Classification of Heat Treating Processes

Classification of Heat Treating Processes

 Precision CNC machining parts In some instances，heat treatment procedures are clear-cut in terms of technique and application．whereas in other instances，descriptions or simple explanations are insufficient because the same technique frequently may be used to obtain different objectives．For example, stress relieving and tempering are often accomplished with the same equipment and by use of identical time and temperature cycles．The objectives，however，are different for the two processes．

 The following descriptions of the principal heat treating processes are generally arranged according to their interrelationships．

 Normalizing consists of heating a ferrous alloy to a suitable temperature (usually 50°F to 100°F or 28℃ to 56℃) above its specific upper transformation temperature．This is followed by cooling in still air to at least some temperature well below its transformation temperature range．For low-carbon steels, the resulting structure and properties are the same as those achieved by full annealing；for most ferrous alloys, normalizing and annealing are not synonymous.

 Precision CNC machining parts  Normalizing usually is used as a conditioning treatment, notably for refining the grains of steels that have been subjected to high temperatures for forging or other hot working operations. The normalizing process usually is succeeded by another heat treating operation such as austenitizing for hardening, annealing, or tempering.

  Precision CNC machining parts Annealing is a generic term denoting a heat treatment that consists of heating to and holding at a suitable temperature followed by cooling at a suitable rate. It is used primarily to soften metallic materials, but also to simultaneously produce desired changes in other properties or in microstructure. The purpose of such changes may be, but is not confined to, improvement of machinability, facilitation of cold work (known as in-process annealing), improvement of mechanical or electrical properties, or to increase dimensional stability. When applied solely to relive stresses, it commonly is called stress-relief annealing, synonymous with stress relieving.