Various construction companies rely heavily on metal parts and products to make their projects successful. Metal architectural pieces, after all, are durable, versatile, and long-lasting.
But raw metal architectural pieces may not be robust enough in withstanding weather and other outdoor elements. And so, companies would only opt for architectural pieces that have been subjected to various heat treatment processes. One heat treatment process that can enhance the qualities of small and large architectural pieces is oil quenching.
An Overview of the Quenching Process
Heat treatment is comprised of various steps. And one of the most crucial steps in this process is quenching. Quenching is the rapid cooling of workpieces in water, air, or oil after subjecting them to high temperatures. As they cool down, the involved parts may attain certain properties needed by industries.
As mentioned, quenching can be done through water, air, or oil. While all these quenching mediums have their respective benefits and limitations, most industries prefer oil as their primary quenching medium as it provides more benefits to the parts compared to others.
Three Main Stages of Oil Quenching
Oil quenching is done in multiple stages. The first stage is the vapour stage, which is the formation of a vapour blanket around the submerged part. A vapour forms around the part since it is hotter than the quenchant, the quenching medium used in cooling the workpiece.
The second stage is the boiling stage, which is the boiling of the quenchant. During this stage, the submerged parts cool the fastest since the vapour blanket has already dissipated. Its dissipation allows the quenchant to contact the parts flawlessly, removing most of the heat through boiling.
Oil quenching ends in the convective stage. This stage allows convention and conduction to remove heat away from the parts. Convection is the movement of a liquid due to the tendency of hotter and less dense material to rise, while colder and denser material to sink. Conduction, alternatively, is the tendency of heat dissipating through a substance on which temperature differences exist in the liquid. Oil tends to be disturbed strongly during quenches, forcing this medium to flow upward through the workload.
Primary Advantages of Oil Quenching
What makes oil quenching advantageous for parts and products is it can transfer heat more quickly than other quenching mediums without causing cracks and distortion. Another great advantage of oil quenching is it can be modified freely. The temperature, viscosity, and other chemical properties of the quenching medium can be altered to provide varying outcomes to the heat-treated parts. Oil quenching can likewise accommodate different types of metals, making the process more versatile than others.
Oil quenching can utilise either fast oils or hot oils. Fast oils work best with parts out of low-carbon steel and low-hardenability alloys. Hot oils, alternatively, can process high-hardenability alloys effectively.
The versatility and adjustability of oil quenching make it ideal for large architectural pieces. To know more about architectural blackening, you can contact us at Alpha Detroit Heat Treatment.
Many industries require a wide range of products to ensure that they remain functional. One notable material that is used in creating these products is metal.
Metal products have been beneficial to many industries since they are durable and strong. They can also be versatile, allowing manufacturers to alter their properties through casting, welding, forging, soldering, and others. Metal products can likewise resist heat and other elements that can be destructive to products made from other materials.
To date, many processes can be conducted to make metal products machinable and workable. One of these processes is stress relieving.
The Stress Relieving Process
Stress relieving is the process of heating metal workpieces to a predetermined temperature just below their transformation temperature. Subsequently, the heated metal workpieces are subjected to cooling in the furnace or the air. The purpose of this process is to relieve any crystal dislocations or stresses of metal workpieces that have undergone machining, forming, straightening, rolling, and other processes.
This specific process can be done during the manufacturing process of metal workpieces. However, it can also be conducted throughout their life. Metal workpieces that require tight tolerances should undergo this process before their finish machining. Stress relieving can also be carried out before heat treating metal workpieces to effectively minimise distortion. Ultimately, metal workpieces designed for tooling can undergo stress relieving as part of their maintenance or upkeep.
Benefits of Stress Relieving
The working principles of stress relieving can conveniently provide benefits to metal workpieces. Some of the benefits of stress relieving are as follows:
Stress Relieving Applications
Tons of metals can undergo stress relieving so they can attain the previously stated benefits. Some of these metals are steel, copper, and brass.
To make stress relieving successful, hardened and tempered parts must be heated at around 50°C below the temperature previously used for their tempering. When stress relieving before nitrocarburizing, the process must be done at temperatures greater than 600°C. To know more about stress relieving applications and other necessary information, you can contact us at Alpha Detroit Heat Treatment.