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Cryogenic Treatment of Metal
Introduction
Heat treatment is an industrial metal process used to change and alter the physical and chemical composition of a given metal Heat treatment is of use in the manufacture of various metal components and it involves utilization of chilling or heating of metals at extreme temperatures so as one can achieve a given effect as softening or hardening (Xiaojun Jianga 28)
Cryogenic Tempering
Tampering, on the other hand, has a definition as a process of heat treatment, which results in the improvement of the metal’s ductility and hardness In the steel, there is formation of the martensite phase due to trapping of large amounts of carbon in the austenitic lath, which cools quickly through water quenching Untempered martensite should, therefore, have treatment below the minimum critical temperatures of the metal so as to enable diffusion of the excess carbon from the body-centre tetragonal structure hence it creates a more stable structure Tempering leads to an even distribution of alloying elements in precipitation-hardening alloys like super alloys of aluminum (LK Zhang 148)
The elements cause internal reactions, which results in the formation of inter-metallic phases referred to as precipitates The precipitates formed during tempering strengthen the alloys In addition, multistep tempering can result in the formation of several precipitates that effect to high strength alloy Cryogenic treatment is carried out in metals in the process to enhance metallic wear characteristics Cryogenic metal treatment is quite a new metal treatment process in engineering and is one of the most utilized metal treatment processes in the industry (Xiaojun Jianga 62)
Background Information
Utilization of cryogenic temperature (below -2400 F) is a new application in metal treatment especially in the ultra-cold realm The method was tried in early 1940s, but it was found to produce thermal stresses because of the rapid cooling of the metal in liquid nitrogen Because of the formation of thermal stresses, cryogenic treatment was not in use for industrial purposes until late 1960s Cryogenic metal treatment process was improved to the use of gaseous nitrogen, which results in reduced formation of thermal stresses (LK Zhang 32)
Cryogenic treatment process
There are three major cryogenic treatment process established in mechanical engineering
Received on Sun Nov 29 2020 - 13:39:52 CET