Heat Treatment Processes
- Annealing: Soften metal, relieve internal stresses, improve machinability. Heat to specified temp, slow cool in furnace.
- Normalizing: Refine grain structure. Heat above critical, air cool.
- Hardening: Increase hardness and strength. Heat to austenitizing temp, quench rapidly.
- Tempering: Reduce brittleness after hardening. Heat to lower temp, air cool. Higher temp = more ductility, less hardness.
- Stress Relief: Remove residual stresses from welding, machining, or forming without significant microstructural change.