbon is present as flake graphite and the iron is soft and easily machined.

Carburizing: This is a surface hardening process used to harden mild steel components. The component
to be hardened is heated in a carbon rich material such as charcoal to above its upper critical temperature
(about 950C). The structure of the iron changes from BCC to FCC allowing the carbon to diffuse in to
the spaces between the iron atoms (Interstitial solid solution). Once sufficient carbon has diffused into the
iron, the component is quenched, producing a hard outer surface or case.

Nitriding: This involves heating the component to be surface hardened but in this process the hardening
medium is ammonia gas. The component to be hardened is placed in an atmosphere of ammonia gas at
500degC for a period of up to ninety hours, depending on the thickness of case required. The process
releases atoms of nitrogen which are absorbed by the surface of the steel producing hard nitrides. The
outer case of the component becomes much harder than the core of the material.
Special nitriding steels have been developed which contain alloying elements such as chromium and
aluminum and the alloy nitrides formed in the cases of these steels impart enhanced hardness and wear
resistance and a higher fatigue resistance. Nitrided cases will outlast carburized surfaces in some
applications such as high speed gears and bushes.
An advantage of the nitriding process is that a component can be heat treated and finished to size before
nitriding and, because of the relatively low treatment temperature, distortion is minimized and many
complicated shapes are ready for immediate use.
Induction-hardening: This is a production method of surface hardening, in which the part to be surfacehardened is placed within an inductor coil through which a high frequency current is passed. The surface
of the component is very quickly brought to the hardening temperature, and then quenched while the part
is still within the coil.

Flame-hardening: Steels with a suitable carbon content (between about 0.4% and 0.711% according to
the hardness required) These steels can be hardened by being heated to the hardening temperature by
means of oxyacetylene flame, and then rapidly quenched to produce a local hardness.
Electric furnaces have the following advantages:
Emissions which result from combustion are minimized.
It is easy to control the temp. of the furnace
Fuel doesn't have to be supplied to the furnace, resulting in less contamination of the metal being heated.
Optical pyrometer:
It compares the intensity of the light being emitted from the furnace with that from some standard source.
The light of a standard filament lamp is varied until it matches the light from the furnace and disappears
when viewed through the telescope. The instrument is set up in front of the furnace and the light
from the furnace is viewed through the eye piece. The light from the lamp can be varied by means of
resistance, when the lamp is the same temperature as the furnace, the filament disappears. The
instrument is calibrated to read degrees of temperature, instead of electrical units.
Thermoelectric pyrometer:
This works on the principle that if one end of a wire that heat will flow from the hot side to the cold side.
This movement will create a very small voltage. The pyrometer uses a couple of different wires to create
a manageable electric flow which can be metered and then converted into temperature readings.