The rate of cooling in normalizing is generally not critical, but aids in the hardening of the work piece. Often when people think about welding, they think of metals being melted together with sparks or flames produced by a combination of pressurized gases. After heating and a short soaking time the components are cooled freely in air (gas). There are a number of great markets still available. For more information about Superheat, contact us using your preferred method below. Normalizing allows the material to cool by placing it in a room temperature environment and exposing it to the air in that environment. This is important because it makes the metal more formable, more machinable, and reduces residual stresses in the material that could lead to unexpected failure. If you continue to use this site we will assume you agree to our use of cookies. However local normalizing on institute piping and components can be done utilizing special techniques which Superheat is well versed in. Normalizing also improves microstructural homogeneity and response to heat treatment See our Privacy Policy to learn more. We are metal experts and have been providing quality customer service and products since 1985. I have read, and agree to the. Normalizing is a heat treatment procedure that focuses on the mechanical properties of steels. Normalizing is a heat treatment process that is used to make a metal more ductile and tough after it has been subjected to thermal or mechanical hardening processes. During cooling, new ferritic grains are formed with a further refined grain size. For normalization to occur, steel is heated to a temperature slightly above its upper critical transformation point. Many types of alloys can be normalized, including: Normalizing is used in many different industries for many different materials. After forging, hot rolling or casting a steel’s microstructure is often unhomogeneous consisting of large grains, and unwanted structural components such as bainite and carbides. The different ways in which metals can undergo heat treatment include annealing, tempering, and normalizing. Why Normalize? Normalizing is often performed because another process has intentionally or unintentionally decreased ductility and increased hardness. Nickel-based alloys in the nuclear industry may be normalized following the thermal microstructure alteration that occurs following welding. Normalizing Carbon Steels: This is the third Instructable in my series about heat treating of carbon steels. This growth is controlled by allowing the material to cool to room temperature via contact with air. Visit one of our 80+ locations in North America today.