Monday, October 7, 2024

Retained austenite significant for strength, toughness

The role of retained austenite (RA) and the magnitude of its influence on the performance of steel components are continually debated. Depending on the...

Hardness scale conversion

The use of hardness testing as a quality control method to check the outcome of a thermal treatment process is a common application of...

Variation in steel hardenability

Many heat-treating processes cannot tolerate appreciable variations in steel hardenability. For an established in-control process, deviations in chemical composition and starting microstructure may result...

Hardening depth measurement

Surface hardening heat treatments are popular in the manufacture of steel products as a means of significantly improving strength and fatigue resistance and mitigating...

Residual stress evaluation in bearings

Lingering stress is not easily identified during production, but has a direct impact on wear performance and fatigue life

Carbon potential verification

Choose from several verification methods for best fit, then develop a plan to correct for out-of-spec test results

Case Depth Determination

Methodology to ensure design intent is satisfied

Distortion during heating

Minimizing distortion involves more than just optimizing cooling

Variation in Hardenability

Many heat-treating processes cannot tolerate appreciable variations in steel hardenability. For an established in-control process, deviations in chemical composition and starting microstructure may result...

Determining Austenite Grain Size

Grain size is a critical metallurgical characteristic, significantly influencing design parameters such as strength and toughness. Austenite grain size (often referenced to as prior-austenite...

Non-Martensitic Transformation Products (NMTP)

Whether formed during a conventional quench and tempering process, carburizing, or induction hardening, non-martensitic transformation products (NMTP) are widely considered undesirable microstructural features. However,...

Coupling Alloy and Process Selection

Combining both alloying and processing into a single strategy to achieve a desired level of performance sounds like a simple concept, but can be...

Carburizing Optimization & ECD Precise Control

As discussed in the September/October 2016 Metal Urgency column , carburizing is a nonsteady-state diffusion process and thus can be expressed by Fick’s second...

Carbon Diffusion and Carburizing Parameter Selection

Although carburizing is a complicated process, it can be broken down into two main steps: carbon generation in the furnace and carbon diffusion into...

Carburizing

While some heat treatments are used to soften the material or improve its machinability, most are processed to obtain strengthened or hardened properties. The...

Hardening and tempering in the same cell

Tempering hardened steels is one of the most important heat treating processes used in part manufacturing. Induction tempering produces hardness and mechanical properties similar...

Materials Selection for Induction Hardening Processes

Induction hardening is the most common technique of the various types of applied energy processing. It uses alternating current that induces a magnetic field...

Different Scales Are Used For Rockwell Hardness Testing

Production Bench Rockwell Hardness Testing of Small Work Pieces As induction hardened workpieces get smaller in size, attention to the proper abrasive cutting of the...

Some workpieces are too large and expensive to fit into conventional benchtop hardness testers

Portable Rockwell Hardness Testing of Large Induction Hardened Work Pieces The previous article identified many factors related to benchtop Rockwell hardness testing practices. This article...

Testing of Induction Hardened Work Pieces

Hardness testing is a simple and universally accepted practice for checking induction hardened parts and is performed in literally thousands of manufacturing facilities. There...

Induction Hardening Choices for Gears

Of the various types of applied energy processing, induction hardening is the most common. Induction heating is a process that uses an alternating electrical...

Compelling reasons normalizing produces high quality gears

In this day and age, adding steps to the gear manufacturing process is not highly desirable unless the benefits far outweigh the costs incurred....