Heat Treating
Heat treatment is a special process used in nearly every manufacturing project in most industries. It is often seen as necessary to improve part quality and performance. Our Company has specialized in heat treatment services for decades.
After the components have completed their machining processes, our team brings them into the metallurgical lab, where they undergo a number of critical steps. We begin by analyzing the raw material and examining its physical properties, followed by a controlled heating process up to the desired temperature.
Once the parts have reached that point, a series of quenching cycles designed to achieve specific hardness levels will take place before being cooled slowly to allow normalizing or stress relieving as needed.
Finally, key pieces may also be subjected to tempering or induction hardening processes depending on their individual requirements. Our experienced team of engineers can also help develop custom programs for components that require special attention.
Whether you’re working with metals or ceramics, we strive to deliver the best value in terms of cost and performance. With reliable engineering support from our knowledgeable professionals and commitment to customer satisfaction, you can count on us for all your metal processing needs.
What is the heat treatment process of steel?
Heat treatment is an essential part of creating and maintaining high-quality steel products. The process involves heating and cooling the material to modify its internal structure in order to meet desired specifications for strength, durability, and other properties. Sometimes people want to harden or soften a material requiring heat treatment. In its simplest form, a steel item will be heated until it reaches a specific temperature known as the austenitization temperature, which differs according to the grade and type of steel being processed.
Once at that temperature, the steel is then held typically left at that heat level for a prescribed amount of time before being quickly cooled off.
This forms martensite structures in the steel, which allow it to become more robust and more durable due to its crystal structure.
Depending on the steel grade being worked with, further treatments may be applied, such as quenching or tempering, which require further heating and cooling cycles to achieve perfect results. Heat treatment is a vital process required for many applications across many industries and should not be underestimated when it comes to creating dependable steel goods with great properties.
Different types of Heat Treatments Available
Quenching heat treatment
Quenching heat treatment is a tool used by metal workers and engineers to strengthen, harden, and improve the durability of metal structures. It works by rapidly cooling the surface of the metal, causing it to constrict. This changes the metal’s internal structure and makes it more resistant to wear and tear.
Quenching also produces a more consistent final product as every piece is uniformly cooled at the same speed. Depending on what type of metal is being treated and what kind of quenching method is used, some metals can gain strength while others become more malleable or softer. All metals that are quench-treated will usually experience increased corrosion resistance due to a concurrent increase in hardness and density.
While traditional techniques such as air cooling are still used for relatively simple parts, other specialized quenching methods like molten salt baths or Vacuum Induction Melting (VIM) may be employed for complex components requiring maximum strength or other advanced properties.
When done correctly with an appropriate combination of temperature, time, rate of change, and other factors for each unique part, quench heat treatment can produce excellent results that may have otherwise been impossible to achieve with other processes.
Annealing heat treatment
Annealing heat treatment is a thermal process that can be used to improve the physical and mechanical properties of metal alloys. This process involves controlled heating and cooling cycles performed in certain conditions.
Through this process, the molecules in the alloy are heated to a temperature just above the recrystallization point. At this level, some atoms start to move and rearrange themselves, generating a new, more uniform crystal structure.
Over time, the bonds between the atoms become more robust, producing an alloy with higher tensile strength. Cooling is done slowly enough for this new structure to be retained; otherwise, it would revert back to its original state. By carefully monitoring these controlled conditions through each process step, engineers can ensure that annealing heat treatment has achieved its goal of improving metal performance.
A well-executed annealing process allows metals to last longer under intense pressure or other hostile environments without compromising safety or overall performance. As such, it is essential for many modern industries and applications to achieve their desired outcomes while ensuring quality assurance standards are met every time.
Vacuum heat treatment
Vacuum heat treatment is one of the most versatile, efficient, and cost-effective industrial solutions available today. This specialized process helps harden metals, modify surface properties, remove internal stresses, and improve product quality.
As with most treatment processes, vacuum heat treatment works by manipulating an object’s temperature and pressure levels for a pre-determined time period to draw out impurities or alter performance characteristics.
Specialized equipment is used to ensure that materials are heated in a chamber that is entirely free from contaminants, such as oxygen and moisture. After the materials have been exposed to proper temperatures for a certain amount of time, they can be cooled in a furnace or quenched quickly with forced air or liquid bath immersion.
Allowing the objects to cool determines their hardness level and other properties – all of which depend on the particular process being used. This advanced technology empowers engineers to produce high-quality products without incurring unnecessary costs or risks.
Main Industries
Railway Industry
Taiyuan Forging mainly specializes in products related to the railway industry, such as rail clips, bearing assemblies (cups/cones and rollers), diesel engines, and diesel injectors. Some of our related services include case hardening, oil quenching, tempering steel, precipitation hardening, and more. Our processes are designed in order to extend the service life expectancy and enhance the wear resistance of steel products that are used throughout many applications. We specialize in case hardening, oil quenching, tempering steel, and precipitation hardening.
Taiyuan Forging is a leader in engineering thermal processes to build up the strength of heavy machinery.
We provide a unique and dynamic approach to steel heat treatment, ensuring that components like bulldozers and earth-moving equipment, quarrying machines, heavy construction machinery, and other types of heavy equipment receive the precise thermal process for optimal performance.
Our wide range of treatments includes oil quenching, tempering steel, quenching steel, gas carburizing, surface hardening, and more. With decades of experience, our team has developed a solution designed specifically for each heavy equipment’s design requirements and operational use.
Heavy Equipment
Taiyuan Forging is a leader in engineering thermal processes to build up the strength of heavy machinery. We provide a unique and dynamic approach to steel heat treatment, ensuring that components like bulldozers and earth-moving equipment, quarrying machines, heavy construction machinery, and other types of heavy equipment receive the precise thermal process for optimal performance.
Our wide range of treatments includes oil quenching, tempering steel, quenching steel, gas carburizing, surface hardening, and more. With decades of experience, our team has developed a solution designed specifically for each heavy equipment’s design requirements and operational use.
If you’re looking for an expertly crafted solution that straddles the line between performance and durability, contact us to learn how we can help. Our precision in thermal processing means that you get the best solution that meets all current standards with proven results.
Other industries include automotive, tool and die, industrial, aerospace, etc. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any further inquiries.
Other services
Many of our clients need secondary processing services that result in metal parts with increased hardness and toughness, wear resistance and malleability. To support them in these efforts, we offer a full range of services to suit their unique needs.
Our expertise includes deep freezing, tempering, annealing, stress relieving, and the use of cryogenics—all proven processes that increase metal parts’ usefulness and lifetime. Rest assured that our attention to detail will have your finished product meeting all the specifications required for your industry sector.
For example, aerospace components often require extremely specific standards for machining accuracy, particularly for highly-sensitive engine pods and other mission-critical components.
With strength tested at every level of production, our clients receive quality parts with increased durability each time.
With such high attention to detail and customer concern being our number one priority, we look forward to helping you with all of your secondary heat-treating servicing needs.
Fill out the contact form on our website, and we will provide you with the unique solution as soon as possible.