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.
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 level of temperatures coupled with precision in timing of the temperatures is important for achieving specific qualities in metals in these processes. When timing is precise, desired qualities are achieved easily. Different metals exhibit different temperatures depending on the temperatures and precision of timing. Getting the temperatures and timing wrong can produce very different qualities in the metal.
Annealing is a very general term. The process of annealing refers to heating metal and then allowing it to cool off at some rate. Cooling is generally done a very slow pace. After cooling is complete, the resultant metal has a refined microstructure with constituents separated partially or completely. The reason for doing annealing is to improve qualities like machinability, electrical conductivity, and ability to be cold worked.
Normalizing is done so that the metal can attain uniformity in the grain size and composition. The exact temperature depends on the type of metal being normalized, but typically ranges between 1559 and 1600 degrees F. Once the heating is complete, the metal is left in open air to cool. The strength and hardness of the metal is usually higher, but its ductility is comparatively lower.
Stress relieving as the name suggests is a process done to reduce or remove internal stress created in metal. Stress is created in different ways including cold working and non-uniform cooling. To relieve stress, the metal is heated to a temperature below its lower critical temperature and then allowed to cool uniformly.
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.
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 level of temperatures coupled with precision in timing of the temperatures is important for achieving specific qualities in metals in these processes. When timing is precise, desired qualities are achieved easily. Different metals exhibit different temperatures depending on the temperatures and precision of timing. Getting the temperatures and timing wrong can produce very different qualities in the metal.
Annealing is a very general term. The process of annealing refers to heating metal and then allowing it to cool off at some rate. Cooling is generally done a very slow pace. After cooling is complete, the resultant metal has a refined microstructure with constituents separated partially or completely. The reason for doing annealing is to improve qualities like machinability, electrical conductivity, and ability to be cold worked.
Normalizing is done so that the metal can attain uniformity in the grain size and composition. The exact temperature depends on the type of metal being normalized, but typically ranges between 1559 and 1600 degrees F. Once the heating is complete, the metal is left in open air to cool. The strength and hardness of the metal is usually higher, but its ductility is comparatively lower.
Stress relieving as the name suggests is a process done to reduce or remove internal stress created in metal. Stress is created in different ways including cold working and non-uniform cooling. To relieve stress, the metal is heated to a temperature below its lower critical temperature and then allowed to cool uniformly.
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.
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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