Effect of Processing and Heat Treatment on the Color of the Water Atomized Steel Shots of High Carbon Steel

The color of water atomized steel shots changes upon processing and heat treatments due to the compound formation on the steel shot surface. In this study, color change is studied at each step of the water atomized steel shots and for size variation using various microscopic techniques such as OM, SEM, TEM and spectroscopic techniques such as AES and XPS. The results show that the color of the shot balls changes due to the formation of FeOOH, Fe x O y , etc. depending on the heat treatment and natural oxidation upon exposure to the environment, whose thicknesses also depend on the severity of processing and heat treatment for the compound formation.