Hardening AISI 1050 Steel
Hardening AISI 1050 Steel
(OP)
Material:
AISI 1050, Strips cut from cold rolled .25" thick sheet
0.25" thick, 2" wide and 18" long
Grooves 0.05"deep machined on both flat surfaces
Requirement:
Harden to HRc 60 with a case hardening depth between 0.03" to 0.05"
The piece should be free from twist and bend (distortion after hardening) on visual inspection
(Bend less than 0.1" and Twist less than 2degrees on a full length of 18")
Case hardening required on 14" length, with 2" length on both ends may or may not be hardened.
Process:
The process of hardening was done in a cyanide based salt bath for carburizing and quenching in brine. The piece was manually quenched and inspected for straightness and twist, while still hot enough to be corrected.
The operation was done by a Singapore company at nearby Indonesian island of Batam.
Now we propose to do this operation in North America without the use of salt bath furnace.
Production capacity required is about 100 pieces per day.
Proposed process:
To pack carburize the material in a box type electric furnace for 4 hours and let it cool.
To heat a piece by induction heater while the individual piece is held in a fixture at both ends and quench in brine, still being held in fixture to avoid bending and twisting.
The induction heating and brine quenching can be progressive, without heating the full length at one time.
Your comments and suggestions requested for:
1) What is the probability of success for the above process?
2) What are the alternatives available for the process?
3) When carburized steel is heated in an open atmosphere by induction heating, what should be the approximate time to heat the material without decarburizing the surface?
All your help in comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.





RE: Hardening AISI 1050 Steel
RE: Hardening AISI 1050 Steel
It is AISI 1050
RE: Hardening AISI 1050 Steel
RE: Hardening AISI 1050 Steel
Regarding the carburizing, I am informed that for this product it is important that the Carbon potential on the surface should be raised to minimum 0.8% before hardening. What is the transformation taking place? I do not know about it, but like to have some info.
For Induction hardening the time to heat the product is about 20 to 25 seconds. During this heating time in air, what are the chances of decarburization on the surface?
RE: Hardening AISI 1050 Steel
RE: Hardening AISI 1050 Steel