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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Ferrous metals are those that contain iron. Laced with carbon and other exotic elements, iron is a durable, structurally capable alloy. It exudes a polished finish when formed into stainless...
Heat treatment science employs an equal opportunities approach to the field of metal strengthening. That’s another way of saying the techniques used here aren’t just used to harden ferrous workpieces....
Salt Case Hardening, the term sounds so exotic. The knowledgeable heat treatment professional knows exactly what’s happening when the technique is applied, of course. Meanwhile, for the novice engineers out...
In this heat treatment technique, a counterintuitive reaction is seemingly encountered as a metal workpiece is heated and held at a predetermined furnace temperature. Remarkably, instead of hardening the alloy,...
A problem-solving guide for black oxide coatings, that’s the direction this article is taking. The finish should be oily black. Putting a tick in that checkbox, the coating should also...
There’s no end to the number of metals out there, all of which serve different roles in countless applications. Selecting the materials, it’s up to a metallurgically talented sourcing expert...
Sintered components are produced when fine metallic powders are compacted inside special cavities. As high pressures cause densification, heat is added. Therefore, as a process precursor, this operation employs a...
A newly arrived batch of mild steel indicates this is a low carbon steel. The carbon quotient is noted, then the load is transported onwards. Putting this scenario on pause...
Undergoing heat treatment, a steel workpiece warms until it’s almost red-hot. Engineers monitor the process, compare the actions taking place in the furnace to specially formulated graphs, and the metal...
Here’s a case study where a steel workpiece was hardened in a cutting-edge furnace. The process is locked in, and it has been exhaustively tested, so the repeatability factor is...
Heat treated metals are undeniably hard and rigid. Still, their dimensional parameters can and often do change when their microcrystalline matrices are exposed to massive quantities of thermal energy. The...
Transforming metal workpieces with intense levels of thermal energy, heat treatment processing manipulates microstructure compositions until a desired mechanical or physical property is achieved. However, even the finest operation can...
Modern alloys are among the toughest materials known to man. A selected alloy, perhaps destined to become a key part in a massive construction project, can handle massive loads, yet...
Quenching is an essential stage in heat treatment technology. The rapid cooling of a hot workpiece stops unacceptable low-temperature processes, including the microcrystalline alterations that would otherwise compromise the procedure....
There’s nothing simple about heat treatment technology. Even the various microcrystalline forms of steel make the process hard to regulate. Among these forms, martensitic stainless steel ranks as a super-hard...
Counterintuitive consequences have been known to compromise heat treatment work. By way of illustration, steel strengthening operations should logically produce strong workpieces. However, there are times when these mathematically predictable...
While medium carbon steel clearly isn’t as hard as a high-carbon alloy, those lenient mechanical qualities can be enriched. By exposing the steel to flame hardening equipment, a heat treatment...
Much has been covered in past posts. The basics of heat treatment technology formed a foundation, then that groundwork received new and interesting additional levels. They dealt with surface hardening...