Once upon a time, blacksmiths heat-treated swords and armour. The job came to an end as the object sizzled in a barrel of water. That action toughened the metal. Just like that, there was no brittleness to worry about during the heat of battle. Modern heat treatment processes have similar […]
Engine connecting rods will be used to illustrate today’s issue. Utilized as key motion imparting components, these rigid steel connectors move in long, linearly oriented strokes. From piston to crankshaft, the linear relationship is maintained. One other thing, the rods have to be hardened by a heat-treatment process. And therein […]
Much though engineers wish the opposite were true, heat treatment work can weaken welded joints. Since welding equipment uses thermal energy to fuse parts together and add filer metals, the application of more heat can further alter a weld’s jointing properties. A frustrating fact indeed, especially since heat treatment processing […]
Just as a reminder, induction hardening technology is used to enhance the toughness and fatigue resistance of carbon steel parts. Components to be heat treated are placed inside a furnace, around which a copper-wound electrical coil runs. When this induction coil is energized, it generates a strong magnetic field, which […]
Three primary heat treatment phases break down into multiple branches and subsets. First comes the heating, the stage that thermally alters a part’s microcrystalline structure. As the work comes to a climax, the cooling phase allows the material to return to room temperature. At least as important, an “in-between” phase […]