V.K. Bafna, Paresh Haribhakti at ASM Heat Treat Show
Paper on Metallurgical Quality Control for Heat Treatment Industries
Services · Materials Testing
Heat Treatment Verification Testing
NADCAP AC7101 Materials Testing accreditation was granted in 2026 under Performance Review Institute certificate 29415245997, valid to 31 May 2027. TCR is the verification-testing partner to accredited heat treaters and does not operate furnaces.
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Overview
This service is distinct from post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), which TCR offers as a separate service under Non-Destructive Testing. PWHT physically heats components. Heat Treatment Verification Testing does not perform thermal processing. Heat treaters submit samples and TCR returns a NADCAP-accepted test report covering hardness, microstructural examination, grain size, case depth, retained austenite, and mechanical properties.
What Heat Treatment Verification Testing is
Heat treaters submit samples and TCR returns a NADCAP-accepted test report. TCR is the verification testing partner under NADCAP AC7101 Materials Testing. It is not the heat treater, and it holds no AC7102 Heat Treatment Process accreditation, which would require furnace operations that TCR does not perform.
The service is distinct from post-weld heat treatment. PWHT physically heats components, and TCR runs furnaces for it as a separate service under Non-Destructive Testing. Heat Treatment Verification Testing performs no thermal processing at all. It measures whether a heat treater's process delivered the intended metallurgical result, and it reports the evidence.
What the verification report covers
A verification report covers hardness, microstructural examination, grain size, case depth, retained austenite, and mechanical properties.
Case hardening is controlled through carburising, nitriding, carbonitriding, cyaniding, induction, and flame hardening, and each leaves a surface layer harder than the core. TCR measures the result: a hardness traverse and case-depth profiling per SAE J423, retained austenite by the electro-polish and copper-deposition method with calculation on image-analysis software, grain size per ASTM E112, decarburisation depth per ASTM E1077, and microstructural examination against the applicable specification. Mechanical properties are added where the order calls for them.
Governing standards
Testing runs to ASTM and SAE aerospace methods, read against the aerospace prime specifications the customer names.
| Property | Application | Standard |
|---|---|---|
| Hardness | Rockwell, Brinell, Vickers macro and micro | ASTM E18, ASTM E10, ASTM E92, ASTM E384 |
| Grain size | Prior-austenite and general grain size | ASTM E112 |
| Case depth | Case-depth profiling on hardened surfaces | SAE J423 |
| Retained austenite | Quantified from microstructure | ASTM E975 |
| Decarburisation depth | Surface decarburisation on steel | ASTM E1077 |
| Inclusion rating | Cleanliness assessment | ASTM E45 |
| Etching | Microstructure development | ASTM E407 |
| Pyrometry and process reference | Heat-treatment process specification | SAE AMS 2750 |
| Heat treatment of steel raw material | Process specification reference | SAE AMS-H-6875 |
Reports are read against the aerospace prime specifications the customer works to, including Boeing BAC, Airbus AIPS, Pratt & Whitney PWA, GE EM&S, and Rolls-Royce RPS, together with the SAE Aerospace Material Specification series and the MIL-DTL specification series.
The NADCAP position
The TCR group holds NADCAP AC7101 Materials Testing accreditation at two NABL-accredited laboratories, Navi Mumbai and Vadodara.
NADCAP AC7101 Materials Testing was accredited in 2026 for TCR Engineering under Performance Review Institute certificate 29415245997, valid to 31 May 2027. TCR Advanced Engineering at Vadodara holds its own AC7101 accreditation under Performance Review Institute certificate 29227245998, also valid to 31 May 2027. This positions the group as the verification testing partner for NADCAP-accredited heat treaters and aerospace component manufacturers, a position no other independent commercial materials-testing group in India occupies; the three or four NADCAP heat-treatment-accredited facilities in India are mostly captive aerospace operations rather than independent commercial laboratories.
Who it serves
The accreditation serves the aerospace, space, and defence supply chain.
TCR serves ISRO, DRDO, NPCIL, HAL, MIDHANI, and Bharat Forge. The rocket-motor casing hardware for Chandrayaan-3 cleared TCR's bench with no non-conformity observed. The same bench investigates stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen embrittlement, fatigue, and inclusion and grain-size non-conformities in flight hardware, forgings, and rocket-motor casings, and it verifies heat treatment on NADCAP-route samples.
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Frequently asked questions
Does TCR operate furnaces or carry out heat treatment?
No. TCR is the verification testing partner under NADCAP AC7101 Materials Testing, not the heat treater. It holds no AC7102 Heat Treatment Process accreditation, which would require furnace operations that TCR does not perform. Heat treaters submit samples and TCR returns a NADCAP-accepted test report.
What does a heat-treatment verification report cover?
Hardness, microstructural examination, grain size, case depth, retained austenite, and mechanical properties.
Which NADCAP accreditation does TCR hold, and where?
NADCAP AC7101 Materials Testing, accredited 2026, at two NABL-accredited laboratories: Navi Mumbai under Performance Review Institute certificate 29415245997 and Vadodara under Performance Review Institute certificate 29227245998, both valid to 31 May 2027.
How is this different from post-weld heat treatment?
Post-weld heat treatment physically heats components, and TCR runs furnaces for it as a separate service under Non-Destructive Testing. Heat Treatment Verification Testing performs no thermal processing; it tests submitted samples and reports the result.