Harder stainless steels and those with fewer impurities and finer grain structures polish far better. For instance, mold steels used in injection molding applications must polish quite well so that their excellent smoothness can translate to smoothness of the plastic components they help form.
This requires a costlier stainless steel that goes through some extra manufacturing, including remelting. We combine leading process and material knowledge with decades of experience to share what works best in all industrial and commercial applications.
You can contact us to consult with an expert or discuss a future project. If you want a better understanding of heat treating in general, our introductory guide to heat treating will help. Capabilities Processes.
Contact Us. Previous Article. Next Article. Subscribe to keep up with the latest and greatest. Muralidharan, N. Raghu, R. Dayal, and H. Kou, Welding Metallurgy , 2nd ed. Lippold and D.
Sousa, J. Filho, A. Tanaka, A. Oliveira, and W. Article Google Scholar. Huang, Y. Chang, and S. Yae Kina, V. Souza, S. Tavares, J. Pardal, and J. In most instances, these elements will not remain in solution as the alloy cools, which is why most materials need to quenched or rapidly cooled to minimize re-precipitation of carbides or other secondary phases. The proper method of annealing — temperature, time and rate of cooling — depends on the type of alloy. Most martensitic steels are used in a thermally hardened condition.
This is a hardening treatment, not annealing. The purpose of solution annealing is to dissolve any precipitates present in the material, and transform the material at the solution annealing temperature into a single phase structure. At the end of the solution annealing process, the material is rapidly quenched down to room temperature to avoid any precipitation from occurring during cooling through lower temperature ranges.
The single phase solution annealed material will be in a soft state after treatment. The single phase microstructure created during solution annealing is required prior to age hardening, such that only the precipitates formed during age hardening will be present in the final product.
The composition, size, and quantities of those precipitates formed during aging will determine the final product's hardness, strength, and mechanical properties after aging. It is critical that the structure be properly solution treated prior to aging in order to meet all of these requirements.
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