Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Hardened steel. The term hardened steel is often used for a medium or high carbon steel that has been given heat treatment and then quenching followed by tempering. The quenching results in the formation of metastable martensite, the fraction of which is reduced to the desired amount during tempering. This is the most common state for finished ...
Differential hardening is a method used in heat treating swords and knives to increase the hardness of the edge without making the whole blade brittle. To achieve this, the edge is cooled faster than the spine by adding a heat insulator to the spine before quenching. Clay or another material is used for insulation.
The steel is then quenched so that the austenite is transformed into martensite, and the ferrite remains on cooling. The steel is then subjected to a temper cycle to allow some level of marten-site decomposition. By controlling the amount of martensite in the steel, as well as the degree of temper, the strength level can be controlled.
Tempering is a heat treatment technique applied to ferrous alloys, such as steel or cast iron, to achieve greater toughness by decreasing the hardness of the alloy. The reduction in hardness is usually accompanied by an increase in ductility, thereby decreasing the brittleness of the metal.
Precipitation hardening, also called age hardening or particle hardening, is a heat treatment technique used to increase the yield strength of malleable materials, including most structural alloys of aluminium, magnesium, nickel, titanium, and some steels, stainless steels, and duplex stainless steel. In superalloys, it is known to cause yield ...
Case-hardening. Colt Peacemaker, showing discoloration from case-hardening. Case-hardening or carburization is the process of introducing carbon to the surface of a low carbon iron or much more commonly low carbon steel object in order to enable the surface to be hardened. Iron which has a carbon content greater than ~0.02% is known as steel.
Work hardening, also known as strain hardening, is the process by which a material's load-bearing capacity (strength) increases during plastic (permanent) deformation. This characteristic is what sets ductile materials apart from brittle materials. [1] Work hardening may be desirable, undesirable, or inconsequential, depending on the application.
Heat treating (or heat treatment) is a group of industrial, thermal and metalworking processes used to alter the physical, and sometimes chemical, properties of a material. The most common application is metallurgical. Heat treatments are also used in the manufacture of many other materials, such as glass. Heat treatment involves the use of ...