Heat treatments can be applied to many metal alloys to drastically improve key physical properties like hardness, strength, or machinability. These changes happen due to modifications to the microstructure and, sometimes, the chemical composition of the material too. Those treatments involve the heating of the metal alloys to extreme temperatures, followed by a cooling step under controlled conditions. The temperature the material is heated to, the time it is kept at that temperature and the cooling rate all greatly affect the final physical properties of the metal alloy with several machined parts being made.
This process at Unispares India is conducted with the help of the latest innovative method using an in-house controlled testing process before the final product comes into the picture. You don’t have to resort to an expensive metal like titanium to get the hardness and strength you’re looking for. Focused on Machining can help you select an alternate material that, post-heat treating, will have all the properties your part requires. Best of all, we remain true to our promise of getting you high-quality parts when YOU need them, turning around heat-treating jobs in a short time.
Part of the design and engineering process that we carry out using our in-house modern equipment is to determine what physical properties are required for the machine part and to select the best metal to meet these requirements. Heat treatment of metal alloys before or after processing can greatly improve key physical properties. Heat treatment increases the hardness, strength, or workability of the metal to a greater extent as per the requirement of the clients.
When Are Heat Treatments Applied?
The metal alloy can be heat treated throughout the manufacturing process. For machining parts, the following heat treatments are usually used:
Before CNC machining: If required to provide a standardized grade of metal alloy, the CNC service provider will directly process the parts from the stock material. This is usually the best option to reduce delivery time.
After CNC machining: Certain heat treatments can significantly increase the hardness of the material, or be used as a finishing step after forming. In these cases, high hardness will reduce the machinability of the material, so heat treatment is performed after CNC machining.
Based on practical experience:
- You can specify a heat treatment in your CNC machining order by referencing a specific material, by providing a hardness requirement, or by describing a treatment cycle.
- Select precipitations hardening alloy for the most demanding applications, as they have very high strength and hardness.
- Prefer quenching when an increased hardness throughout the volume of the part is required, and case hardening (carburizing) to increase the hardness only on the surface of the part.
