An Experimental Study of the Influence of Carburizing Treatment Holding Time on the Structure and Hardness of 16NC6 Steel

Abstract

Low carbon steel with carbon content ranging from 0.15% to 0.3% cannot be hardened through quenching and tempering processes and there is little to no martensitic transformation occurring upon quenching. To improve the surface hardness, carburizing is commonly employed. Through this treatment, the surface composition of the low-carbon steel is altered by the diffusion of carbon, resulting in a hard outer casing with good wear resistance. This work investigates the effect of the carburizing treatment temperature and holding time on the crystallographic structure, hardness, and hardened surface layer dimension of commercial low-carbon steel 16NC6. The steel was carburized at 900°C for different holding times of 1, 2, and 3 hours. After the carburizing and quenching processes, the hardness values and the morphology of the crystallographic structure were measured and characterized.

Effect of carbonization on the mechanical properties of mild steel utilizing oak charcoal as a carbon source

“…These results corroborate the research conducted by D N K Negara and Widiyarta [5]. The reference is from the paper by Baali et al, [8]. Hence, the most effective carburizing parameters were attained with carburizing at 930 °C for durations of 75 and 50 minutes.…”

“…The maximum hardness value of 99.3 H RB is achieved after 75 minutes at 930 °C, but after 75 minutes at 830 °C, the hardness rating drops to a minimum of 88.4 H RB . Carburizing is a procedure that entails introducing carbon to the external surface of steel components to enhance their strength and durability [8,15]. As shown in Figure 8, there is a relationship between the hardness values and the carburized temperature.…”

“…They found that carbon atom migration to the outer layer created a martensitic phase. The steel's carburized zone enlarged, and the carbon content deepened as treatment progressed [5][6][7][8][9]. Carbon concentration varies in wood, coal, bones, sugar cane, and charcoal; during solid carburization, carbon is added to steel at high temperatures.…”