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 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.
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 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.
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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