Abstract

High-carbon steel is widely used in engineering and industrial applications due to its enhanced strength and hardness. Enhancing the mechanical properties of high-carbon steel is a process that will modify its microstructure and display its toughness, hardness, and wear resistance. The focus of this study was the analysis of heat treatment of high-carbon steel that can be used for engineering, structural, or industrial applications. The study commenced with procuring and preparing specimen material for the research. The specimen was subjected to various heat treatment processes, including annealing, normalising, and hardening. The experimental results showed that the annealed specimen recorded a high tensile strength of 1968 Mpa, followed by the normalised samples having 1033 Mpa, implying improved mechanical properties, while the hardened (quenched) specimen recorded 608 Mpa, indicating high wear resistance. The annealed specimen was observed to have a large grain size of pearlite, which was distributed across the entire microstructure surface, indicating a refined grain size and structure. The heat-treated and the received (untreated samples) microstructure were examined. The results also showed that the annealed specimen had a large grain size of pearlite, which was distributed across the entire microstructure surface, implying a refined grain size and structure. In contrast, the hardened samples showed relieved internal stress and were tough enough to resist shock load. The hardness of the specimen was found to have increased by 25%, 50 HRC after the Silica was quenched, compared to the received results obtained from the Rockwell Hardness tester. There was an increase of 15% in hardness when quenched in water compared to as received.