When troubleshooting heat treatment imperfections in vacuum ovens, the undesirable results that stymy production engineers don’t always fall into convenient pigeonholes. Fortunately, the discolouration of metal parts that have undergone this property-manipulating process is a readily identifiable issue.
Flame hardening operations extend the operating life of alloy-rich components by adding rigid strength to the microcrystalline backbone of the heat-treated part.
Heat treatment techniques use a two-step processing methodology. Logically, it begins with the workpiece entering a fiery environment, perhaps a gas-fired furnace. Here, the metal component is subjected to enough thermal energy to modify the metal’s base properties.
Work hardened metals are difficult to form. The machining and shaping work has impacted the material in such a way as to cause the metal’s grain to compact and shrink.
If we’ve placed a great deal of emphasis on materials, there’s a good reason for this seemingly off-kilter approach. Materials must be heat treated if the mechanical and physical properties of a component are to comply with the rigorous requirements found in today’s industrial applications.