What Vacuum Heat Treating Services Do Your Designs Need?

Vacuum heat treating services are an environmentally aware method of treating metals to improve their qualities and produce a better surface finish. Vacuum heat-treating ovens are commonly used to treat titanium alloys, bronze, brass and steel. They extract all of the oxygen and remaining gases from the oven so that the metals are not contaminated and the risk of discoloration is reduced. Vacuum heat treating services create an undeviating tensile strength amongst the pieces treated. Several different services are offered in Jones Metal’s vacuum heat-treating ovens.

Vacuum Annealing

Annealing metal alters its physical makeup to make it more consistent and easier to manipulate for forming. The operator applies a specific amount of heat, usually much higher than the critical temperatures, and then the metal is cooled down, generally at a slow rate. This process increases ductility and gives metal the ability to stretch and bend more easily by releasing stress points in the metal. In this state, the metal is ready for stamping, shaping or forming.

Stress Relieving

Stress relieving is a type of annealing an engineer determines necessary when a metal has a higher probability of distortion during the forming process. In order to compensate for the risk of altered dimensions, metal is heated below the austenite phase and stresses are reduced. Twists, wrinkles and any other unwanted bends are less likely to happen after stress relieving.

Hardening

In an opposite effect, hardening decreases the ductility of the metal, and as the name suggests, metal is hardened and more durable. This application is commonly used toward the end of metal forming production processes. Metal is gradually heated until it reaches a high temperature and the intensity permanently solidifies the metal into the desired shape. When you harden metal, you are working at higher degrees than the annealing process and going past the threshold of when metal is softened.

Aside from these three applications, Jones Metal also offers air and nitrogen quenching, solution treatment, tempering and cryogenic treatment. All of these vacuum heat treating services can be performed on metal parts to be used in a range of diverse industries such as aerospace, defense, fluid power, commercial lighting and many more. For a bright and clean finish on your metal products, call Jones Metal at (740) 545- 6381 or contact Jones Metal online.

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