The carburizing process is a heat treatment method aimed at enhancing the surface hardness, wear resistance, and corrosion resistance of materials by adding carbon at high temperatures. This study analyzes the impact of this process on low-carbon steels (STKM 13A and SPCC) and an alloy steel (SCM 435). Carburization was conducted at 900°C for 100 minutes. The tests performed included a Micro Vickers hardness test and microstructural characterization following the ASTM E-407 standard. The results showed a significant increase in the surface hardness of all materials. Critically, carbon diffusion in both STKM 13A and SPCC reached a consistent and defined depth of 0.48 mm, while in SCM 435, it diffused uniformly across the entire material thickness. Microstructural analysis revealed a phase transformation from pearlite and ferrite before carburization to martensite afterward. For STKM 13A and SPCC, the martensite phase formed up to a depth of 0.48 mm, while SCM 435 underwent a total transformation to the martensite phase, resulting in full hardening. This research provides specific quantitative data on the critical case depth (0.48 mm) achievable in STKM 13A and SPCC under these conditions, offering a clear reference point for industrial applications requiring controlled surface hardening.
Wardhana et al. (Wed,) studied this question.