Essential Knowledge of Heat Treatment Processes in Manufacturing
Publish Time: 2025-08-11 Origin: Site
2. Normalizing
Purposes:Selection Guidelines Based on Carbon Content:
3. Quenching
Purpose: Significantly improve the hardness and wear resistance of steel, making it one of the most important heat treatment processes.4. TemperingKey Purposes:Surface hardening enhances the surface of a workpiece by rapidly heating the surface layer to austenitizing temperature and quenching it, without altering the chemical composition or core structure of the steel.
Heat treatment processes, including annealing, normalizing, quenching, tempering, and surface hardening, play a vital role in tailoring metal properties to meet specific engineering requirements. By precisely controlling temperature, holding time, and cooling rates, manufacturers can optimize the performance of metal components, ensuring durability and reliability in various industrial applications. Understanding these processes is essential for engineers and technicians involved in metalworking and manufacturing.
Current frequency: 50 Hz
Hardened layer depth: 10–15 mm
Applications: Workpieces requiring very deep hardened layers.
Current frequency: 2500–8000 Hz
Hardened layer depth: 2–10 mm
Applications: Larger shafts and large to medium modulus gears.
Current frequency: 250–300 kHz
Hardened layer depth: 0.5–2.0 mm
Applications: Small and medium modulus gears, and small to medium-sized shafts.
- High-Frequency Induction Heating
- Medium-Frequency Induction Heating
- Power-Frequency Induction Heating
Classification by Temperature:
Water: Economical with strong cooling capacity, suitable for carbon steels.
Saltwater (aqueous solution of salt or alkali): Offers stronger high-temperature cooling capacity than water, also used for carbon steels.
Oil: Reduces the risk of deformation and cracking effectively. Types include spindle oil, machine oil, and diesel oil, suitable for alloy steels.
Note: Quenching followed by high-temperature tempering is called "tempering and quenching" (or "modulating"), which imparts well-balanced properties to steel and is widely used.