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Ideally, heat treatment work affects the microcrystalline structure of a steel part. In the furnace, then cooled gradually or quenched suddenly, the physical properties of the steel alters. The processed component becomes harder. It also gains a more corrosion-resistant structure. What the high-tensile alloy should never experience is any amount of steel warping. That, unfortunately, […]

The next two heat treatment processes are similar. They both use a nitrogen-rich substance to harden soft metal workpieces. But, as the post title implies, the nitrogen arrives in two different states. In one, the nitriding process is applied as a liquid. In the next, the nitrogen coats the workpiece as an all-enveloping gas. Which […]

Atmospheric control is a powerful tool in a heat treatment engineer’s metal hardening armoury. For example, by adding gaseous nitrogen to a furnace, the gas nitride hardening effect is initiated. This process sees the gas come into contact with a heated low carbon workpiece. As the surface metal and nitrogen brush against one another, the […]

Carbon isn’t a metal. Actually, it’s a sooty black substance, and it’s not that strong. However, appearances can be deceiving, as every engineer knows only too well. Crushed by incredible pressures, carbon crystals become diamonds, which are the strongest naturally occurring substance known to man. In light of this most helpful material feature, by diffusing […]

Flame hardening technology uses a heat treatment methodology that’s reminiscent of old blacksmithing procedures. Instead of electrically powered induction coils, an oxy-fuel gas flame takes care of the workpiece hardening work. Capable of applying a focused heat source, this is a process that’s used to target reduced geometrical outlines. It’s also a heat treatment technique […]

Engineering handbooks describe annealing as a stress reduction process. A workpiece goes into a furnace, is heated to its transformative temperature, then it slowly cools to room temperature. Hard and stressed when going into a heat treatment furnace, the part exits with a softer, plastic-deformable structure. Back with the different grades of steel, there’s more […]

Copious quantities of nickel and chromium bolster a base ferrous structure. That’s what gives Austenitic Stainless Steel its face-centred microcrystalline identity. Infused with a little carbon, the alloy family gains its mainstream mechanical properties. So, what is that austenitic edge? The nickel-based flavouring is clear enough, but we want to know more about its practical […]

What do visitors want to see when they stop by a heat treatment facility? Watching from behind a thick glass plate, they enjoy the sight of an orange-hot workpiece as it is processed in a furnace. Next on their agenda, they want to experience the explosive sizzle that’s discharged as that workpiece is quenched in […]

Old Smithy sheds are viewed as our heat treatment grandfathers. They didn’t install massive furnaces, but there was always that flickering red flame. The hot coals burned bright in primitive townships. Then, at day’s end, there would be that rattling hiss as a forged part was quenched in water. And water is still a quenching […]

As the temperature rises in a heat treatment furnace, strange transformations occur. In steel workpieces, the grain structure of the component changes size. Alternatively, new grains form. They undergo phase transformative processes. There’s carbon in the mix, too. As those phase changes take place, the alloy-strengthening element becomes more soluble. The carbon diffuses, so the […]