SELECTION

OF H E A T

TREATMENT

CONDITIONS

FOR M E T A L

COATINGS

(UDC 621.785: 621.793.8)

V. G. D a z h i n
Saratov Polytechnical Institute
Translated from Metallovedenie i Termicheskaya Obrabotka Metallov, No. 12,
pp. 26-28, December, 1964

We determined the optimum heat treatment conditions for metal c o a t i n g s - c a s e hardened electrolytically deposited coatings of iron a n d i r o n - n i c k e l alloy.
S a m p l e s were case hardened with natural gas; the layer contained 1-1.2~ C. In this study, we used the method
of end quenching (GOST 5657-51). The dimensions of the samples are shown in Fig. 1. The cooling rate was determined by the M. E. Blamer nomogram.

......

The heat treatment conditions for metal coatings were determined by the hardenability and tile optimum quenching t e m perature and also by the requirements for heat treatment of the
base metal.

Investigations showed that the following two factors have a

decisive effect on the hardenability of coatings: the degree of
alloying; the initial hardness of the metal deposited electrolytically (hardness after electrolysis).

a)

I .,,

tO0

b)
Fig. 1. Samples for end quenching, a) Before coating with metal; b) after mechanical
treatment.

De

~sec

7ooi..~

L
I

6O

~'2

60o
5OO

,,...

0
0

t~

tt

~00

where v is the cooling rate of the semi-martensitie region

(deg/sec); f is a coefficient; and D k is the current density
(Alcm2).
According to [1], the following relationship exists

t t - ~ p lg Dk + l,

Fig. 2. Effect of nickel on the hardenability (1)

and quenchability (2) of case hardened electrolytically deposited coatings.

(2)

where H is the initial hardness of the coating (kg/mmZ); p is a

coefficient; and l is a constant.
From Eq. (1), we have log D k = l o g v - l o g f ;
ing this into Eq. (2), we obtain

107.

Amount of nickel in the coating

738

(1)

v =fD~,

tom

~ TIO

.,~

It was found that the cooling rate of the semi-martensitic

region of the case hardened layer varies directly with the current
density used in electrolytic deposition of the metal:

""
o0O

80

Figure 2 shows that the hardenability of the coating increases sharply with the amount of nickel in the coating. However, more than 7% Ni is useless because the maximum hardness
of the quenched layer (the quenchability) decreases as the result
of the formation of residual austenite.

Igv--

1 H+lgfl.._~L.
p
p

Since - 1 / p = k; log f - ( l / p ) /

= a,

by substitut-

HV
800

L Deg/sec, lg v
250

2.#

t58

2.2

tO0

2.0

.2 68

1,8

E
.2
O

600

. . . . .

ri 'U[.d//

t~O0

2001
300

400

500 'H, ,tz

1~

~1

I -I 7 1 1 I ]
T2

25

50

tO0

2OODeg/see

Cooling rate

Fig. 3. Effect of the initial hardness of electrolytically deposited iron on the hardenability of the case hardened coating. The straight
line is the calculated dependence; the dots are
the average values of the experimental data; the
crosshatched region represents the limits of the
scattering of experimental results.

Fig. 4. Hardenability of case hardened e l e c trolytically deposited coatings and steel. 1)

Iron-nickel alloy (7.2~ Ni); 2) iron-nickel
alloy(4.7% Ni); 3) 40 Kh steel [3]; 4) e l e e trolyticalty deposited iron, HB 280; 8) 45 steel
[3]; 6) electrolytically deposited iron, HB 480;
7) 20 Kh steel [3]; 8) 20 steel [3].

we have

lgv=kH+

a.

(3)

The values of k and a depend on the chemical composition of the case hardened coating and on the conditions
under which it was obtained. For electrolytic iron precipitated from simple chlorides,and case hardened with natural
gas,k = 2.85 9 10 -3, a = 0.8, and the equation is valid for 370 -<H ~550. When the initial hardness is lower than 370
k g / m m z, the hardenability of the coating remains constant. Experimental results confirm Eq. (3) (Fig. 3).
Using Eq (3) and the M. E. Blanter nomogram, one can determine the maximum acceptable initial hardness
of the coating. For example, when a steel cylinder 25 m m in diameter is quenched in water its surface is cooled at
the rate of 472 deg/sec [2, 3]. It is easy to see that the initial hardness of iron deposited electrolytically on such a
cyclinder must be no higher than 416 k g / m m 2 in order to obtain a martensitic structure.
The quenching temperature is determined from the conditions for obtaining a quenched layer with the maximum hardness. Investigations showed that the maximum hardness (700-800 k g / m m z) of case hardened coatings of
iron deposited electrolytically results from quenching from 780-860~ and from quenching from 820-860~ for ironnickel coatings.
To harden or recondition machine parts, it is necessary to choose coatings with a hardenability no lower than
the hardenability of the base metal (Fig. 4).
In selecting quenching media, one must take into account the hardenabilities of the coating and of the base
metal and also the conditions of heat treatment required for the machine part.
LITERATURE
1.

2.
3.

CITED

A. M. Shiryaev and I. E. Klyushkin, Zhurnal fizicheskoi khimii, 37_d

, 12 (1963).
N. F. Bolkhovitinov, Hardenability of Steel [in Russian], Moscow, Mashgiz (1949).
A. A. Shmykov, Handbook of the Heat Treatment Engineer [in Russian], Moscow, Mashgiz (1950).

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