Experimental study of pack carburizing of carbon steel

The main purpose of this project is experimental study of pack carburizing of carbon steels by using two parameters (holding time and carburizing temperature). This study was conducted by using furnace. This process is carried out at temperatures from 850°C to 950°C (1123 – 1223K) for three various durations time which are 4, 8 and 16 hours. From the experiment, the surface hardness and thickness of carbon layer was different according to the parameters used. The quenching medium that use in this experiment is water. For carburizing temperature at 950°C, the highest of surface hardness value is 395.7 HV that carburized for 16 hours. For carburizing temperature at 900°C, the highest of surface hardness value is 373.4 HV that carburized for 16 hours and for carburizing temperature at 850°C which is the highest of surface hardness value is 345.5 HV. The thickness of carbon layer for 950°C was between 40μm to 120μm. The thickness of carbon layer for 900°C was between 40μm to 80μm and for 850°C was between 20 μm to 60 μm. Activation energy was determined which is 142.55 kJ/mol. The result indicates the carburizing process accelerates the diffusion of carbon atoms into the surface, thus increasing the thickness of carburized layer as well as the surface hardness.