Also named martensitic or quench hardening, neutral hardening is a heat treatment used to achieve high hardness/strength on steel. It consists of austenitising, quenching and tempering, in order to retain a tempered martensite or bainite structure.
There are several benefits of neutral hardening, depending on the steel type:
Tool steels: the desired properties of high hardness, wear resistance, heat resistance and machinability can only be given by hardening.
Martensitic stainless steels: these steels only get their maximum corrosion resistance by hardening.
For all steel types: during the shaping of the parts, (takes place before the heat treatment), the material is relatively soft and therefore easy to machine.
Engineering steels:
The hardening processes described here are typically neutral, which means that the chemical composition of the steel surface of the parts is not intended to be changed during the process.
Direct quench hardening is the most common practice for hardening of steel.
Also named martensitic or quench hardening, neutral hardening is a heat treatment used to achieve high hardness/strength on steel. It consists of austenitising, quenching and tempering, in order to retain a tempered martensite or bainite structure.
There are several benefits of neutral hardening, depending on the steel type:
Tool steels: the desired properties of high hardness, wear resistance, heat resistance and machinability can only be given by hardening.
Martensitic stainless steels: these steels only get their maximum corrosion resistance by hardening.
For all steel types: during the shaping of the parts, (takes place before the heat treatment), the material is relatively soft and therefore easy to machine.
Engineering steels:
The hardening processes described here are typically neutral, which means that the chemical composition of the steel surface of the parts is not intended to be changed during the process.
Direct quench hardening is the most common practice for hardening of steel.
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