Case Hardening

Case Hardening
• Case Hardening is a process of hardening ferrous alloys so
that the surface layer or case is made substantially harder
than the interior or core.
• The chemical composition of the surface layer is altered
during the treatment by the addition of carbon, nitrogen, or
both.
• This techniques is used for steels with a low carbon
content.
• Carbon is added to the outer surface of the steel, to a depth
of approximately 0.03mm.
• One advantage of this method of hardening steel is that the
inner core is left untouched and so still processes properties
such as flexibility and is still relatively soft.
 Why?
• Some components require good toughness
but very hard and wear resistant surface
• especially parts rotating against each other
• e.g. gears engaged in each other and
rotating at several thousand RPM
• Gear teeth rub against each other and also
exert bending forces on each other
 Carburizing
• Carburizing introduces carbon into a solid ferrous
alloy by heating the metal in contact with a
carbonaceous material to a temperature above the
transformation range and holding at that temperature.
• At a high temperature (T = 860-900°C), carbon is
continuously added on the surface of the component
from a solid, liquid or gas source
• With time, carbon diffuses into the steel
• Depth up to which carbon diffuses into steel
controlled by time and temperature
• Time required to achieve desired case depth
decreases with increasing temperature
 Hardening after carburizing
• It is necessary to carry out carburizing at a temperature
above A3 temperature for the steel.
• It is necessary to quench the component after
carburizing to achieve the desired hardness
• Tempering is necessary after hardening for reducing
brittleness

Characteristics:
• case depth is about 0.05 inch
• Hardness after heat treatment
• Negligible change in dimensions
• Hardness decreases from surface to core
 TYPES OF CARBURIZING
• Gas Carburizing
• Vacuum Carburizing
• Pack Carburizing
• Liquid Carburizing
 GAS CARBURIZING
• Surface chemistry process.
• Main carburizing agent can be either Methane, Propane, Natural Gas or any other
Carbon carrying gas.
• Work pieces are heated with carbon carrying gas.
• Then held for period of time at specific temperature between 800°C -
950°C.
• After that quench the sample.
VACUUM CARBURIZING
• It is done under very low pressure.
• Sample is heated in vacuum above transformation temperature.
• Then exposed to carbon carrying gas or mixture under partial
pressure.

• Temperature Range: 800°C to 1100°C

• Pressure Range: 1 to 20 torrs
 PACK CARBURIZING
• Sample is packed in a steel container sample is
completely surrounded by granules of charcoal.
• Then heated in a furnace for 12-72 hours at 900°C.
• Due to high temperature, carbon diffuses into the surface of
sample.
 LIQUID CARBURIZING:CYANIDING
• In cyaniding carbon and nitrogen are introduced into the surface of
steel by heating it to a suitable temp (845 to 955°C. ) and
• holding it in contact with molten cyanide to form a thin skin which
is subsequently quenched.
• Bath consists of 30% NaCN,40%Na2CO3,30%NaCl
• Sample is placed in molten cyanide’s bath so that carbon will
diffuse into the sample.
• Diffusion of carbon into sample is greater than nitrogen.
• 2NaCN + O2 → 2NaCNO
• 2NaCNO + O2 → Na2CO3 +CO + N2
• 2CO → CO2 + C

• Case depth is about 0.25mm

• Negligible change in dimension
 Nitriding
Principle
• Steel is exposed to nitrogenous atmosphere.
NH3 = N + 3H (at 525-550°C)
• The nascent nitrogen reacts with various alloying elements in the
steel (e.g. Al, Mo, Cr etc.) to form nitrides
• The nitride layer formed on the surface is very hard
• No quenching is done
Characteristics
• Case depth is about 0.381mm
Extreme hardness
Case has improved corrosion resistance
Since nitrided parts are not quenched so less cracks
Good fatigue resistance
 Carbonitriding
• Carbonitriding is a modification of gas carburisation where
ammonia is added to the methane or propane and is the source of
nitrogen.
• Carbonitriding is applied primarily to produce a hard and wear
resistant case.
• The diffusion of both carbon and nitrogen increases the
hardenability of plain carbon and low alloy steels, and creates a
harder case than carburising.
• The carbonitriding process is particularly suited for clean mass
production of small components.
• The process is carried out at lower temperatures (820-900°C), and
generally for shorter times than carburising, and therefore
components are less prone to distortion.
• Less severe quenching media like oil, instead of water quenching
needed for mild steel, can be applied for reducing distortion.
 Flame Hardening
• Flame hardening is a surface-hardening method that
involves heating a metal with a high temperature flame,
followed by quenching.
• It is used on medium carbon, mild or alloy steels or cast
iron to produce a hard, wear-resistant surface.
• Flame hardening uses direct impingement of an oxy-gas
flame onto a defined surface area.
• The result of the hardening process is controlled by four
factors:
Design of the flame head
Duration of heating
Target temperature to be reached
Composition of the metal being treated
 Flame Hardening:Stages
• There are four types of flame hardening:
Stationary flame hardening - requires that the specified
area be heated
Progressive flame hardening - involves the use of a
flame head with integrated quench capability
Spin flame hardening - requires the specified area
being treated to be spun in front of the flame head(s)
Combination flame hardening - couples the progressive
and spinning methods
 Advantages
• Increased wear resistance
• Less distortion
• Reduced processing time
• Ability to use low to medium carbon steels
• Reduces cost by hardening only selective areas
• Achieves high hardness for increased life
 Induction Hardening
• The desired part of the component kept inside an induction
coil
• A.C. current passed through the coil induces magnetic
field around the component
• The magnetic field induces eddy currents in the
component
• The eddy currents are predominantly generated at or near
the surface
• By adjusting the frequency of the A.C. current, depth of
heating can be adjusted
• Heated part is then quenched in water or oil
 Advantages
• Induction hardening is used where selective parts of a heavy duty
component has to be case hardened
• Since no carburizing is done, the induction hard enable part has to
contain medium carbon, typically equivalent carbon content of 0.4-
0.45 wt%
• Examples of application are crank shaft cam shafts etc.
• Time required for hardening a component is sharply reduced
• Components may be heated with pratically no scaling and distortion
• Hard case an tough core is obtained
Disadvantage:
• Cost of equipment is high
• Steels having less than 0.40% carbon cannot be processed’
• Only for mass production
• High maintaince cost