Characterization of Case Hardened AISI 4130 Steel Using Eddy Current Testing

Abstract

Casting is the manufacturing process of pouring the hot liquiduos state metal in to the mold cavity and then allowed it to solidify to obtain the final casting. There are many defects are found in the casting components during the inspection. Some defects are tolerated while others are required to repair. Otherwise the casting component is to be eliminated due to the poor quality level. The aim of the non-destructive inspection is to determine, the flaws, discontinuities on the material, and characteristics of the material. Based on the results by non-destructive evaluation the personnel take the decision on the material object is to be accepted or not as per the criteria. In this paper the hardness attribute of the case hardened AISI 4130 steel samples are studied using Vickers Hardness test. Then the hardness property is correlated with the Eddy Current Testing method. According to the acceptance criterion the suitability of the material is analyzed for the corresponding application or not. In this paper Eddy Current Testing response is analyzed for the AISI 4130 samples to determine the mechanical properties of the material. The main objective of the paper is to investigate the effect of the hardness property of the casting material during various case depth obtained via case hardening process. This technique is effective and best practice for the heat treatment shop floors. By this technique the results are investigated based on the cracks and microstructure of the casting material.

Keywords

• AISI 4130
• Casting Defects
• Annealing
• Hardness
• Eddy Current Testing