Hardening heat treatments invariably involve heating to a sufficiently high temperature to dissolve solute-rich precipitates. The metal is then rapidly cooled to avoid reprecipitation; often this is done by quenching in water or oil. The concentration of solute dissolved in the metal is now much greater than the equilibrium concentration. This produces what is known as solid-solution hardening, but the alloy can usually be hardened appreciably more by aging to allow a very fine precipitate to form. Aging is done at an elevated temperature that is still well below the temperature at which the precipitate will dissolve. If the alloy is heated still further, the precipitate will coarsen; that is, the finest particles will dissolve so that the average particle size will increase. This will reduce the hardness somewhat but increase the ductility. Precipitation hardening is used to produce most high-strength alloys. In products made of soft, ductile metals such as aluminum or copper, the age-hardened alloy is put into service with the finest precipitate (that is, the highest strength) possible.

When heated to a high temperature, a few metals, principally iron and titanium alloys, transform to a different crystal structure. Often the high-temperature phase has a higher solubility for the solute, thus aiding the dissolution of the precipitate. If the alloy is slowly cooled, the reverse phase transformation will occur at a high temperature, forming a coarse precipitate and yielding a soft structure. This is the principle behind annealing procedures. However, if the alloy is quenched from the high temperature, the reverse transformation occurs at a much lower temperature, so that a very fine precipitate forms. This is the basis for hardening iron-carbon (steel) alloys. The hardness of the low-temperature-transformation phase (known as martensite) increases with carbon content, and this can result in some very strong alloys. Other alloying elements such as nickel, chromium, and manganese are added to steel primarily to slow transformation from the high-temperature phase so that thicker pieces, which cool more slowly on quenching, will harden to martensite on cooling. Steel with fresh martensite is still not tough enough for use without first being heated to an elevated temperature. This tempering process reduces residual stresses produced by the phase transformation, reduces hardness by coarsening the carbide precipitate, and increases toughness. Where high strength is the main concern, the tempering temperature is kept low. When toughness is the primary goal and strength secondary, a relatively high tempering temperature is used.

Softening treatments

In many situations the purpose of heat treating is to soften the alloy and thereby increase its ductility. This may be necessary if a number of cold-forming operations are required to form a part but the metal is so hardened after the first operation that further cold working will cause it to crack. If the metal is recrystallized by annealing at an elevated temperature, it will become soft enough to allow further forming operations. Another case arises when it is necessary to machine high-carbon tools in order to form a die. If the alloy is quenched from a high temperature to form martensite, it will be hard, brittle, and virtually impossible to machine. But if it is slowly cooled, the carbides will be much coarser, and the steel will be machinable.

Processes

Most furnaces designed for heat treatment use natural gas or electricity to raise the temperature. The atmosphere around the work may be air for low-temperature anneals, but at elevated temperatures some atmosphere other than air must be used in order to avoid oxidation. One common atmosphere is obtained by burning natural gas with less than the stoichiometric amount of air. With more reactive metals, annealing can be done in a vacuum furnace.

In some heat treatments only the surface need be heated. With electromagnetic induction or by use of a laser, this can be done so quickly that no special atmosphere is needed to avoid oxidation. Surface heat treating also avoids the distortion that can accompany heating and quenching the entire part. For example, the rear axle of most automobiles is a steel bar roughly 1 metre long and 3 centimetres in diameter (about 3 feet long and 1.25 inches in diameter). The surface can be hardened by passing the bar through an induction coil that quickly heats the surface immediately beneath the coil to red heat, transforming it to austenite. The inside remains cold, however, and, after the coil passes, this cold interior quickly draws heat from the surface, transforming it to martensite. The part is then tempered and put into service. Since most of the cross section of the part is not heated or transformed during this operation, there is no distortion and therefore no need to straighten a hardened part.