Annealing Services

The term annealing refers to a heat treatment in which a material is exposed to an elevated temperature for an extended time period and then slowly cooled.
According to ASTM, annealing is defined as a softening process consisting of heating the steel to a temperature at or near the critical point, holding there for a proper time and then allowing it to cool slowly in the furnace itself.

Three stages of annealing process (or Annealing cycle): Any annealing process consists of following three stages:
1. Heating to the desired temperature.
2. Holding or 'soaking' at that temperature.
3. Cooling or 'quenching', usually to room temperature.
In practice, annealing is one of the most widely used processes in the heat treatment of iron and steel.

PURPOSES OF ANNEALING

Generally annealing is carried out to achieve one or more of the following purposes:
1. To relieve or remove stresses.
2. To induce softness.
3. To alter ductility, toughness, electrical, magnetic, or other properties.
4. To refine grain structure.
5. To remove gases.
6. To produce a definite microstructure.

APPLICATION
Annealing process is employed in casting, forging, rolled stock, press work, etc.

TYPES OF ANNEALING
The most common types of annealing processes applied to commercial steels are:
1. Full annealing,
2. Process annealing,
3. Stress relief annealing,
4. Recrystallisation annealing, and
5. Spheroidise annealing.