Annealing

During the annealing process, the treated parts are heated under inert gas and cooled according to the requirements in order to achieve the desired properties of the material. In this context, we offer various annealing processes, as required.

Normal annealing

During normal annealing, steel is heated above the Ac3 line. Subsequent cooling in a controlled atmosphere restores a fine grain achieved uniform structure. If the starting material is very coarse-grained, the process can also be repeated in order to achieve a fine-grained structure again.

Grain coarsening annealing

In comparison to normal annealing, an excessive annealing temperature and slow cooling down to Ar1 are used for coarse grain annealing.

Soft annealing

Soft annealing is conducted by holding it below the Ac1 line for several hours, whereby hardness components and strain hardening are eliminated.

Stress relief annealing

Stress relief annealing is carried out at temperatures between 550° C and 650° C. This relieves residual stresses in the material, which reduces warpage when the components are subsequently machined.

Recrystallisation annealing

The process is comparable to stress relieving, but higher temperatures result in a shorter process time. Recrystallisation annealing tends to form coarse grains and is therefore used more for workpieces with a uniform wall thickness.