Intelligent Heat Treating: Simulation of Carburization Process

Heat treaters need an effective simulation tool to predict the carburization performance of a variety of steels. The tool is needed not only to predict the carbon profile but also to optimize the process in terms of the cycle time and the cost. CarbTool has been developed to meet these needs for gas and vacuum carburization. In this paper, CarbTool predictions were compared with industrial experimental results of four types of steels, heat treated by both gas and vacuum carburizing processes. Based on the excellent agreement of model predictions and experimental results, CarbTool may be used to predict the carbon concentration profile for a variety of alloys in both gas and vacuum carburizing processes.