TYPES OF ANNEALING PROCESSES
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009Annealing is a process that is carried out to improve the softness and ductility in steels and other worked metals at high temperature. It is considered as a heat treatment process to refine the size, to relieve the internal stress, to remove trapped gases. This process is also carried out to alter the magnetic and electrical properties of the metals. Different types of annealing processes are carried out as follows:
- Full Annealing:
This process of heating the steel is carried at different temperatures for hyper- eutectoid and hypo eutectoid steels. Hypoeutectoid steels are heated to temperature of 30° to 50°C above the upper critical temperature and hypereutectoid steels are heated at the same temperature but above the lower critical temperature. It is held at this temperature for some time and then it is slowly cooled at the rate of 30° to 200°C per hour. Cast iron box is used as a container with some mixture to avoid decarburization of the steel. Mixture consists of lime, sand, charcoal and cast iron borings. This process softens the steel and improves machinability but decreases the hardness and tensile strength.
- Process Annealing:
Here in this process, temperature is maintained below the lower critical temperature and then it is cooled. This will result in recrsytallisation thereby removing the internal stresses in the steel and also machinability is increased.
- Patenting:
Ductility of high carbon steels are improved by this process. First heating process is carried out and then the steel will be cooled below air temperature.
- Stress-Relieving Annealing:
Re-crystallization is done at first and then steel is cooled. Internal stresses due to casting, forging, etc., are removed by this process of annealing.
- Double Annealing:
It uses to remove the strains in the steel. Reheating process is done in addition to the normal heating process so as to produce homogenetity by rapid diffusion.

