Heat Treatment: Principles and Practice

MODULE CONTENT

• The rationale for heat treatment
• The relevant fundamental aspects of metallurgy
• Furnaces and heat treatment methods
• Process control and measurement
• Post furnace treatment and control
• Measurement of properties and quality control
• Applications
• Case study/Assignments (includes Plant visit)
• Phase equilibrium diagrams, tools as the lever rule, the phase rule and carbon equivalence to predict microstructure
• Hardenability and strengthening mechanics including: dispersion hardening, solution strengthening, work hardening and shear transformations
• Equipment used in heat treatment practice, its development, use and control
• Measurement of the properties of materials
• Ashby diagrams to study the interaction of material specification and process with material properties

THE AIMS OF THE MODULE ARE:

• To study basic metallurgy of materials with respect to the development of microstructure and find out how heat treatment processes alter the subsequent properties of materials.
• To describe the basics of solid state transformations taking place as metals are heated and cooled.
• To study the concepts of phases, equilibrium and meta-stable phases.
• To explain why isothermal time temperature and transformation (TTT) and Continuous Cooling Transformation Diagrams (CCT) were developed. Including: how these are used and where relevant; the use of predictive tools.
• To study the development of microstructure and its influence on the properties of materials.