Full Annealing and Normalizing of AISI 1045 and AISI 1080

Kenneth Fermano1, Farley Napiri2 and Sellina Sy1*

1
Department of Mining, Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
University of the Philippines-Diliman
*Corresponding author: smsy@up.edu.ph

Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of different
cooling rates and alloying to the microstructure and mechanical properties of
steel by hardness test of untreated, normalized and annealed steel AISI 1045
and AISI 1080. Using the Vickers Hardness Tester (HV), it was determined
that the hardness of steel AISI 1045: untreated (181.63)> normalized (171.7)
> annealed (160.3). The hardness of steel AISI 1080 : normalized (335.13)>
untreated (205.33) > annealed (201.87). This corresponds to the fact that
hardness increases as grain size decrease while number of pearlite increases
and the metal undergoes a fast cooling rate.

1. Introduction
Techniques commonly used in altering the mechanical properties of steel are treatments or processes that involve
heat transformations. Two of the most popular heat treatments employed in the industry are full annealing and
normalizing of steels. In both aforementioned treatments, steel samples are heated above the austenizing temperature
which converts all predefined phases of the steels to the versatile metastable phase called the austenite (Callister
2011). This phase is described as versatile since it transforms to other phases of steel as the samples cool down to
room temperature. For steels of eutectoid composition (0.76 wt % C), the conversion towards this phase starts at 727
C (Callister 2011).The austenizing temperature for other compositions (hypoeutectoid or hypereutectoid), on the
other hand, may be estimated by consulting the Fe-Fe3C phase diagram in Fig. 1 [2]. Cooling beyond the austenizing
temperature may produce microstructures such as pearlite (coarse or fine), bainite, or martensite (Callister 2011).
For non-equilibrium cooling however, coarse or fine pearlite are the only microstructures possible (Callister 2011).

Figure 1. Fe-Fe3C phase diagram

 Full-annealing and normalizing are both heat treatments that utilize non-equilibrium cooling [1]. Their only
difference is the cooling rates of their samples. Normalizing is done by heating the samples above the austenizing
temperature in a furnace and then, placing them outside immediately to cool at room temperature [1]. Full annealing,
on the other hand, is also heated in the same way however samples are cooled by letting them stand inside the
turned-off furnace for several hours [1]. Thus, normalized steels take less cooling time than full-annealed steels do.
Since there are only two microstructures possible, the effect of cooling rateor equivalently, the type of heat
treatment appliedon the fineness of the pearlite microstructure was explored in the experiment. Then, mechanical
properties such as hardness and ductility arising from these microstructures were observed.

2. Methodology
Three samples each of AISI 1045 and AISI 1080 is cut from stock rod of steel and properly labeled. One from each
type of steel undergoes three separate heat treatment conditions:: normalizing, full annealing, and none at all (as is).
Two samples each of AISI 1045 and AISI 1080 is placed in the furnace for an hour at 860 , well beyong the
austenitizing temperature. After that, one sample per type of steel is taken out and placed on top of refractory
ceramics to cool to room temperature (normalizing) while the rest of the samples are left inside the switched off
furnace to slowly cool until room temperature. The furnace must not be opened during the annealing process. All of
the samples are then grinded, polished, and etched before viewing under a microscope. Micrographs are taken at
200x, 500x, and 1000x then undergoing Rockwell hardness test for three trials.

3. Results and Discussion

The hardness of the steel AISI 1045 at different cooling rates are: untreated (181.630 HV)> normalized (171.7 HV)
> annealed (160.3 HV). The hardness of steel AISI 1045 at different cooling rates are: normalized (335.13 HV)>
untreated (205.33 HV) > annealed (201.87 HV). These hardness values are averages of table 1 below.

AISI 1045 AISI 1080

Reading no as is normalized full annealed Reading no as is normalized full annealed

1 176.1 175.6 157.9 1 210.7 349.8 197.8

2 176.9 167.4 163.3 2 204.4 325.3 200.2

3 191.9 172.1 159.7 3 200.9 330.3 207.6

average 181.6333333 171.7 160.3 average 205.3333333 335.1333333 201.8666667

Table 1. Hardness values of AISI 1045 (left) and AISI 1080 (right) at different heat treatments
Based on Figures 1 to 6, hardness values are a function of the the number of coarse pearlite and ferrite and the size
of the grains. In the as is condition AISI 1045 has larger grains and more grain boundaries, but lower hardness
compared to AISI 1080 due to less carbon content in the steel. However, for this same reason AISI 1045 is more
ductile. AISI 1080 has a more even distribution of carbon.

It can observed that in the normalized steel AISI 1045, there are some grains that are significantly bigger than its
neighbours while the untreated has a uniform set of small sized grains this affects the strength of a material because
hardness drops as grain size increases due to more barriers for dislocations to pass by thus slowing it down as it
approaches the surface (King 2002). The same can be observed in steel AISI 1080.

In the case of amount of pearlite, it can be observed that hardness is indirectly proportional to the number, diameter
and lamellar spacing of pearlite, which has a higher strength compared to ferrite (Chung and Li 2014) .
Figure 1. AISI 1045 as is Figure 2. AISI 1080 as is

Figure 3. AISI 1045 normalized Figure 4. AISI 1080 normalized

Figure 5. AISI 1045 full annealed Figure 6. AISI 1080 full annealed

The estimated cooling rates are calculated by dividing the mean temperature with time to cool. For full annealing the
temperature was allowed to drop until 600 before switching off the furnace and taking the specimen out the
next day. Meanwhile, the normalized specimen was immediately cooled to room temperature after an hour. These

two processes produce an estimated cooling rates of
60.833 and
3 6.875 , with the higher one
hr hr
associated with normalizing.
To predict phases present in the microstructure of steels after cooling it for a specific amount of time, continuous
cooling transformation (CCT) diagrams are necessary. These are diagrams where the start and end transformation
curves of steels across different temperatures were plotted against time (Callister, 2011). Similar to phase diagrams,
CCT diagrams have specific regions where various phases of steel such as austenite, pearlite, or martensite may
exist. However, CCT diagrams are composition specific. Thus for the experiment, two CCT diagrams were
consulted one for AlSl 1080 and another one for AlSl 1045.

To determine the phase, time-temperature curves of the cooling experiment must be first superimpose on the CCT
diagrams. However for practicality, any smooth parabolic curve with downward concavity may be used to
approximate the curve so long as the initial point starts at time equals zero and temperature above eutectoid reaction.
By following these curves, it could be determine what phase austenite transform into first. Since no further
transformation can occur, this phase will dictate the microstructure of the steelunless of course if samples were
reheated and cooled by other rate or method.

Figure 7. Continuous Cooling Transformation Diagram of AlSl 1080 (Vander Voort, 2014)
The CCT diagram of AlSl 1080 was shown in Figure 7. In this figure, it could be observed that no proeutectoid
(cementite or ferrite) phases were present in the CCT diagram as one should expect for compositions near the
eutectoid point (0.76 wt % C). Another notable observation from the diagram was that the transformation curve from
austenite to pearlite is broken somewhere in between 400 deg C and 500 deg C. Thus as long as the time-
temperature curve of the cooling experiment crosses the phase transformation curve, a pearlite structure must be
expected on the micrograph of AlSl 1080 regardless whether full annealing or normalizing was done on the sample.
It is important to note however that there is still some possibility for martensite formation under the restriction that
the cooling rate must be at least 140 deg C per secondwhich is usually achieved by a quenching medium
(Callister, 2011). Since no quenching was done in the experiment, only pearlite structure should be expected.

At higher cooling rates, more pearlite forms and becomes finer with its lamellae closer in terms of spacing thus
increasing strength and hardness. Carbon can only diffuse at short distances at higher cooling rates. The hardness
increases due to the refinement of primary phases at such rates. Meanwhile, a slow cooling rate results in formation
of ferrite thus making the metal's hardness to lower (Dossett and Totten 2013). So, fine pearlite is produced in
normalized specimen because more carbon precipitates out as nucleation sites forming small colonies of pearlite.
For annealed, coarse pearlite is a result of low carbon solubility in lower temperatures produceing fewer nucleation
sites, thereby forming larger colonies of pearlite.

Using ImageJ software for point analysis, the amount of pearlite (percent area fraction) at 1000x is obtained below:
amount of
AISI 1045 pearlite
 as is 0.386
normalized 0.439
annealed 0.332

AISI 1080
as is 0.531
normalized 0.352
annealed 0.222
Table 2. amount of pearlite

At equilibrium, the amount of pearlite calculated from the iron-carbon phase diagram is 59.211% for AISI 1045 and
99.327% for AISI 1080.

A factor that may affect actual cooling rate of air-cooled specimen is the formation of scale or iron oxide due to
exposure on an oxidising atmosphere by the presence of oxygen or water vapor on air (Shah 2012). The carbon
content also influences the rate.

According to the hardness results taken from the experiment, alloying elements such as carbon significantly
increases the hardness of steel. The increased amount of pearlite increases hardness, rendering a stronger yet more
brittle high carbon steel (Chung and Li 2014). This is also consistent with the micrographs of the two types of steel.

4. Conclusion
The effect of different cooling rates and alloying to the microstructure consequently affecting the mechanical
properties of steel were investigated. The results are as follows.
Increased amount of carbon in steel AISI 1080 made the sample significantly harder than steel AISI 1045 with the
Vickers hardness of 335.13 compared to 181. 63. This is caused by the hardening of solid solution that causes
dislocation motion hindrance (Calika, et al. 2009).
The faster the cooling rate, the harder the metal becomes because of the increase of pearlite formation (Chung and
Li 2014).

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