Machining technology heat treatment process

Apr 30,2024


With the development of aerospace, industry, microelectronics, modern and bioengineering technologies, the demand for precision mechanical parts (with feature sizes ranging from micrometers to millimeters) is becoming increasingly urgent. The specialization of structural shapes, diversification of part materials, and precision of dimensions and surface quality have become obvious characteristics of high-precision mechanical parts and their micro devices and equipment, with growing requirements in terms of functionality, material properties, structural shapes, and performance.

With the rapid development of modern precision machining, many precision machining techniques have gradually emerged, such as micro precision machining technology, rapid prototyping technology, and ultra-processing technology.

Inserting heat treatment at the appropriate time during the precision machining process can ensure a good combination of cold and hot processes, avoiding deformation caused by heat treatment. The arrangement of heat treatment can generally be divided based on its purpose:

1. The purpose of preparatory heat treatment is to eliminate the internal stresses generated during the manufacturing process of the blank, improve the cutting performance of metal materials, and prepare for subsequent heat treatment. Preparatory heat treatments include quenching, annealing, normalizing, etc., and are generally arranged before and after rough machining. Arranging it before rough machining can improve the cutting performance of the material; arranging it after rough machining is beneficial for eliminating residual internal stresses.

2. Heat treatment should generally be arranged after rough machining and semi-finishing, and before and after finishing. Heat treatments that cause significant deformation, such as carburizing and quenching, should be arranged before finishing to correct any deformation during finishing; heat treatments that cause little deformation, such as nitriding, can be arranged after finishing.