Heat treatment is a set of processes that are performed with the intention of altering the physical properties of the material in question. The alteration may also target chemical properties besides the physical ones. The most common application for this application is metallurgical. The use of industrial heat treating is not only in metals, but rather in a wide range of materials, including glass.
It requires extreme temperatures to do these processes. Either extremely cold or extremely hot temperatures are used. Such temperatures allow for hardening or softening materials. Like stated above, various processes are comprised in heat treatment, including normalizing, annealing, tempering, precipitation strengthening, aging, case hardening, and quenching. The term heat treatment is preserved for processes that lead to cooling or heating with the intentional of altering of material. Other processes that result in incidental heating and heating do not go by this name.
Different quality levels are achieved depending on precision of the timing and maintenance of temperature. The purpose of being very precise with the temperatures and timing is to achieve the desired qualities. Qualities often vary depending on the temperature and duration of heating. Undesirable results can be easily achieved if the temperatures and timing are not maintained precisely.
Annealing is a generalized term. This process involves heating metal to some temperature and then cooling at a given rate. Cooling is done at a rate that would achieve refined microstructure, with constituents partially or fully separated. Generally speaking, the rate of cooling is very slow. Annealing is done to enhance qualities such as electrical conductivity, machinability, and ability to cold work the metal.
Normalizing is a type of treatment in which the aim is to achieve a uniform grain size and composition in the metal under consideration. The temperatures are maintained at 1550 to 1600 degrees F depending on the kind of steel in question. After heating, the metal is allowed to cool slowly in open air. The steel produced is usually harder and stronger, but may have slightly lower ductility.
Internal stress is metal is removed or reduced through the process of stress relieving. Stress can develop in the structure of the metal from processes such as cold working and cooling non-uniformly. This is performed by first heating the metal to lower critical temperature and then allowing for uniform cooling.
Quenching involves cooling the heated metal at a very rapid rate. This allows for the achievement of martensite transformation in the metal. For ferrous metal alloys, the end product is a harder metal while for alloys that are non-ferrous, the end product is abnormally softer.
Temperatures are required to be maintained high for very long in many of these processes. This means that energy consumption is also very high. To avoid huge monthly energy bills, companies devise alternative energy sources that they can maintain less costly. Such sources are not connected to the national power grids. Power consumption is also more efficient in modern furnaces, which are computerized.
It requires extreme temperatures to do these processes. Either extremely cold or extremely hot temperatures are used. Such temperatures allow for hardening or softening materials. Like stated above, various processes are comprised in heat treatment, including normalizing, annealing, tempering, precipitation strengthening, aging, case hardening, and quenching. The term heat treatment is preserved for processes that lead to cooling or heating with the intentional of altering of material. Other processes that result in incidental heating and heating do not go by this name.
Different quality levels are achieved depending on precision of the timing and maintenance of temperature. The purpose of being very precise with the temperatures and timing is to achieve the desired qualities. Qualities often vary depending on the temperature and duration of heating. Undesirable results can be easily achieved if the temperatures and timing are not maintained precisely.
Annealing is a generalized term. This process involves heating metal to some temperature and then cooling at a given rate. Cooling is done at a rate that would achieve refined microstructure, with constituents partially or fully separated. Generally speaking, the rate of cooling is very slow. Annealing is done to enhance qualities such as electrical conductivity, machinability, and ability to cold work the metal.
Normalizing is a type of treatment in which the aim is to achieve a uniform grain size and composition in the metal under consideration. The temperatures are maintained at 1550 to 1600 degrees F depending on the kind of steel in question. After heating, the metal is allowed to cool slowly in open air. The steel produced is usually harder and stronger, but may have slightly lower ductility.
Internal stress is metal is removed or reduced through the process of stress relieving. Stress can develop in the structure of the metal from processes such as cold working and cooling non-uniformly. This is performed by first heating the metal to lower critical temperature and then allowing for uniform cooling.
Quenching involves cooling the heated metal at a very rapid rate. This allows for the achievement of martensite transformation in the metal. For ferrous metal alloys, the end product is a harder metal while for alloys that are non-ferrous, the end product is abnormally softer.
Temperatures are required to be maintained high for very long in many of these processes. This means that energy consumption is also very high. To avoid huge monthly energy bills, companies devise alternative energy sources that they can maintain less costly. Such sources are not connected to the national power grids. Power consumption is also more efficient in modern furnaces, which are computerized.
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