What are the uses of different heat treatment processes?

Heat process treatments are carried out to heat and cool metals to bring about changes in their physical and mechanical properties.  Heat treatment doesn’t alter the shape of metals. It augments the strength of materials and even enhances properties like formability, machining, etc.  Heat treatments are most commonly applied in metallurgy but also find use in manufacturing glass, aluminium, steel and other such materials. Extreme temperatures are used for heating and cooling of metals to achieve the desired result.

Let us explore the different heat process treatments using in manufacturing processes:

1. Hardening

Steel is heated at a suitable temperature during the process of hardening until all pearlite transforms into austenite, and is then quenched rapidly in water or oil. The temperature at which pearlite becomes austenite depends on the carbon content present in the steel. The time of heating should be increased to make sure that the core completely transforms into austenite. Hardened steel has a microstructure that comprises of ferrite, martensite, and cementite.

2. Tempering

Once the steel has been hardened and quenched for an appropriate amount of time tempering is conducted. This is done to equilibrate the metal. The hardness and strength of steel depends on the temperature at which tempering is carried out. Tempering at higher temperatures will lead to high ductility, with low strength and hardness. Lower tempering temperatures will result in low ductility, along with high strength and hardness. Variations in tempering temperatures will determine the strength and hardness of steel. This process is performed on all carbon steels which have been hardened, to reduce their brittleness. This allows for their effective use in different applications.

3. Annealing

Steel is treated to high temperatures and cooled slowly to room temperatures to give high ductility, toughness, and low hardness to the resulting microstructure. During annealing a component is heated to a suitable temperature and the furnace is shut off to allow the material to soak in that temperature. Steel is annealed before it is processed by cold forming, to enable the metal to withstand large loads and strains without failure.

4. Normalizing

Normalizing requires heating steel, and letting it remain at that temperature for a period of time, and allowing it to cool in air. The resulting microstructure is a composed of ferrite and cementite. This has a higher strength and hardness, and is low in ductility. Normalizing is performed on structures and structural components which will be subject to machining, as it enhances the machinability of carbon steels.

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