National Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering Science (NCAMES-2016)

Effect of Hardening Temperature and

Stabilization on Case Hardened Steel
Sahana M1, Neha Chowdhary K2, Satheesha Kumar K3
1,2
UG Student, Department of mechanical engineering,
Vivekananda College of Engineering and Technology, Puttur, India
3
Assistant Professor, Department of mechanical engineering,
Vivekananda College of Engineering and Technology, Puttur, India

Abstract- EN353 a low carbon case hardened steel diameter 88MM and thickness of 20MM obtained by
also known as plain carbon alloy steel is one of the turning operation. After this carburizing(gas
widely used steel. This study is based upon the carburizing) process is done at 930⁰c for 7HRS and
dimensional stability of 5 standard dimensioned desired case depth of 1.6MM is obtained, then
bushes of EN353. The 5 bushes are carburized and annealing(full annealing) is done at 680⁰c for 2HRS.
full annealed, followed by hardening at 760ºC, After this, hardening process is carried out on 5
800ºC, 820ºC, 840ºC, 860ºC. Later the bushes are specimens at different hardening temperatures as
tempered, pre-grinded, stabilized, and checked for shown in table: 1, and quenched it in mineral
dimensions. The prime objective is to reduce the oil(servo quench 11) at 40⁰c, this process is carried
retained austenite by varying hardening temperature out in muffle furnace, followed by tempering which
and stabilizing and henceforth achieve dimensional has been carried out at 180⁰c for a specified duration
stability. The specimen hardened at 760ºC, 800ºC, of 20 min in salt bath and air cooled. Pre grinding
820ºC, 840ºC, 860ºC had 3, 5, 7, 9, 10 µm accuracy operation is done on the 5 specimens; 1.2MM of
respectively. It is realised from the results that the material is removed and checked for the dimensions.
specimen hardened at 760ºC had highest Later, stabilization process is carried out on the
dimensional stability with 3µm accuracy. specimens at 130⁰c for 24HRS in oil bath then air
Keywords— EN353, Dimensional stability, cooled. Eventually finish grinding is done on the
Retained austenite, Hardening temperatures. specimens, 0.2MM of material is removed and
dimensions are measured. Later, microstructure of
all the specimens are analysed and the values of
I. INTRODUCTION dimensional stability are tabulated.
This study is selected for the of EN353 (Low-
Carbon Case Hardening Steel) under Carburized III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
condition. En 353, also known as plain-carbon alloy [Link] analysis
steel, is now the most common form of steel because By optical emission spectrometer, it is found
its price is relatively low while it provides material that the specimen has the following composition in
properties that are acceptable for many applications (%):
such as heavy duty gears, shaft, pinion, camshafts C-0.189, Mn-0.713, Si-0.270, S-0.009, P-0.019,
etc. En 353 has a relatively low tensile strength, but Cr-0.964, Ni-1.218, Mo-0.116.
it is cheap and easy to form surface hardness can be
increased through carburizing Heat treatment on EN [Link] stability
353 steel improves its ductility, toughness, strength, The five specimens were subjected to various
hardness and relieves stresses in the material. It is heat treatment processes and the five specimens
found that the surface hardness of the EN 353 steel were hardened at five different temperatures.
is improved after the heat treatment- carburizing, Checking of dimensions is done in different
hardening and tempering. The primary objective of [Link] before grinding, after heat treatment
this paper is to reduce the amount of retained pre grinding, after stabilization finish grinding. The
austenite and hence achieve dimensional stability. changes in dimensions were plotted in the graph as
shown below:
II. METHODOLOGY
For performing this experiment we selected
en353 steel of internal diameter 55MM, outer

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National Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering Science (NCAMES-2016)

Fig 4 Change in dimension of EN353 bush case

hardened at 840ºC

Fig 1 Change in dimension of EN353 bush case

hardened at 760⁰C

Fig 5 Change in dimension of EN353 bush case

hardened at 860ºC

C. Microstructure
The change in the microstructure of material
due to heat treatment is the focal reasons for the
improved mechanical properties .The specimens are
polished using SiC polish paper and are etched with
nital followed by drying in air .Eventually,
microstructure examination is carried out using
metallurgical microscope. The different
Fig 2 Change in dimension of EN353 bush case microstructures of different specimens subjected to
hardened at 800⁰C various hardening temperature is obtained as follows.

Case (760⁰C)

Fig 6 Fine tempered martensite with 5% retained

austenite.

Fig 3 Change in dimensions of EN353 bush case Core (760⁰C)

hardened at 820ºC

Fig 7 Bainite with troosite

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National Conference on Advances in Mechanical Engineering Science (NCAMES-2016)

Case (800⁰C) Core (840⁰C)

Fig 8 Fine tempered martensite with 5-10% retained Fig 13 Bainite structure
austenite
Case(860ºC)

Core (800⁰C)

Fig 14 Tempered martensite with 15-20% of

Fig 9 Bainite + Ferrite (10-15%) retained austenite

Case (820⁰C) Core (860ºC)

Fig 10 Fine tempered martensite with 5-10%

retained austenite Fig 15 Feathery bainite

Core (820⁰C)
IV. CONCLUSIONS
The sample of internal diameter 55mm, outer
diameter 88mm and thickness 20mm EN353
specimens with 0.8% to 0.9% carbon potential in
surface, hardened at 760⁰C and 800⁰C has
controlled retained austenite (less than 5%) has
shown good dimensional stability. Control of
Retained austenite will help in cost reduction of
subzero treatment & grinding time.
Fig 11 Coarse bainatic
Core (840ºC) REFERENCES
[1] Heat treatment principles and techniques by T.V Rajan,
Ashok Sharma and C.P Sharma.
[2] Material science and Metallurgy by K.R Phaneesh.
[3] Material science and Metallurgy by calister.
[4] “Methods of Brinell hardness test for steels” ,IS 1500:2000
[5] “ASM Handbook on heat treating volume 4” , ASM
Handbook committee.
[6] “ASM Handbook on material testing and evaluation volume
8” , ASM Handbook committee.
[7] Heat treatment handbbok by K.H PRABHUDE.
[8] J.W Christian, theory of transformations in metal and alloys.
Fig 12 Coarse martensite with 20% retained [9] E.P Abrahamson, S.L Lopata Trans AIME(1966) 76-87
austenite [10] Honaycombe, R W. K., (1982) steels: microstructure and
properties.

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