Phase Transformations and Heat Treatments of Steels

Book excerpt: The perpetual flow of understanding between phase transformation that controls grain/microstructures and heat treatment which decides the size of grains/microstructures of steels is not well articulated in the perspective of undergraduate students. In Phase Transformations and Heat Treatments of Steels, theories of phase transformation have been used to obtain a desirable phase or combination of phases by performing appropriate heat treatment operations, leading to unification of both the concepts. Further, it includes special and critical heat treatment practices, case studies, local and in-service heat treatments, curative and preventive measures of heat treatment defects for several common and high-performance applications. Features: Presents fundamentals of phase transformation in steels Analyzes basics of phase transformation due to heat treatment of steel under various environmental conditions Explains application of heat treatment for different structural components Discusses heat treatment defects and detection Emphasizes heat treatment of special steels and in-situ heat treatment practices