Conventional Heat TreatmentsConventional Tempering
Tempering is almost always required after hardening (both in an atmosphere furnace as well as in vacuum, as described further), to reduce the hardness (and brittleness) to a desirable level. The expression “conventional tempering” is used here to differentiate the process from “vacuum tempering”. BENEFITS- Reduces the stress after quenching
- Reduces the brittleness generated by only hardening/quenching
- Increases material toughness
- Precise control of the hardness level
Conventional Heat TreatmentsConventional Quench & Temper
The words “quench and temper” are not a technology but just an expression. We have included this paragraph for the sake of completeness and to help those unfamiliar with these processes in absorbing these concepts more easily.Quenching and tempering are the most fundamental heat treatments available in that most ferrous alloys must first be hardened (quenched) and then tempered to the appropriate hardness. The expression “quench and temper” (or “harden and temper”, which is the same thing) is so entrenched that some of us forget that in a sequence of conventional processes the two are done in different furnaces, with parts transferred, as quickly as possible, from one to the other.Quenching and tempering are described separately in this section.Not sure which process or service is right for you? Contact our global team of heat treat experts and let them guide you or fill out the contact form to put you in touch with one of our experts!
Conventional Heat TreatmentsNormalizing
Normalizing is a relatively simple process whose parameters, however, depend greatly on the type of steel and the desired result. The main purpose will usually be an improvement and homogenization of the grain structure. Not sure which process or service is right for you? Contact our global team of heat treat experts and let them guide you or fill out the contact form to put you in touch with one of our experts!
Conventional Heat TreatmentsConventional Annealing
The main purpose of Annealing is to soften the metal. This process is used as one of the preliminary heat-treating operations or as a rescue procedure when a hardening or tempering cycle fails to meet the specification requirement, and one has to start over. (Also vacuum annealing)Not sure which process or service is right for you? Contact our global team of heat treat experts and let them guide you or fill out the contact form to put you in touch with one of our experts!
Conventional Heat TreatmentsStress Relieving
As the name of the process clearly indicates, Stress Relieving is used to reduce the residual stresses in the microstructure after machining or certain heat-treating operations, to prevent distortion from occurring later.Not sure which process or service is right for you? Contact our global team of heat treat experts and let them guide you or fill out the contact form to put you in touch with one of our experts!
Conventional Heat TreatmentsAge/Precipitation Hardening
Age or Precipitation Hardening (also Aging) is a change in material properties (generally hardening) effected by holding parts at moderately elevated temperatures, without any change in the chemistry of the alloy. Not sure which process or service is right for you? Contact our global team of heat treat experts and let them guide you or fill out the contact form to put you in touch with one of our experts!
