A machinist selects tempering as the next step after hardening a steel component. Which property is most likely to improve as a result of tempering in this heat treatment process?
Toughness increases while brittleness decreases
Immediately after hardening, a steel component sits at maximum hardness but is brittle and carries high internal stresses left by the rapid quench.
In that state it holds an edge well yet is liable to crack, so a follow-up treatment is used to make it usable.
Tempering reheats the hardened steel to a controlled temperature below its critical point and then cools it, which allows the trapped stresses to relax and the structure to become less strained.
As those stresses are released the steel becomes tougher and markedly less brittle, giving up only a small amount of hardness in exchange for a large gain in resistance to cracking.
So tempering does not increase hardness or grow the grain, nor does it simply drop strength; its chief effect is the trade of a little hardness for much greater toughness.
The property most improved is therefore toughness, with brittleness reduced at the same time.
Hence, the answer is Toughness increases while brittleness decreases.
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