Carburizing – A Method of Case Hardening of Steel

Abstract

The service condition of many machine parts of steel such as gears, shafts, cams, pinions, and piston pins demands very hard and wear-resistant case but with tough and shock-resistant core. This can be achieved by case hardening of low carbon steel. Carburizing is the most satisfactory and widely used method of case hardening of low carbon steel. In this chapter the three general methods of carburization such as solid or pack carburization, liquid carburization, and gas carburization with the theory of carburization are described in detail. The carburized machine parts are subjected to heat treatment (hardening and tempering) to develop the desired microstructure and properties. Different heat treatment (hardening) techniques for carburized steels with their resultant microstructures are described. This chapter also deals with the carburization of different alloy steels. Lastly the problems during carburization and their probable remedies and recommended processing sequence for carburized components are addressed.