Articles on heat treatment, hardening and metallurgical processes for Australian manufacturers.
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...
Read MoreCopious 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...
Read MoreWhat 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...
Read MoreOld 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...
Read MoreAs 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...
Read MoreFerrous 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...
Read MoreHeat 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....
Read MoreSalt 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...
Read MoreIn 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,...
Read MoreA 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...
Read MoreThere’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...
Read MoreSintered 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...
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