Heat Treating Metals

What is heat treatment?

Heat treatment is commonly used to alter or strengthen materials’ structure through a heating and cooling process. It offers many advantages, including:

Steel materials benefit greatly from heat treatments, particularly in manufacturing processes like hot forming or after welding.

Treating Metals

Isothermal offers comprehensive heat treating services to a multitude of industries which includes the Fabricating, Foundries, Forge Shops, Steel Merchants as well as Wire and Fastener Industries. Heat treating has a versatile range of benefits to enhance the integrity of metal components.

1. Affects the physical and mechanical characteristics of the metal

There are various heat treating benefits to metal components which enhances the strength, durability and elasticity of the metal.

2. Reduces brittleness

Once the metal is continually exposed to the elements, there is a high susceptibility to the metal becoming brittle and weak. Heat treating the material can reduce brittleness.

3. Transforming the materials are easier

Through the process of normalizing and annealing, normalizing will ensure that the metal is held at a critical temperature for a transformation to take place.

4. Improves electrical and magnetic properties

The structural magnetic properties increase the compatibility with other materials.

5. The resistance to wear and tear is reduced

The metal has corrosive properties that can be reduced through the advanced heating techniques available from Isothermal.

Do castings always need heat treatment?

The short answer is no. Some parts are ready to be used ‘as cast’ but, sometimes, you need a component for an application that requires certain specifications not offered by the material. This means that, if an alloy is perfect in any way except, for instance, resistance to abrasion, it can undergo heat treatment to gain that characteristic.

Therefore, while not every casting or part will require heat treatment, many materials can greatly benefit from them, since they can improve physical and mechanical properties.

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