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IS 14598 (1998): Heat treatment of maraging steel - Code of

practice [MTD 22: Metallography and Heat Treatment]

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IS 14598:

1998

(Reaffirmed 2003)

*m
etf3T$mwamm-mm
Indian Standard

HEATTREATMENTOFMARAGINGSTEELCODEOFPRACTICE

ICS

77.140.10

0 BIS 1998

BUREAU
MANAK

September

1998

OF

INDIAN

STANDARDS

BHAVAN, 9 BAHADUR SHAH ZAFAR

NEW DELHI 110002

MARG

Price Group

Metallography

and Heat Treatment

Sectional Committee,

MTD 22

FOREWORD
This Indian Standard was adopt& by the Bureau of Indian Standards, after the draft finalized by the
Metallography and Heat Treatment Sectional Committee had been approved by the Metallurgical Engineering
Division Council.
Maraging
by carbon.
hardening
steels and

steels are ultra high strength steels that differ from conventional steels in that they are not hardened
Instead, these steels are strengthened by precipitation of intermetallic compounds produced by age
a matrix of very low carbon. Fe-Ni martensite containing carbon, in fact, is an impurity in maraging
is kept at the lowest possible concentration.

Nominal composition

of some of the common

grades of maraging

steel are given in Annex A for information.

The absence of carbon and use of intermetallic precipitation to achieve hardening produce several unique
characteristics of maraging steels that set them apart from conventional steels. Hardenability is no concern. The
low carbon Fe-Ni martensite formed after solution annealing is relatively soft, having hardness level of 30 to
35 HRC. During age-hardening there is only a very slight dimensional change. Therefore, fairly intricate shapes
can be machined in soft condition and then hardened with minimum distortion.
In maraging steels, which are highly alloyed, martensitic transformation occurs even on slow cooling of the
austenite. Most grades of maraging steels have MS temperature of the order of 200 to 300C and are fully
martensitic at room temperature.
The martensite is normally a low carbon body centered cubic (bee) lath
martensite containing a relatively high density of dislocations, but no internal twinning. This martensite is
relatively soft, ductile and machinable.
Age-hardening
of maraging steels is produced by heat treating these steels for several hours at about 48OC.
During this treatment, precipitation of intermetallics like NisMo, FezMo and Ni3Ti takes place preferentially on
the dislocations and lath boundaries to produce a fine distribution of particles in the martensitic matrix. With
prolonged holding, the structure tends to revert to the equilibrium phases, primarily ferrite and austenite.
However, since the precipitation reactions that cause hardening are much more rapid than the reversion reactions
that produce austenite and ferrite, it becomes possible to achieve the desired increase in strength before reversion
takes place. Softening, which is seen in these steels on prolonged ageing at 480C or when relatively higher
ageing temperatures are employed, is due not only to overageing but also through reversion to austenite.
Furthermore, this reversion is promoted because of the enrichment of the matrix locally by nickel due to the
dissolution of nickel rich precipitate particles themselves.

IS 14598: 1998

Indian Standard

HEATTREATMENTOFMARAGINGSTEELCODEOFPRACTICE
1 SCOPE
This standard describes the heat treating procedures,
temperature schedules and other details relating to
heat treatment of maraging steels. The procedures
described, howGver, are meant only for guidance. The
actual procedure of treatment should be agreed upon
between manufacturer and purchaser.

is age-hardened to avoid any untransformed (retained)

austenite. Double solution annealing
can also be
adopted for hot worked materials to enhance its
mechanical properties. If double solution treatment is
adopted, the job has to be cooled to room temperature
after first solution treatment.
For cold rolled products, the heating process should
consist of first evacuating the furnace chamber and
then heating up to 200C holding 2-3 hours to drive
out moisture etc, and then again heating up to
820-9OOC at the rate of 100C per hour, soaking
1 hour per 25 mm of sectional thickness but not less
than 30 minutes and finally cooling in an atmosphere
of argon to room temperature. Temperature tolerance
for solution annealing is _+20C.

2 TERMINOLOGY
2.1 Solution Treatment
Solution annealing is done by heating the material
above Ac3 temperature.
The temperatures employed
are about 5OC above Ac3. High temperatures
(900- 1100C) produce grain boundary embrittlement
due to formation ,of titanium carbide (Tic) films at
austenitic grain boundaries. Prolonged annealing in
this temperature range should be avoided for all the
composition containing high content of titanium.
2.2 Age-Hardening

3.2 Age-Hardening
The age-hardening
can be done either in normal
atmosphere
or in vacuum.
The typical
ageing
treatment consists of treating at 48OC for grades 18Ni
(200), 18Ni (250) and 18Ni (300) for 3-6 hours, and
for grade 18Ni (350) for 6-12 hours. The 350 grade
can also be aged for 3-6 hours at 495-510C.
For
applications such as die casting tooling, ageing at
temperatures of the order of 530C is employed.
In
case of vacuum ageing, the vacuum level during
ageing should be up to 10-3 torr and cooling is done
either in vacuum or in argon atmosphere.
Rate of
cooling has little effect.

Treatment

A precipitation hardening treatment normally done at

455-S 10C for 3 to 12 hours depending upon the grade
in order to achieve the desired strength of the alloy.
3 HEAT TREATMENT

PROCESS

3.1 Solution Treatment

Solution annealing of maraging steels can be done
between 820-980C for minimum of 1 hour per 25 mm
sectional thickness, but not less than 30 minutes and
cooled in air or water to room temperature.
When
solution annealing is done at a temperature above
900C for sectional sizes above 100 mm it is always
preferable to cool in water to avoid grain boundary
embrittlement.
Control of atmosphere is necessary to
minimize surface damage. Fuel oil or fuel gas with
very low sulphur (sulphur of less than 1 000 ppm in
fuel gas and equivalent amount in case of oil) should
be used. A neutral atmosphere is preferable. In case
of electric heating dissociated ammonia can be used
for bright annealing. Maraging steel is less susceptible
to hydrogen embrittlement
as compared to medium
carbon low alloy steel of similar strength. Hence dry
hydrogen or dissociated ammonia atmospheres are
recommended.
The cooling rate after annealing is of
little consequence because it has no effect either on
microstructure or properties. It is essential, however,
that the steel be cooled to room temperature before it

3.3 Distortions During Heat Treatment

Very small dimensional
changes during hardening
treatment allow maraging steel components
to be
machine finished in the solution annealed condition.
The finished parts then can be hardened without the
need
for further
machining.
When
greater
dimensional accuracy is required an allowance for
contraction should
be made.
For minimizing
distortion in case of large components during ageing,
the following heat cycle may be followed:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Charge the material below 200C;

Soak for 3 hours at 200-250C;
Heat at the rate of 50-60C per hour to 4805 10C;
Soak for 3 hours, minimum; and
Air cool or cool in vacuum to room temperature.
*

IS 14598 : 1998
3.4 Cleaning

and Finishing

For removal of oxide films formed by heat treatment,

grit blasting is the most efficient technique. Maraging
steels also can be chemically cleaned by pickling in
sulphuric
acid or by duplex pickling,
first in
hydrochloric
acid and then in nitric
acid plus
hydrofluoric acid. As with conventional steels, care
must be taken to avoid overpickling.
AFTER

The following
treatment:

tests are generally conducted after heat

Grade
Treatment
Condition

Tensile test in aged condition.

b)
c)

Fracture toughness test in aged condition.

d)

Grain size test in solution-treated

Hardness test in solution-treated

in aged condition.

5 TYPICAL

MECHANICAL

condition

and

condition.

PROPERTIES

5.1 Typical mechanical properties of heat treated

standard 18Ni maraging steels are given in Table 1.

4 TESTING

HEAT TREATMENT

Table 1

a)

Heat Treatment and Typical Mechanical

Properties

Tensile
Strength
Min
MPa

Yield
Strength
Min
MPa

Elongation
on 50 mm
Gauge Length
Percent, Min

Reduction
in Area
percent, Min

Typical
Hardness
HRC

Fracture
Toughness
MPa/m

(1)

(2)
A

(3)
1 500

(4)
1400

(9
10

(6)

18Ni
(200)
I8Ni
(250)
I8Ni
(300)

60

(7)
44-48

155-200

(8)

1 800

I 700

55

48-52

120 Min

2 050

2000

40

51-55

80 Min

18Ni
(350)

2 450

2 400

25

56-59

35-50

I8Ni
(Cast)

I 750

1 650

25

47-50

105 Min

NOTE
Treatment
Treatment
Treatment

A : Solution treated for

B : Solution treated for
C : Annealed for I h at
480C.

I h at 820C and aged for 3 h at 480C.

I h at 820C and aged for I2 h at 480C.
I 150C, aged for 1 h at 595C, again solution treated for I h at 82OC and finally aged for 3 h at

ANNEX

(FOWVOd)
CHEMICAL

COMPOSITION

OF COMMON GRADES OF MARAGING

A-l Different grades of maraging steel.; have been

developed that provide specific levels of yield strength
ranging from 1030 to 3 450 MPa. Typical composition

of certain common grade of maraging steels are given

in Table 2 for information.

Table 2 Nominal Composition

Grade

of Common Maraging Steels

Chemical
r

(1)
IgNi(200)
18Ni(250)
18Ni(300)
18Ni(350)
1BNi(Cast)

(N:
18
18
18
18
17

STEELS

MO
(3)
3.3
5.0
5.0
4.2
4.6

Composition,
A
co
(4)
8.5
8.5
9.0
12.5
10.0

Percent

(:;
0.2
0.4
0.7
1.6
0.3

I
Al
(6)
0. I
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

NOTES
1 Carbon content shall not be more than 0.03 percent.
2 Some manufacturers use a combination of 4.8 percent MO and 1.4 percent Ti (nominal) for 350 grade.

Bureau of Indian Standards

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Amendments Issued Since Publication
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Date of Issue

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