Heat Treating Furnaces

Heat Treating Furnaces

Heat treating furnaces heat a material and then bring it to a desired temperature. By cooling the material, the furnace instills increased strength, ageing or manipulation within the material. Heat treating furnaces add billions of dollars per year in value to metal products, especially steel and nonferrous products, by imparting specific properties to the parts. These properties are often critical to the proper function of the heat-treated parts. Some of the industries that are served by heat treating furnaces include pharmaceutical, automotive, packaging, assembly, electronics, and textile.

Techniques used by heat treating furnaces include precipitation strengthening, annealing, quenching, tempering, and case hardening. Precipitation strengthening involves changes in solid solubility as temperature varies. Annealing comprises the processes of heating, holding temperature, and then cooling in order to accomplish a specific state for the material being heated. Quenching is quickly cooling from a high temperature. During tempering, martensite is transformed into bainite or ferrite. Case hardening involves making the surface layer of a steel material substantially harder through heat treating.

Heat treating furnaces employ a process that involves three steps. First, the part is heated to a specified temperature (up to 2400.25ºF). It is then held at that temperature for the required amount of time, which may be as short as a few seconds or as long as 60 hours. Finally, the part is cooled either in the furnace or by quenching methods, depending how quickly the part needs to be cooled.