Full Transcript:
What’s up guys?!?!?! Michael with Michael Talks Metal here back for video 119. Today we are going to put a question or two to an AI that you may have heard about…. ChatGPT about the Hardenability of an alloy steel.
Lets see how it would deal with a series of metal related questions and then evaluate them by human intelligence and experience.
Here’s our questions and we will ask them all at once.
What is the Hardenability of a steel alloy? What determines the Hardenability of a steel alloy? How is the Hardenability Measured? That looks like this on the ChatGPT interface.
ChatGPT Response: Hardenability is a measure of a steel alloy’s ability to be hardened throughout its cross-section by heat treatment.
WHAT DETERMINES THE HARDENABILITY OF A STEEL ALLOY?
ChatGPT Response: The hardenability of a steel alloy is determined by its chemical composition, microstructure, and thermal treatment. Factors such as carbon content, alloying elements, and grain size play a role in determining the hardenability of a steel alloy.

A mostly true statement …..In this statement Carbon and alloying element content are the variables in chemical composition. Microstructure and grain size can affect a heat treating process but is not a factor in determining the intrinsic hardenability of an alloy.
HOW IS THE HARDENABILITY MEASURED?
ChatGPT Response: The hardenability of a steel alloy is typically measured by determining the depth to which a certain hardness can be achieved in a standardized test piece, usually a Jominy end-quench test. The Jominy end-quench test involves heating a small cylindrical sample and then quenching one end in water while leaving the other end at room temperature. The hardness is then measured at various points along the test piece, and the results are plotted to give a hardness vs. distance from the quenched end plot, which provides a measure of the steel’s hardenability.
Today it is much more common to accurately calculate the Jominy profile directly from the chemical composition and that is not mentioned by the AI.
Other measures of hardenability are not addressed by this response to our questions.
Steel alloys with specified hardenability limits are not mentioned ….
H or RH suffix to the alloy. 4140H for example is a controlled hardenability version of 4140 which is actually video 23 linked here.
AI can find information but has some issues in evaluating it and putting all the pieces together….Remember this is new tech and all info taken from ChatGPT should be reviewed by a professional if considering using for an actual application. At this point in the evolution of this software we should not outright trust this information, always have it reviewed by a pro.
Next week we will see what happened when we repeated the same questions … one at a time. Did the answers change? Did they get more accurate ? Stay tuned to find out. So I hope you have enjoyed this week’s session on this new burgeoning technology but before I leave you, don’t forget to CHECK THE SPECS !!!! If you’re still here and haven’t subscribed please consider doing so now, click here. Missed last weeks video, click here. Michlin is a distributor and supplier of all things steel and metal. Need more info check the website at www.michlinmetals.com. See you next Thursday same time, 10am, I’m out.