FIGURE 6.

62 Formation of needlelike ferrite at grain boundaries after normalizing of the unalloyed ferle steel DIN C35, because of too fast a cooling rate. Magnification 500. (From G. Spur and T. Sto rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.) (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa

air. On the other hand, as shown in Figure 6.64, the alloyed steel DIN 55NiCrMoV6 cooled in the same way in air will transform to martensite and bainite. In this case, to obtain a desired structure and hardness after normalizing, a much slower cooling of about 108C/h (508F/h), i.e., furnace cooling, has to be applied from the austenitizing temperature to the temperature at which the formation of pearlite is finished (%6008C (%11008F)).

6.2.3 ISOTHERMAL ANNEALING

Hypoeutectoid low-carbon steels for carburizing as well as medium-carbon structural steels for hardening and tempering are often isothermally annealed, for best machinability, because

1000 Hardness HV 900 800 Temperature, C 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Q1
722 702 654 576 438 348 278 244 228 213 174 15 85 20 85 80 40 30 Ferrite 60 70 Pearlite 45 55

Ac3 Ac1

Austenite
3 1 35 10

10

dia m. =1
300

150

10

600

30

75

Bainite
Ms 2 15 20 3

000 mm

Martensite

1 Time, s

101 1

102 2 4

103 8 15 min 60

104

105

1 2

4 h

8 16 24

FIGURE 6.63 CCT diagram of the unalloyed steel DIN Ck45 (austenitizing temperature 8508C), with superimposed cooling curves measured in the core of round bars of different diameters cooled in air. ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa rmebehandeln, Carl (From G. Spur and T. Sto Hanser, Munich, 1987.)

2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

900 800 700

A

Ac3 Ac1
100
P

600 Temperature, C 500

10 30 75 150

35 93

m Dia
300 600

.= 0 100

400
B

mm
75

53 5

300 200

Ms M

20

100
Hardness HV
870

796 796

786 782

753 772 743 454 363 370 285

101 Time, s 1

102

103 101

104 102 min

105 103

s 104

106

FIGURE 6.64 CCT diagram of the alloyed steel DIN 55NiCrMoV6 (austenitizing temperature 9508C), with superimposed cooling curves measured in the core of round bars of different diameters cooled in ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa rmebehandeln, air. (From G. Spur and T. Sto Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.)

a well-differentiated, nontextured ferritepearlite structure is the optimum structure for machinability of these steels. If low-carbon steels are soft annealed, they give long shavings when turned and a bad surface appearance (sometimes called smearing or tearing) because of the accumulation of the material on the tools cutting edge. On the other hand, nonannealed workpieces, having harder structural constituents like bainite, result in heavy wear of the cutting edge when machined. An isothermally annealed structure should have the following characteristics: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. High proportion of ferrite Uniformly distributed pearlite grains Fine lamellar pearlite grains Short pearlite lamellae Coarse ferrite grains

Figure 6.65 shows the structure of a thin-wall die forging made of low-alloy steel for carburizing (DIN 16MnCr5) after a normalizing anneal (Figure 6.65a) and after an isothermal annealing process (Figure 6.65b). The desired ferritepearlite structure originates during an isothermal annealing, the principle of which is explained by Figure 6.66. This figure shows an IT diagram of a low-alloy steel for carburizing (DIN 15CrNi6) with superimposed cooling curves for different cooling rates at continuous cooling. The slowest cooling rate of 3 K/min relates to a furnace cooling, and the fastest cooling rate of 3000 K/min relates to a quenching process. From the diagram in Figure 6.66 it can be clearly seen that bainite formation can be avoided only by very slow continuous cooling, but with such a slow cooling a textured (elongated ferrite) structure results (hatched area in Figure 6.66). There is only one way to avoid both the formation of bainite and the formation of a textured structure (see the open arrow in Figure 6.66), and this is the isothermal annealing process, which consists of

2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

FIGURE 6.65 Structure of a forging made of low-carbon steel for carburizing (DIN 16MnCr5) (a) after ferle normalizing and (b) after isothermal annealing. Magnification 200. (From G. Spur and T. Sto rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.) (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa

austenitizing followed by a fast cooling to the temperature range of pearlite formation (usually about 6508C (12008F)), holding at this temperature until the complete transformation of pearlite, and cooling to room temperature at an arbitrary cooling rate. The temperaturetime diagram of an isothermal annealing is given in Figure 6.67. The metallurgical mechanism of a good isothermally annealed structure depends on the austenitizing conditions as well as on the temperature and time of the isothermal transformation and on cooling from the austenitizing temperature to the isothermal transformation temperature. The austenitizing temperature and time should be high enough to completely dissolve all carbides, to homogenize the austenite matrix, to stabilize the austenite structure, and achieve a coarse-grained ferritepearlite structure after cooling. The undesired textured structure originates by preeutectoid ferrite precipitation along stretched phases acting as germs, for instance manganese sulfides, carbon segregations, or aluminum nitride precipitations. These phases have been stretched as a consequence of a preliminary hot-forming process. To avoid the textured structure the steel has to contain as little sulfur, nitrogen, and aluminum as possible, and during austenitizing a complete dissolution of nitride precipitations and carbides should be achieved. Therefore the austenitizing temperature is adequately high, i.e., about 1008C (2128F) above Ac3, and the holding times are usually about 2 h.
Field of textured structure 1000
3 K/min 30 300

Temperature, C

3000 A

P F B

500

Isothermal annealing

M 400 320 250 170 HV

0 102

101

10 Time, min

102

103

FIGURE 6.66 The principle of isothermal annealing. TTT diagram of the low-alloy steel for carburizing nning, Ha rterei-Tech. Mitt. 32:4349, 1977, pp. 4349 [in German].) DIN 15CrNi6. (From J. Wu

2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

1000 Temperature, C 800 600 400 200 0 Time

Ac3 Ac1

ferle (Eds.), FIGURE 6.67 Temperaturetime cycle of isothermal annealing. (From G. Spur and T. Sto rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.) Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa

Another very important condition to avoid a textured structure is to realize a minimum cooling rate between the austenitizing temperature (%9508C (%17508F)) and the isothermal transformation temperature (%6508C (12008F)). Thus, about 3008C (5728F) decrease should pass through at a minimum cooling rate of 2040 K/min. This means that the whole batch of treated workpieces should be cooled from about 9508C (17508F) to about 6508C (12008F) in less than 10 min. During this cooling process an undercooling below the chosen isothermal transformation temperature must be avoided to prevent the formation of bainite. The physical mechanism that accounts for the manner and magnitude of ferrite precipitation is the carbon diffusion during cooling from the austenitizing temperature. To achieve a good structure after isothermal annealing, all measures that reduce the carbon diffusion rate or restrict the diffusion time for carbon atoms during cooling are useful. Figure 6.68 shows three structures after isothermal annealing of the low-alloy steel DIN 16MnCr5. It can be seen that cooling too slowly from the austenitizing temperature to the transformation temperature results in an undesirable textured structure of ferrite and pearlite, and if during this cooling process an undercooling takes place (i.e., the transformation temperature has been chosen too low) before the pearlite formation, then bainite will be present in the structure, which is not allowed. Big companies usually have internal standards to estimate the allowable degree of texturing of the isothermally annealed structures, with respect to machinability, as shown in Figure 6.69. The transformation temperature and the necessary transformation time for the steel in question may be determined by means of the appropriate IT diagram. Figure 6.70 shows such a diagram for the steel DIN 17CrNiMo6. As can be seen, the lower the transformation temperature chosen,

FIGURE 6.68 Different structures after isothermal annealing of the low-alloy steel DIN 16MnCr5 (left). Well-distributed ferritepearlite; correct annealing (center). Textured ferritepearlite structure; too slow cooling from the austenitizing to the transformation temperature (right). Ferrite pearlite bainite; nning, Ha rterei-Tech. Mitt. 32:4349, undercooling before pearlite transformation. (From J. Wu 1977, pp. 4349 [in German].)

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FIGURE 6.69 Internal standard of the German company Edelstahlwerke Buderus A.G.-Wetzlar for estimation of the allowable degree of texturing of the structure after isothermal annealing. Magnifica ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, Wa rmebetion 100. (From G. Spur and T. Sto handeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.)

the sooner the transformation starts, up to a temperature (the so-called pearlite nose) at which the shortest time to start the transformation is achieved. Below this temperature, longer times are again necessary to start the transformation. In the range of the pearlite nose temperature, fine lamellar pearlite will be formed, and the time to complete pearlite transformation is the shortest. For unalloyed steels, the pearlite nose temperatures are between 550 and 5808C (1022 and 10768F), while for alloyed steels they are between 640 and 6808C (1184 and 12568F). The optimum isothermal annealing temperature is 10208C (50688F) above the pearlite nose temperature. The necessary transformation time depends on the alloying elements in the steel. In the practice of isothermal annealing the holding time at the transformation temperature includes an adequate reserve because of compositional tolerances in different steel heats. Usually for low-alloy steels for carburizing and structural steels for hardening and tempering the transformation times are below 2 h. From the technical standpoint, when a batch of workpieces has to be isothermally annealed, the biggest problem is to realize sufficiently fast cooling from the austenitizing

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900

Ac3 Start of ferrite transformation Start of pearlite transformation

33

880 A c1 700 Temperature, C 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 1

46

Austenite

84 91 81

93

Pearlite

95

Ms

Start of transformation
35 31

End of transformation Bainite

Martensite Hardness HRC Hardness HRB

10 Time, s

102
1 2 4 8 min

103
15 60 1

104

105

106

4 h

24 1 2 3 5 days 10

FIGURE 6.70 Isothermal transformation (IT) diagram of the steel DIN 17CrNiMo6. Austenitizing ferle (Eds.), Handbuch der Fertigungstechnik, Vol. 4/2, temperature 8708C. (From G. Spur and T. Sto rmebehandeln, Carl Hanser, Munich, 1987.) Wa

temperature to the chosen transformation temperature without any undercooling. This cooling process depends on several factors, and the main factors include the workpiece crosssectional size, the loading arrangement, the temperature difference between the austenitizing temperature and the temperature of the cooling medium, and the heat transfer coefficient between the workpieces surface and the ambient.

6.2.4 SOFT ANNEALING (SPHEROIDIZING ANNEALING)

Soft or spheroidizing annealing is an annealing process at temperatures close below or close above the Ac1 temperature, with subsequent slow cooling. The microstructure of steel before soft annealing is either ferritepearlite (hypoeutectoid steels), pearlite (eutectoid steels), or cementitepearlite (hypereutectoid steels). Sometimes a previously hardened structure exists before soft annealing. The aim of soft annealing is to produce a soft structure by changing all hard constituents like pearlite, bainite, and martensite (especially in steels with carbon contents above 0.5% and in tool steels) into a structure of spheroidized carbides in a ferritic matrix. Figure 6.71 shows the structure with spheroidized carbides (a) after soft annealing of a medium-carbon low-alloy steel and (b) after soft annealing of a high-speed steel. Such a soft structure is required for good machinability of steels having more than 0.6% C and for all coldworking processes that include plastic deformation. Whereas for cold-working processes the strength and hardness of the material should be as low as possible, for good machinability medium strength or hardness values are required. Therefore, for instance, when ball bearing steels are soft annealed, a hardness tolerance is usually specified. In the production sequence, soft annealing is usually performed with a semiproduct (after rolling or forging), and the sequence of operations is hot working, soft annealing, cold forming, hardening, and tempering. The required degree of spheroidization (i.e., 8090% of globular cementite or carbides) is sometimes specified. To evaluate the structure after soft annealing, there are sometimes internal standards, for a particular steel grade, showing the percentage of achieved globular

2006 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.