Heat treating refers to a collection of metalworking and industrial processes that are used for the alteration of physical properties of materials. Besides physical properties, the chemical properties may also be altered through these methods. Metallurgical is the most common application for this process. Industrial heat treating is not only used in the production of metal products, but also glass products and many others.
This process is done at extreme temperatures. The temperatures have to be extremely high or extremely low. Extreme temperatures allow for softening or hardening materials as required. As stated earlier, heat treatment is a collection of processes. Some of these processes are tempering, quenching, normalizing, annealing, precipitation strengthening, aging, and case hardening. It is only if the cooling and heating is done in order to intentionally alter the properties of a material that they process is called heat treatment. Other manufacturing processes may lead to incidental heating and cooling and cannot be referred to by this term.
The quality of the results achieved depends a lot on the level of precision of the temperatures and timer used. The temperatures have to be maintained at a given level for a given period of time in order to achieve the desired qualities. Failure to adhere to temperature and timing requirements will usually damage the metal and produce undesired qualities.
Annealing is usually a generalized term that consists of heating metal to a given temperature before cooling it at a certain rate. The rate of cooling is usually set at a point so as to generate a refined microstructure, with the constituents fully or partially separated. In general, the cooling is done at a slow rate. The reason for annealing a metal is to allow for cold working and enhancement of machinability and electrical conductivity among other qualities.
The reason why normalizing is done to a metal is to achieve uniformity in the composition and grain size. The temperature at which normalizing is done is determined by the types metal, but the typical range is 1550-1600 F. The heated metal is then left to undergo cooling in the open air. Hardness and strength are usually improved a lot in this process, although ductility may be questionable.
As suggested in the name, stress relieving is performed to eliminate or reduce internal stress in metals. The source of the stress is usually processes such as non-uniform cooling and cold working. The metal has to be heated to a temperature below the lower critical temperature before it is put through uniform cooling.
In quenching, the metal is cooled at a rapid rate. The intention of cooling at a rapid rate is to produce martensite transformation. If the alloy is ferrous, the metal produced will be harder while in non-ferrous alloys, the metal produced will be softer than normal. Quenching is done by heating them metal above the upper critical temperature and then cooling rapidly.
In most of these processes, temperatures need to be maintained at high levels for many hours. This consumes a lot of energy that may raise monthly energy bills substantially. As a solution, companies have their own sources of energy independent of the national power grid, which they can maintain cheaply. Also, modern furnaces are computerized and very effective in terms of energy consumption.
This process is done at extreme temperatures. The temperatures have to be extremely high or extremely low. Extreme temperatures allow for softening or hardening materials as required. As stated earlier, heat treatment is a collection of processes. Some of these processes are tempering, quenching, normalizing, annealing, precipitation strengthening, aging, and case hardening. It is only if the cooling and heating is done in order to intentionally alter the properties of a material that they process is called heat treatment. Other manufacturing processes may lead to incidental heating and cooling and cannot be referred to by this term.
The quality of the results achieved depends a lot on the level of precision of the temperatures and timer used. The temperatures have to be maintained at a given level for a given period of time in order to achieve the desired qualities. Failure to adhere to temperature and timing requirements will usually damage the metal and produce undesired qualities.
Annealing is usually a generalized term that consists of heating metal to a given temperature before cooling it at a certain rate. The rate of cooling is usually set at a point so as to generate a refined microstructure, with the constituents fully or partially separated. In general, the cooling is done at a slow rate. The reason for annealing a metal is to allow for cold working and enhancement of machinability and electrical conductivity among other qualities.
The reason why normalizing is done to a metal is to achieve uniformity in the composition and grain size. The temperature at which normalizing is done is determined by the types metal, but the typical range is 1550-1600 F. The heated metal is then left to undergo cooling in the open air. Hardness and strength are usually improved a lot in this process, although ductility may be questionable.
As suggested in the name, stress relieving is performed to eliminate or reduce internal stress in metals. The source of the stress is usually processes such as non-uniform cooling and cold working. The metal has to be heated to a temperature below the lower critical temperature before it is put through uniform cooling.
In quenching, the metal is cooled at a rapid rate. The intention of cooling at a rapid rate is to produce martensite transformation. If the alloy is ferrous, the metal produced will be harder while in non-ferrous alloys, the metal produced will be softer than normal. Quenching is done by heating them metal above the upper critical temperature and then cooling rapidly.
In most of these processes, temperatures need to be maintained at high levels for many hours. This consumes a lot of energy that may raise monthly energy bills substantially. As a solution, companies have their own sources of energy independent of the national power grid, which they can maintain cheaply. Also, modern furnaces are computerized and very effective in terms of energy consumption.
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