Surface hardening of AISI 4340 steel by machining:

a preliminary investigation
Y. Kevin Chou
Mechanical Engineering Department, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, USA
Received 28 September 2000; accepted 5 March 2002
Abstract
An attempt has been made to investigate feasibility of applying machining, a material removal process, to surface harden steel parts. The
idea is to utilize transient thermomechanical loading induced during machining to purposely generate a hardened layer while simultaneously
removing excess materials. This approach, if capable, will be a cost-effective alternative to conventional surface hardening, giving possible
benets such as low production cost, short cycle time, and waste reduction, etc. Feasibility has been examined from thermal and mechanical
perspectives. A preliminary experiment using cutting tools with large wear land (1.2 mm) to turn annealed AISI 4340 steel shows distinctly
30 mm deep phase-transformed structures. The machined surface has about 7 vol.% austenite, an evidence of phase transformation. The
hardness of the phase-transformed structure increases to a maximumof about 49 HRCversus 28 HRCof the bulk. Residual stresses, measured
by X-ray diffraction, were compressive down over 25 mm below the surface. These results suggest the possibility of using machining to
surface harden steel parts. However, the challenge is to extensively increase wear land size to achieve hardened depth comparable to that in
conventional surface hardening. In addition, surface properties and performance remain keys to justify the usage of machining hardening
processes. # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Machining; Phase transformation; Surface hardening; Thermomechanical process
1. Introduction
Many precision components made of steel such as
bearings, crankshafts, and engine valves, etc., require high
surface hardness to resist plastic deformation and wear
during services. The traditional process ow of such a
manufacture is approximately as follows (Fig. 1a). Raw
materials after forming are annealed to a soft state, fol-
lowed by rough machining to remove large excess stock,
and then surface heat treatments (hardening and temper-
ing) to gain required hardness and hardened depth. The
nal step is nish machining to achieve specications, i.e.,
dimensional accuracy, surface nish, and/or residual stres-
ses. Surface hardening (austentizing followed by quench-
ing) is a critical process, not only due to effects on
production cost and part quality, but also inuences on
energy efciency and impact to the environment that
receive fast growing attention. Depending on part dimen-
sion, geometry, and batch size, cost of surface hardening
can be considerable in some applications. Moreover, the
cycle time and associated downtime of surface heat treat-
ments substantially lower productivity, a bottleneck to
process ow optimization.
1.1. Process alternativesurface hardening by machining
The proposed new approach (Fig. 1b) is to utilize rough
machining as conventional surface hardening while simul-
taneously functioning as a material removal process. Shown
in Fig. 1b, raw materials after forming will be directly rough
machined, and in the mean time, a hardened layer generated
at the workpiece surface. Tempering, a process that reduce
brittleness but increase ductility, may need to be followed
depending on structures obtained and applications. The nal
step will still require nish machining.
1.2. Economical benefits
The proposed machining hardening approach may pro-
vide possible benets such as lower production cost and
higher productivity. If heat treatment line could be elimi-
nated, investment on capital equipment and operation
expense could be saved. In addition, shown in Fig. 1b,
the process steps are reduced, and with elimination of part
downtime/transfer-time, product cycle time could be sig-
nicantly reduced. Moreover, entire processes become
easier to be integrated as a whole. The new approach will
Journal of Materials Processing Technology 124 (2002) 171177
0924-0136/02/$ see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
PII: S0 9 2 4 - 0 1 3 6 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 1 3 2 - 2
especially benet small batch applications such as just-in-
time and prototyping production in which surface heat
treatments can be costly. It is also foreseeable that the
new approach may be more energy-efcient compared to
traditional surface hardening as heat generation is localized
and heat dissipation to the atmosphere minimized. More-
over, with surface hardening by machining, no furnace
would be needed and thus, no air pollution emissions
generated. Quenchants are not needed as quenching action
takes place by self-bulk cooling (or additional gas blowing),
neither does the process require part cleaning. Therefore, the
proposed approach could be an environmentally conscious
alternative through reducing wastes associated with conven-
tional surface hardening. In addition, cutting uid usually
employed in machining to reduce cutting temperatures could
be avoided too, as the new approach desires to increase
temperatures during the process.
2. Feasibility examinations
2.1. Steel heat treatment
Steels can form a great variety of microstructures by heat
treatment, and therefore, different mechanical properties can
be tailored to suit different applications. The foundation on
which all heat treatment of steels are based is the iron
carbon equilibrium phase diagram[1]. The procedures of the
process is heating in temperature range where one phase (or
combination) is stable, and then cooling between tempera-
ture ranges in which different phases are stable. The hard-
ening mechanism, martensitic transformation, however, is
achieved by rapid quenching from over austenitizing tem-
perature to form a unique hard phase, martensite. Surface
heat treatment, a process that particularly alters surface
structures, has been broadly used to enhance wear resistance
while maintaining a tough bulk. Common techniques
include ame hardening, gas carburizing, induction and
laser hardening. Except gas carburizing, where carbon con-
centration is increased in the surface layer by diffusion, all
other techniques apply localized, intensive thermal energy to
achieve hardening mechanism. Conventional heat treat-
ments majorly rely on thermal (and/or chemical) processes,
i.e., temperature changes with time. However, it has been
recently reported [2] that thermomechanical treatment, a
process that combine plastic deformation with thermal
processing, can modify phase transformation, improve prop-
erties, and produce microstructures not obtainable by con-
ventional heat treatments.
2.2. Machining versus surface hardening
Traditional machining is a process that removes excess
materials by a wedge-shaped tool to generate specied
geometry and surfaces. Machining process itself is uniquely
characterized by high stresses, high strain rate, high tem-
perature, and generally short interaction time (~0.1 ms) to
the workpiece materials encountered during chip formation.
Thus, machining processes always result in some changes at
workpiece surfaces such as microstructural alteration,
microhardness changes, and residual stresses [3]. This issue,
called surface integrity, has been especially important to
nishing processes because of correlation to part perfor-
mance.
In machining, virtually all mechanical energy is con-
verted into the thermal energy, heat. The heat conducted
into the workpiece may increase the local surface tempera-
ture dramatically. If the heat ux is high enough to reach
the phase transformation temperature (ferrite cementite
austenite), with subsequent rapid self-cooling by the
bulk, the surface material will form martensite. Thus, if
the machining process could be modied to generate a deep
martensite layer (order of 0.11 mm) at the surface, machin-
ing may function as surface hardening without furnaces,
inductors, and quenchants needed in conventional techni-
ques. Shown in Fig. 2a, a two-dimensional cutting at con-
stant speed (V) by a tool with ank wear land (VB), heat
generated during machining (mainly from rubbing zone ii)
will conduct into the workpiece and, after contact (zone iii),
rapidly dissipate away to unheated mass. This heating
cooling cycle (Fig. 2b) is the essential feature of hardening
mechanism, constituting the similarity to surface hardening.
As temperature and time are key factors in hardening
mechanism, it is conceivable that depth of hardened layer by
machining could be increased if heat ux into the workpiece
is high and contact time (VB/V) is sufciently long to
penetrate high temperature contours (over austenitizing
temperature). However, the interaction time in machining
Fig. 1. Process flow of manufacturing precision wear-resistant components.
172 Y.K. Chou / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 124 (2002) 171177
(order of millisecond) is far shorter than the ``soaking time''
in conventional surface hardening of soft steels (order of
second, except gas carburizing). Soft steels generally consist
of ferrite (a iron) and cementite (Fe
3
C) phases that require
long soaking time for cementite uniformly dissolving into
austenite (g iron) during austenitizing. Thus, higher tem-
peratures in machining hardening may be needed to com-
pensate such a short time austenitization. Nevertheless, this
argument could not be concluded without temperature mea-
surements, as mechanical loading inuences microstructural
evolution as well. It has been reported that severe plastic
deformation, as happened in machining, will cause complete
decomposition of cementite phase in steel [4]. Considering
the cutting tool to be a wedge-shaped indenter, the work-
piece material adjacent to the cutting tool (zone i in Fig. 2a)
will be severely plastically deformed. Therefore, cementite
phase may become uniformly distributed before entering the
main heating zone and this could shorten required austeni-
tizing time. Moreover, stresses/strains induced by cutting
and wear land play an important role in microstructural
evolution of workpiece surface materials during machining.
Stresses/strains may modify the thermodynamics of the
transformation, and thus lead to changes in the phase dia-
gram, the kinetics of the transformation, and the morphology
of transformed products [5]. A pronounced example is
strain-induced martensitic transformation in austenitic stain-
less steels [6]. Therefore, mechanical loading during
machining may provide extra driving forces to reduce time
needed for carbide dissolution and to lower phase transfor-
mation temperatures (t
c
and
^
A
c
in Fig. 2b).
Previous studies by the authors [7,8] have been focused on
surface structural changes in machining of hardened steels
(known as ``hard machining'' in industry). It has been
evidenced that in hard machining, cutting conditions could
be so severe as to result in an unusual structure, called
``white layer'' that has a high hardness, ultrane grains, and
resists metallurgical etching. The white layer is basically a
rehardened structure due to phase transformation domi-
nantly by rapid heatingcooling [8]. The scale of white
layers obtained was in the order of 10 mm deep, increasing
with wear land size progressively. Thus, it is logical to argue
that surface hardening of soft steels by machining could be
accomplished by employing further aggressive machining
conditions. Recently, Brinksmeier and Brockhoff [9,10]
have reported of applying grinding processes to harden steel
surfaces. Hardened layers with order of 0.1 mm depth have
been generated on bearing grade steels. However, mechan-
ical effects on hardening mechanism have not been
addressed. A new technique that also utilizes the friction
heat and mechanical loading has recently been used for
welding process, called friction-stir welding [11]. The pro-
cess takes advantages of combined mechanical loading and
friction heat to achieve solid-state joining between two
surfaces.
3. Preliminary experiment
3.1. Experimental setup
A preliminary experiment has been conducted to inves-
tigate potential of applying machining to surface harden
steel parts. AISI 4340 steel bars (38.1 mm diameter) in
annealed state, 28 HRC with pearlite microstructure, were
chosen as workpieces. Cutting tools were commercial cubic
boron nitride (CBN) inserts with 0.8 mm nose radius, 58
clearance angle and 308 rake angle. Outside diameter
turning was performed on a YAM CNC lathe, model CK-
2A, with a 3-jaw chuck. Cutting conditions ranged from 3
to 4.5 m/s of cutting speed, 0.1 to 0.2 mm depth of cut (d),
and 0.013 to 0.1 mm/rev feed rate (f). Flank wear land
width (VB) ranged from 0.55 to 1.2 mm. Large wear land
was intentionally arranged to increase friction heat between
wear land and the workpiece. Tool wear was generated
by interrupted turning of 63 HRC M50 steel. Eleven tests
were conducted [12], parameters used in each test listed in
Table 1. Workpieces fromeach cutting test were prepared for
metallorgraphic examination. A metallographic technique
Fig. 2. (a) Thermomechanical loading, and (b) typical temperature history at machined surfaces (A
c
: austenitizing temperature, M
s
: martensitic
transformation temperature).
Y.K. Chou / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 124 (2002) 171177 173
developed earlier [7] was used to optically observe phase-
transformed structures at machined surfaces, in particular
white layer to be measured. Microhardness of a sample with
distinct phase-transformed structures was measured using a
Knoop indenter to construct hardness proles underneath the
machined surface. X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to
identify phase compositions in the phase-transformed layer.
Surface residual stresses in axial and circumferential direc-
tions were measured by XRD as well.
3.2. Results
Of the 11 tests, only three produced white layers con-
sistently at the machined surface. Table 2 lists samples from
which white layer was produced and the depth at which it
formed. It is noted that large wear land is needed to induce
sufcient heat to reach the phase transformation tempera-
ture. On the other hand, effects of process parameters could
not be concluded due to limited tests and possible vibration-
related process variations. Most samples show a thin ne-
grain layer resulted from work hardening, some with dark-
etching phenomena.
The most promising result is fromtest number 10, where a
13 mm white layer was formed, followed by an about 17 mm
dark-etching layer (Fig. 3). The white layer has an unresol-
vable feature, the dark-etching layer has very ne precipi-
tates (second phase), and the bulk exhibits a pearlite
microstructure. Rough surface prole is noticed and was
resulted from vibration during machining due to an imper-
fect workpiece holding device used (3-jaw chuck). Machin-
ing vibration causes poor surface nish, also inconsistent
workpiece-wear land rubbing that affect hardening results.
Measured by XRD, the machined surface had about 7 vol.%
retained austenite, an evidence of phase transformation. This
supports the hypothesis that austenitization occurs in
machining of soft steels, despite the pearlite microstructures
that require long soaking time for cementite dissolution
during austenitizing.
Fig. 4 shows a microhardness prole of the machined
surface (test number 10). Hardness in the white layer
increased to approximately 525 HK
500
(49 HRC) versus
300 HK
500
(28 HRC) of the bulk. Hardened depth (of
average hardness) is about 30 mm. It is not certain at this
time if 49 HRC is the maximum obtainable hardness as the
layer hardened may not have full martensite. Different from
conventional surface hardening, the layer hardened by
machining has ultrane grains, and thus, may not be as
Table 1
Cutting parameters used in machining experiments
a
Test number VB
a
(mm) V
b
(m/s) f
c
(mm/rev) d
d
(mm)
1 0.55 3 0.05 0.2
2 0.55 3.5 0.05 0.2
3 0.95 3.5 0.013 0.2
4 0.97 3 0.05 0.2
5 1.20 3 0.05 0.1
6 1.20 3 0.05 0.2
7 1.20 3 0.1 0.2
8 1.20 4.5 0.05 0.2
9 1.20 3 0.025 0.05
10 1.20 3 0.025 0.2
11 1.20 3 0.025 0.8
a
Flank wear land width.
b
Cutting speed.
c
Feed rate.
d
Depth of cut.
Table 2
Machining hardening results at different cutting conditions
Test
number
VB
(mm)
V
(m/s)
f (mm/rev) d (mm) White
layer (mm)
3 0.95 3.5 0.013 0.2 7
7 1.20 3 0.1 0.2 13
10 1.20 3 0.025 0.2 13
Fig. 3. Phase-transformed structures at a machined AISI 4340 steel surface.
174 Y.K. Chou / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 124 (2002) 171177
brittle as untempered martensite. Therefore, it is not con-
cluded what type of tempering process will be needed
following machining hardening. Surface residual stresses,
also measured by XRD, were 400 MPa circumferentially
(cutting direction) and 1218 MPa axially (feed direction).
At 25 mm below the surface, the stress was 78 and
936 MPa of circumferential and axial components, respec-
tively.
4. Discussion
The preliminary experiment shows phase-transformed
structures at 4340 steel surfaces after aggressive machining.
It is also shown that the layer hardened by machining has a
maximum hardness of 49 HRC versus 28 HRC of the bulk,
and hardened depth is about 30 mm. The results suggest the
possibility of applying machining as an alternative to surface
hardening of steel components. It is understood that har-
dened depth from the preliminary experiment is insufcient
for practical applications. However, the main objective of
this preliminary investigation is to demonstrate evidence of
surface hardening by machining.
It is clear, from experimental results, that wear land size is
of decisive signicance to hardened layer formation; the
larger the wear land width, the deeper the hardened layer.
Flank wear land needs to be signicantly increased to
achieve hardened depth comparable to conventional surface
hardening (order of 0.11 mm). Note that, however, tradi-
tional tool life criterion is about 0.50.7 mm VB, as cutting
tools tend to chip or fracture when tool wear is large. Thus,
one of major challenges in machining hardening is to
maintain uniform wear land and to assure intimate contact
between wear land and workpiece surfaces even at large
scale of tool wear. On the other hand, effects of other
parameters have not been claried.
The primary hardening mechanism in machining hard-
ening is considered to be rapid heatingcooling, though
mechanical loading being important as well. When machin-
ing with large ank wear land, the major heat source
conducted into the workpiece is the frictional heat generated
at the wear land surface, heat from shear zones being
negligible [8]. Therefore, wear land sliding on the workpiece
can be considered as Jaeger's moving source of heat pro-
blems [8,13]. The wear land is analog to a friction slider
moving with cutting speed on a semi-innite workpiece
(Fig. 5). The heat ux, q, generated by wear land rubbing and
conducted into the workpiece can be approximated as
q = b
DF
c
V
VBCL
; (1)
where DF
c
is friction force at wear land taken from the
difference of cutting forces between newand used (with VB)
tools, V the cutting speed, CL the cutting edge contact
length, and b the fraction of heat ux into the workpiece.
With given thermal conductivity and diffusivity of the
workpiece, quasi-steady state temperature (T) distribution
underneath the workpiece surface could be analytically
computed as follows:
T =
q
2pk
Z
xVB=2
xVB=2
e
VZ=2a
dZ
Z
yCL=2
yCL=2
e
V

(Z
2
z
2
z
2
)
_
=2a
(Z
2
z
2
z
2
)
1=2
dz T
0
; (2)
where x, y, z, are along the cutting direction, feed direction,
and workpiece depth, respectively, with origin at the center
of the heat source, a and k are the thermal diffusivity and
Fig. 4. Microhardness in-depth profile of the machined AISI 4340 steel.
Fig. 5. Wear land as a sliding heat source model.
Y.K. Chou / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 124 (2002) 171177 175
conductivity of the workpiece material, respectively, and T
0
the room temperature. The heat partition coefcient, b in
Eq. (1), is determined by matching the average interface
temperatures at the workpiece and wear land contact [13],
shown as below:
0:752
bq
k

aVB
V
r
= 0:473
(1 b)qVB
k
t
; (3)
where k
t
is the thermal conductivity of the cutting tool.
To examine this thermal aspect, a machining test was
performed with cutting conditions similar to test number 10
on a more rigid machine. White layer depth and cutting
forces were also measured. Detail cutting conditions and the
result are given in Table 3. Temperature change underneath
the machined surface was analyzed using this approach.
Fig. 6 shows constant temperature contours beneath the
machined surface. Extremely high and localized tempera-
tures are noted with large temperature gradient as well. Fig. 7
shows temporal response of temperature at 13 mm below the
surface (white layer depth). Time interval of which the
material was exposed over austenitizing temperature (A
c3
of 4340 steel, 774 8C) is only 0.3 ms, far shorter than the
time scale in conventional surface hardening. Such short
time austenitizing seems to suggest that stress/strain sig-
nicantly contribute to phase transformation process. Nom-
inal normal and shear stresses under wear land are 1407 and
352 MPa, respectively.
Steel surfaces hardened by aggressive machining (in
contrast to traditional machining) must undergo dramatic
alterations due to severe plastic deformation, phase trans-
formation, and highly possibly, chemical reactions [14]. It
has been shown that machining resulted white layers are
metallurgically unetchable; only XRD showed mixed fcc
and bct (bcc) structures. Thus, microstructure, which affects
performance, is virtually unknown. Advanced material ana-
lyzing tools are needed to characterize detailed structures/
compositions. The resulted compressive residual stresses in
the preliminary results seem to imply greater mechanical
loading over thermal loading, with which tensile residual
stresses are usually associated, during such aggressive
machining.
5. Conclusions
An approach is proposed to apply machining as an alter-
native to surface hardening of steel parts. The attempt is to
utilize wear land rubbing, together with mechanical loading,
to achieve hardening mechanism at machined surfaces. In
the preliminary investigation, soft AISI 4340 steel bars
machined with 1.2 mm ank wear land (VB), show roughly
30 mm deep hardened layer (49 HRC versus 28 HRC).
Furthermore, the machined surface has about 7 vol.% aus-
tenite, an evidence of phase transformation. These results
suggest the possibility of utilizing machining to surface
harden steel parts. Future work will focus on: (1) investiga-
tion on attainable hardness/hardened depth, (2) character-
ization of surface structures hardened by machining, (3)
modeling of mechanical loading effects on microstructural
Table 3
Machining parameters, results and thermal properties used for temperature analysis
VB (mm) V (m/s) f (mm/rev) d (mm) White layer (mm) DF
c
(N) CL (mm) q (W/m
2
) b a (m
2
/s) k (W/mK) k
t
(W/mK)
1.0 3 0.025 0.2 13 211 0.6 1.05 10
9
0.82 1.07 10
5
37.5 44
Fig. 6. Temperature contour (8C) beneath the surface machined with
1.0 mm flank wear land (corresponding to 0.5 mm of x and moving
toward left).
Fig. 7. Temperature changes with time at depth of white layer (wear land
in contact between 0.17 ms).
176 Y.K. Chou / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 124 (2002) 171177
evolution during machining, in particular, phase transforma-
tion, and (4) surface performance evaluation.
Acknowledgements
Partial support from SME Research Initiation grant
(no. 000774) is gratefully acknowledged. Experiments were
conducted at University of Missouri-Columbia/Kansas City.
C. Pate performed metallographic analysis of machined
samples. H. Song conducted temperature analysis. Torrington
Company supplied 4340 steel bars for machining experi-
ments and conducted XRD measurements.
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