Case hardening – carburising, quenching and low tempering

Carburising is a process at which carbon enrichment of surface occurs at a certain high temperature. Subsequent quenching of the carburised component results in the formation of a high hardness layer while maintaining the high toughness and plasticity of the core of the workpiece material. The thickness of the layer is, based on particular requirements, selected from a few tenths of a millimetre to several millimetres. Only low-carbon and usually low alloyed steels (e.g. 16MnCr5) are used to produce carburised and quenched (case hardened) components. Typical components include gears, toothed shafts and pinions, larger rolling bearings, screws, etc., with high wear and resistance to contact fatigue.

This process is performed on semiautomatic multipurpose furnaces IPSEN with a controlled atmosphere of carbon potential.

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