The different types of annealing
There are different types of annealing for different purposes, depending on the requirements:
- Dimensional stability through relaxation of machining, forming and welding stresses : This process is often referred to as stabilization or stress relief. Stress-relieving annealing releases internal stresses accumulated during part manufacture.
- Improved machinability or form ability: Annealing operations adjust the hardness and ductility of the material, enabling improved machinability or formability for steels and specific alloys such as copper or aluminum.
- Structure improvement : Techniques such as normalization, globulation, refining (structure regeneration) and homogenization are employed to obtain a more uniform metal matrix. Each method aims to modify the size and shape of grains and components within the alloy, contributing to better overall material performance.
- Hardness softening to de-fragilize parts after quenching: This type of annealing is crucial for reducing post-quench brittleness and improving the metal's fatigue strength. By precisely controlling temperature and cooling rate, the process achieves the desired hardness while maintaining good ductility. This treatment is also known as " tempering".
- Magnetic annealing : Magnetic annealing is specially designed to restore the magnetic properties of metals affected by previous machining or shaping stresses, such as cold working or cold rolling.
Overall, annealing aims to achieve a stable state of the material, close to equilibrium, through a cycle of heating followed by controlled cooling. These procedures are essential to ensure the functionality and longevity of components in various industrial applications.
business sectors concerned
Our various documentations
Our FAQs
Either to improve mechanical performance such as tensile strength, impact strength, wear, seizure or to soften the metal to make it more malleable (machinability, shaping).
Heat treatment is required when the mechanical performance of the alloys in their natural state needs to be increased. Depending on the type of treatment, heat treatment can be carried out on raw, rough or finished machined parts.
Type of steel, desired steel characteristics (hardness), quantity of parts per shipment and per year, part drawings and specifications. If possible, the operating mode of the part and its final use.
Heat treatment reveals different levels of stress from previous stages (manufacturing). These stress relaxations can lead to deformations that must be anticipated at the time of machining. In the case of heat treatment in the mass (quenching, tempering), these extra thicknesses depend on the dimensions of the part, but are of the order of a few tenths to 1 mm.
To limit the level of deformation, it is advisable to carry out a stabilization treatment on the blank.
Our latest news
All you need to know about heat treatment.
