Heat Treating Metal: An Overview

Altering the properties of a metal requires the application of heat, or the removal of heat using a quenching technique. Treating metal with heat, or cooling it after it is heated, can alter the following properties to various degrees: ductility, hardness, softness, stress, and tensile strength. To attain one or more of these properties, one or more of the next treatments can be utilized: annealing, tempering, hardening, quenching, normalizing, and stress relieving. An overview of each treatment is the following: Annealing Annealing removes stresses or induces softness to improve ductility or formability, respectively. Common types of annealing include: Bright annealing- Bright annealing is conducted in vacuum pressure furnace, bell annealer, or controlled atmosphere furnace to prevent oxidation. It really is typically performed on chromium alloys such as for example stainless steel. Process annealing- Process annealing makes metal simpler to cold roll or draw. It can also ensure it is more formable for bending applications. Recovery annealing- Recovery annealing restores ductility and reduces stresses in cold worked metal. Full annealing- Full annealing produces the softest, most stress-free metal. It really is typically performed to make metal simpler to machine, or even to improve its dimensional stability. Annealing takes place in a temperature range of 300�F – 2250�F. Tempering Tempering reduces stresses and unwanted hardness caused by quenching. It is performed after quenching that follows brazing or annealing. The tempering process occurs in a temperature selection of 350�F – 1250�F. Hardening Hardening is really a heating treating process that improves the mechanical properties and hardness of metals. It is typically performed in the form of “quenching.” Common hardening methods include: Water quenching- Water quenching improves the strength and hardness of low and medium carbon steel. Oil quenching- Oil quenching improves the strength and hardness of medium and high carbon steel. Silverline Structures – Air quenching improves the strength and hardness of low and medium carbon steel while reducing the risk of distortion. Age hardening- Age hardening is performed on alloys that harden because of age or the current presence of precipitation. Hardening occurs in a temperature range of 300�F – 2250�F. Normalizing Normalizing is conducted on ferrous metals to improve their mechanical properties, or to improve their response to the hardening process. Normalizing takes place in a temperature selection of 1600�F – 1800�F. Stress Relieving Stress relieving relieves stresses in metal to boost dimensional stability and tensile strength. Common examples of stress inducers include: flame cutting, cold working, quenching, and welding fabrication. The strain relieving process takes place in a temperature selection of 300�F – 1400�F. Conclusion The list above is a basic summary of heat treating processes provided by professional metal treatment services. Whenever a company must alter the properties of metal pieces or assemblies, having them treated with one of these processes can bring remarkable cost savings in comparison to buying new components. To find out more on the processes above and other metal working processes such as brazing, contact a metal treatment service today.