Common Issues with Induction Hardening
The process of induction hardening is for the purpose of hardening the surface of components made from steel or other carbon-alloy metals. Components or parts include a wide assortment of...
Reasons Why Ferrous Metals Need Normalizing Heat Treatment
Ferrous metals, those that are rich in iron (Fe), often require normalizing. Why should this be the case? Is the grain size really that inconsistent and material-coarse after an iron...
Controlling Furnace Atmosphere in Heat Treatment
A second heat treatment effector exists in an industrial furnace, one that’s sometimes forgotten by the average layperson. Besides the heat source, the gas-fuelled or electrically energized thermal energy flowing...
A Review on the Working Principles of a Vacuum Furnace
As a rule, the inner workings of a vacuum furnace are ordinarily composed of a series of sealed firebox chambers. At the centre of this airtight assemblage, a leakproof furnace...
How Heat Treatment Contributes to Material Conductivity
Metals harden when they’re heated, or they become more ductile when they’re heated then cooled at a specific rate. Interestingly enough, metal workpieces change in other ways when cooking in...
Marquenching/Martempering: How Does it Work in Achieving Red Hardness of Steel?
Red Hardness, the terminology paints quite a picture. After a steel workpiece slides into a furnace, it soaks up so much thermal that it becomes “red hot.” Alloy microstructures alter...
How Does Heat Treatment Change Metal Properties?
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...
What are the Benefits of Precision Straightening?
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,...
How Heat Treatment Can Affect Welded Joints
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...
Common Induction Hardening Problems and Resolutions
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,...
Approximate Soaking Time for Hardening, Annealing, and Normalizing Steel
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...
Risk Management in Heat Treatment
Not every processing pipeline in a heat treatment facility is mechanically oriented. Away from the vacuum-sealed furnaces and quenching tanks, the alloy hardening work is viewed from a different perspective....
Vacuum Furnace Quenching System: The Role of Gas Quenching in Heat Treatment
Using gaseous quenching mediums, new and improved cooling models are rippling through the heat treatment sector. However, not just any old cloud of gas is going to suit this role....
Effective Precision Straightening of Thin-Walled Tube Metals
Thin-walled tube metals are employed in a wide number of large-scale applications. Whether the tubes find their way into pipe networks or aerospace frames, they need to exhibit one key...
Causes of Steel Warping During Heat Treatment and How to Prevent Them from Happening
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...
Liquid Nitriding vs. Gas Nitriding in Case Hardening: What is the Difference?
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...
Controlled Gas Nitriding Process and Its Benefits to Low Carbon Steel
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....
Effects of Adding Carbon to Iron during Heat Treatment
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...
Flame Hardening Methods and Applications
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...
What are Some of the Different Types of Annealing Process of Steel?
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...
What are Austenitic Stainless Steels and Why They Cannot Undergo Heat Treatment?
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...
How Quenching Can Affect a Metal’s Microstructure
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...
Understanding the Different Quenching Materials and Its Purposes
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...
How Does Heat Treatment Affect Steel Grain Structure?
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...