Heat treatment

The term heat treatment refers to various processes with thermal influence that can be used to adjust the mechanical properties of materials in a targeted manner. Various heat treatments are used for precision cast components.

In the field of steels, examples are normalising, stress relieving, soft annealing and quenching and tempering, which are carried out on the basis of the common DIN standards (e.g. DIN 17022). But other heat treatment processes are also possible. Due to the rapid cooling after casting and the uneven temperature distribution during solidification, stresses arise in the component. These lead to inhomogeneous mechanical properties and can therefore also make mechanical processing difficult. These stresses can be completely or partially relieved by heat treatment. The choice of process is determined both by the required material standard and the subsequent processing step.

For many aluminium alloys, heat treatment causes precipitation hardening. However, this can also influence the chemical resistance. The most common process at NRU in the field of aluminium is artificial ageing, but other methods such as stress relieving or stabilisation annealing are also available. Probably the best known heat treatment for aluminium alloys is the T6 condition with the steps of solution annealing, quenching and precipitation annealing. The type of heat treatment and the parameters selected depend on the alloy, the manufacturing process and the subsequent use and are carried out according to the customer’s requirement or based on the material standard.

With our years of experience, we will be happy to advise you on the choice of the most suitable heat treatment method.