Rapid Stress Relief and Tempering: process description

Mario GRENIER and Roger GINGRAS

E-mail adresses: mgrenier@pyromaitre.com and gingrasroger@videotron.ca

Stress relieving of cold and tempering of hot wound springs is a century old process governed by fixed time
temperature recipes. Ovens are standardized around temperature (heat) and not around time(transfer).Soak time
therefore garantees uniform heat transfer. Better transferring ovens get penalized following fixed recipes. Using high
speed heat transfer and a method to control it, much better uniformity and several folds cycle time reduction can be
achieved. This paper will present the science behind the technology, Pyrograph heat transfer simulation, and where
technology is used for in the most demanding stress relieving and tempering applications

Stress Relieving Process of yield strength in addition to reducing the residual

Stress relieving is used to remove residual stresses
which have accumulated from prior manufacturing
processes. Stress relief is performed by heating to a
temperature to achieve the desired reduction in residual
stresses and then the steel is cooled at a rate to
sufficiently slow to avoid formation of excessive
thermal stresses.
Little or no stress relief occurs at temperatures <
260°C and approximately 90% of the stress is relieved
at 540°C. The maximum temperature for stress relief is
limited to 30°C below the tempering temperature used
after quenching.1) Stress relieving results in a reduction
stresses to some “safe” value and crack-sensitive
materials. Typically, stress-relieving times for specific
alloys are obtained from standards such as those listed
in Table. 1. The stress-relieving times shown were
developed for conventional convection heated batch
ovens. With rapid stress-relieving technology the total
stress relieving time for 16mm diameter CrSi wire can
be reduced to 10 minutes or less.2-4)

Table 1 - Stress Relief Temperatures and Times for Wire

Material Specifications Temperature ( oF) Time (minutes)
Music Wire ASTM A 228 450 30
Music Wire–tin-coated ASTM A 228 300 30
Music Wire Cadmium-Zinc ASTM A 228 400 30
Coated
Music Wire AMS 5112 540 60
O.T.M.B. ASTM A 229 450 30
H.D.M.B. Class I or II ASTM A 227 450 30
High Tensile Hard Draw ASTM A 679 450 30
Galvanized M.B. Class I or II ASTM A 674 450 30
Chrome-Silicon SAE J157 or 700 60
ASTM A 401
Chrome-Silicon (Lifens) SAE J157 725 60
Chrome-Vanadium ASTM A 231 700 60
Stainless Steel 301 ---- 650 30
Stainless Steel 302 AMS 5688 650 30
Stainless Steel 304 ASTM A 313 650 30
Stainless Steel 316 ASTM A 313 600 60
Phosphorous Bronze Grade A ASTM B 159 375 30
Hasteloy C ---- 500 30
Monel 400 ---- 625 60
Inconel 600 ---- 850 90
Inconel X 700 Spring Temper AMS 5699 1200 240

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 Tempering process:
When hot wound spring is hardened, the as-quenched
martensite is not only very hard but also brittle.
Tempering, also known as “drawing”, is the thermal
treatment of hardened and normalized steels to obtain
the desired mechanical properties which include:
improved toughness and ductility, lower hardness and
improved dimensional stability. During tempering,
microstructure modifications (carbide decomposition
and martensite alterations) allow hardness to decrease
to the desired level. The extent of the tempering effect
is determined by the temperature and time of the
process.5,6)
The tempering process may be conducted at any
temperature up to the lower critical temperature (Ac1).
Fig. 2 illustrates the effect of carbon content and
tempering temperature on hardness of carbon steels.6)
The specific tempering conditions that are selected are
dependant on the desired strength and toughness.
Figure 2
Correlation of carbon content of martensite and
hardness of different Fe-C alloys at different tempering
temperatures.
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Typically, tempering times are a minimum of
approximately one hour. Thelning has reported a “rule
of thumb” of 1-2 hours/inch of section thickness after
the load has reached a preset temperature.1) After
heating, the steel is cooled to room temperature in still
air. The recommended tempering conditions, in
addition to recommended heat treating cycles, for a
wide range of carbon and alloy steels is provided in
SAE AMS 2759.
Tempering times and temperatures may also be
calculated by various methods. One of the more
common methods is to use the Larsen Miller equation.
The Larsen-Miller equation, as seen in Fig. 4, although
originally developed for prediction of creep data, has
been used successfully for predicting the tempering
effect of medium/high alloy steels.4)
High Speed Convection
Stress relieving and tempering may be performed in
convection furnaces, salt baths or even by immersion in
molten metal. Among these, convection furnaces are the
most common and it is important that they be equipped
with fans and/or blowers to provide for uniform heat
transfer when heating the load. Typically, convection
tempering furnaces are designed for use within 150°C -
750°C.
One of the most important and critical deficiencies of
most conventional stress-relieving and tempering ovens
is the actual temperature non-uniformity of the material
being heated. This is illustrated in Fig. 3 where it is
shown that the actual temperature of the part depends
on its placement in the basket and to a lesser extent on
the belt in the oven.
Figure 3
Illustration of temperature non-uniformity
present in conventional ovens.
Ovens are standardized around temperature, not around
time (transfer). Soak time at temperature is essentially
the time necessary for each and every section of the
load to reach process temperature. Most efficient ovens
get therefore penalized. With controlled heat transfer,
long soaking at temperature is not needed. Cycle time
can also be reduced several fold. It is important to note
that optimal stress relief for a given material is not a
fixed value of one specific time and one specific
temperature as suggested in Table 1. It is a temperature
time function where temperature is the most important
parameter. The faster the process, the more precision
and control is needed
Figure 4
Larsen Miller function and different technologies respective domain.
Figure 5
Illustration of “PYROGRAPH” heat transfer and PYRO simulation software.
Conventional (hours) - Pyro (minutes) - Induction (seconds)
Controlled Heat Transfer:
Pyromaitre has developed over the years heat transfer
simulation software “Pyrograph” and “Pyrotemp” in
order to optimize stress relieving and tempering process.
Both programs are based on “Heisler” unsteady state
heat transfer equations.5) Parameters such as diameter,
section thickness, alloy type and conductivity, part sizes,
part weight, carbon content and hardness are put into
the program to generate a surface and core temperature
gain curve. Different curve patterns are then generated
by the modifying time and temperature in the setup
section. Software will automatically calculate stress
relieving, or tempering temperature as a function of
desired hardness or cycle time. Program will also
calculate belt occupation ratio and power percentage for
optimum usage of equipment. Program will also
calculate operating costs.
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 Figure 6
Illustration of “PYROTEMP” heat transfer software to simulate tempering process in a PYRO. high speed high
precision oven.

Pyro softwares are stress relieving, tempering and heat transfer science brought on the shop floor. Software are
initially used to select proper equipment and then to set it up to it's maximum operating efficiency. Following are
examples of practical results

500

450

400

350

300

250

200

150
left
100 middle
right
50

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Elapsed time (secs)

Figure 7 - Temperature profile of car suspension springs. 13,5mm CrSi. Stress relieved 440 oC in 6 minutes total
cycle time. Temperature spread left, center right, at exit as measured by contact thermocouple is smaller than <10 oC.
Belt width 1,3 meter.

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 500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150 Left
100 Middle
Right
50
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Elapsed time (secs)

Figure 8 - Heat transfer curves of rapid tempered clutch diaphragm springs. 6.5 minutes total cycle time. About all
spring types being manufactured have been high speed stress relieved at this point in time all with 4 – 5 fold cycle
time reduction most of the time under 10 minutes and with significant product quality improvement in several cases.

High speed stress relieving and product quality:
The number one reason for high speed stress
relieving is superior quality and product consistency.
Over 15 years ago when the technique was developed,
we were not after Olympic speed records. Objective
was to meet a costumer most stringent 0 defect
uniformity specification. By elevating the oven
temperature, and shortening the cycle time, we
discovered that consistency improved. Speed then
became a mean to reach customer requirements and
became thereafter the most striking feature of the
technology but always a mean, not a goal in itself.
Very often though, spring makers will say, since we
are using higher temperatures, that for certain high
strength CrSi alloys there is a risk of affecting tensile
strength and will be nervous about the technology.

Tensile Strenght

2200
2100
2000
1900 398°C
MPa

1800 440°C
1700
1600
1500
3 10 30
Minutes

Figure 9
Effect of time and temperature on tensile strength. Institute of Spring Technology (IST)

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 We have observed tensile strength is also a time Temperature and tensile strength is therefore not an
temperature function. As you can see Fig. 9, thirty absolute value but a time temperature function. The
(30) minutes at 398oC is as damaging as three (3) shorter the exposure the higher the temperature that
minutes at 440oC can be tolerated. This relation fits well with the
. technology as demonstrated in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11.

Rapid Stress Relieve Study

1000

900

800

700

Curr: 420 C - 45 MIN

600
Pyro: 420 C - 5 MIN
Pyro, 460 C - 5 MIN
500
Pyro, 440 C - 7 MIN
400 Pyro, 420 C - 9 MIN
Pyro, 460 C - 9 MIN
300 As Coiled

200

100

-100
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160
Deepness [um]

Figure 10
X-ray diffraction residual stress results on high speed stress relieving trials.

Strength Drop in the Stress Relieve Processes

Rapid Heating Tests

2100

2050

2000

1950

1900

1850
1

IN

IN

IN

IN
IN

IN

IN

IN

IN

IN
t
t

M
5M

5M

5M

M
n

en
e

9
5

9
rr

rr

-
-

-
u

C
C

0O
20

60

60

0
4

6
2
4

4
4

Sample

Figure 11 - Tensile strength as a function of time and temperature.

Nine (9) minutes at 460oC yields equivalent tensile strength drop as current process 45 min at 420oC.
Seven (7) minutes at 440oC and five (5) minutes at 460oC yields equivalent residual stress results as current process
and better tensile strength values thus a gain in quality.
The seven (7) minute cycle time process was selected here by this manufacturer of high precision springs.

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Tempering oven and cooler unit – ‘Parabolic leaf springs’
30mm cross section (45 minute tempering cycle time)

P-1611G – ‘Engine valve springs’

6000 pieces per hour (5 to10 minute cycle time)

P-1611EM – ‘Automotive CV joints’

150 pieces per hour (6 to 8 minute cycle time)

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 ‘Automotive rear axle tempering unit’.
(20 minute cycle time) Heating--cooling.

Currently, various mechanical parts have been high-speed tempered. These include automotive axles, hypoid gears
CV joints, bearing races, connecting rods, crank shafts, and connecting rods.

CONCLUSIONS REFERENCES

In this paper, an overview of the metallurgy of
stress-relieving and tempering has been provided.
This discussion included a brief review of
methodologies used at the present time to calculate
stress-relief and tempering times. It was shown that
although soaking times and temperatures were
generally fixed by the steel chemistry, substantial
reductions in process times can be achieved by
accelerating the heat-up time by designing more
efficient heat transfer between the heated atmosphere
and the load by using high-speed convective,
turbulent flow which also provides for significant
improvements in temperature uniformity throughout
the load. The use of a heat transfer simulation
(Pyrograph -- Pyrotemp) to facilitate the process
design was described. Selected examples illustrating
successful high-speed stress relief were also provided.
From this discussion, it is clear that substantial
process design efficiency and property improvements
which utilize less floor space and provide for greater
production productivity are possible using a high-
speed stress relief or tempering process.
1). K-E. Thelning, in “Chapter 5:‘Heat Treatment –
General”, Steel and Its Heat Treatment – 2nd
Edition, 1984, Butterworths, London, pp207-318.
2) M. Grenier and R. Gingras, exposé titled “High
Speed Stress Relief”, at Proceed SMI Tech.
Symposium, Chicago, IL, May 1999, pp125-128.
3) M. Grenier and R. Gingras, exposé titled
“Advances in High Speed Stress Relief”, at
Proceed SMI Tech. Symposium, Chicago, IL,
June 2001, pp100-103.
4) M. Grenier, in “High Speed High Precision
Stress Relieving”, Springs, October 2002,
Volume. 41 No 5, pp68-71.
5) M.A. Grossmann and E.C. Bain, in “Chapter 5 –
Tempering After Quench Hardening”, Principles
of Heat Treatment, 1964, American Society for
Metals, Metals Park, OH, pp129-175.
6) G. Krauss, in “Tempering of Steel”, Steels: Heat
Treatment and Processing Principles, 1990, ASM
International, Materials Park, OH, pp206-261.
7) D.J. Naylor and W.T. Cook, in “Heat Treated
Engineering Steels”, Materials Science and
Technology, 1992, Volume 7, pp435-488.
8) J.P, Holmon, in “Heat Transfer,” McGraw Hill 6th
Edition 1986, New-York; pp136-152, 659-663.

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