To withstand the stresses inherent in aerospace, a metal component’s fatigue tolerance and strength need to be enhanced through stress reduction. Achieving this goal and meeting with specifications and exacting demands depend on the heat-treating process.
Benefits of Heat Treating
Aerospace heat treatment alters the properties of metal components by applying heat or cold. The process can relieve stress or harden or soften the material while still maintaining its shape. Heat treating not only increases strength but also restores ductility and makes the part easier to form and machine.
Stress can result from such processing operations as cold forming and rough machining. Stress can later release uncontrollably in further operations. For example, stress relieving is necessary for welded parts.
Additional benefits of aerospace heat treatment include wear, abrasion and corrosion resistance, improved fatigue properties, low distortion, uniform appearance, microstructural homogenization, cold-forming microstructure, uniform processing response, flexibility and scale and rust removal.
Applications
Heat treating is useful for restoring strength in multiple aerospace parts, such as engine brackets and oil pans for airplanes, hydraulic fittings, cooling systems or frame parts.
Heat Treating Techniques
Aerospace heat treatment handles several materials in the form of plates, sheets, investment castings and forgings. The process includes heat treating for parts incorporating aluminum, steel and ferrous and exotic alloys. Techniques include:
- Ferritic Nitrocarburizing
- Isothermal Annealing
- Normalization
- Pickle and Oil
- Quench and Temper
- Sawing
- Shearing
- Shot Blast Cleaning
- Spheroidize Annealing
- Stress Relieving
- Zinc Phosphate and Lube Coat
Contact an Expert
Whether it’s for forming and heat treating parts or simply the application of heat treatment, industry professionals will consult on product objectives and deliver solutions and high-quality parts for some of the aerospace industry’s most challenging products.
