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The miracle of heat treatment: How do metals regenerate at high temperatures?
In today's industrial era, metal performance requirements are getting higher and higher, and heat treatment technology is one of the key factors to meet these requirements. Heat treatment is a processing technology that changes the physical or chemical properties of metal by heating and cooling it. This technique is particularly common in metallurgy and is also used in the manufacturing of other materials, such as glass. The scope of heat treatment is wide, including annealing, surface hardening, precipitation strengthening, tempering, carbonization, normalization and quenching techniques...
Heat treatment provides a highly efficient way to change the properties of metals by controlling diffusion and cooling rates.
The microstructure of metallic materials is composed of small crystals (also called "grains" or "crystals"). Here, the properties of the grains, such as grain size and composition, can determine the overall mechanical properties of the metal. During heat treatment, metal is heated to a specific temperature and then cooled at a controlled rate to achieve changes in the metal's microstructure. These changes in microstructure affect the hardness, strength, toughness, ductility and other properties of the metal...
Through phase changes, heat treatment reorganizes the crystal structure of metals. This process is often called "random transformation."
Heat treatment has two main mechanisms that can change the properties of the alloy: first, the formation of martensite deforms the internal structure of the crystal, and second, the uniformity of the alloy is changed through the diffusion mechanism. During heat treatment, when the metal is heated to the austenite phase and rapidly quenched, the microstructure transforms into martensite. This means that by precisely controlling time and temperature, the properties of one metal can be transformed into another...
Optimization of the process is particularly important in the aerospace industry, as superalloys may require five or more heat treatment operations to achieve desired properties.
The specific composition of the alloy also has a significant impact on the results of the heat treatment. Proper ingredient ratios will form a continuous microstructure, while when the ingredient ratios deviate too much, two or more different microstructures will be formed simultaneously. This can be seen in various heat-treated alloys, such as eutectic alloys, hypoeutectic alloys, and hypereutectic alloys. Each type reacts differently during the cooling process, which determines its final physical properties...
Proper heat treatment requires precise control of temperature, how long it is held at a specific temperature, and the rate of cooling.
During heat treatment, temperature and time are key to determining metal properties, including techniques such as annealing and normalization. Different heat treatment technologies will affect the structure of metal, allowing it to perform better in different working environments. Such optimization not only improves the mechanical properties of the metal, but also makes it more widely used in applications...
For example, the process of quenching can quickly increase the hardness of a metal, and poor control can lead to cracks and deformation.
In short, heat treatment technology is not just an operating step in the metal industry, but a revolutionary process that redefines the performance boundaries of metals. After being reborn at high temperatures, these metals can not only adapt to diverse needs, but also overcome many physical limitations. Readers, you might as well think about it, what other breakthrough developments will there be in the future of metal processing technology?
