If you are in an industry that uses stainless steel parts and components, you need to have a company that can complete all your stainless steel heat treatment requirements. Working with one company for all your brazing, annealing and heat treatment needs is always ideal as this cuts down on paperwork and also allows the service provider to get to know exactly what you want and need.
Since the reason you require your parts processed with a stainless steel heat treatment is to boost corrosion resistance, strength and stress resistance, finding the top company to complete the process is important. A top company is a company that understands the potential challenge of working with stainless steel and has developed a process to both control the atmosphere to prevent oxidation as well as has a continuous furnace where temperature control can be maintained accurately.
Heat Control
It is often difficult to understand that the slightest variation or delay in heating or cooling of the metal during the stainless steel heat treatment process can result in significant problems. The heat cycle has to be rapid and consistent as spikes or drops in temperature during the heating period will results in microscopic changes in the structure of the metal, potentially leading to corrosion, lower strength and low stress fracture limits.
Atmosphere and Cooling
In addition to the heating during the stainless steel heat treatment, the atmosphere also has to be carefully controlled. Oxygen in the atmosphere will result in oxide formation and poor final quality product. With a pure hydrogen atmosphere this is eliminated, which not only provides a better looking final product but also a much stronger part or component.
The flip side of that coin is that the cooling of the parts or components after the stainless steel heat treatment has to also be done under very carefully controlled settings. When the cooling is delayed or not quickly and effectively implemented, or when the atmosphere is not maintained accurately, corrosion can actually begin to occur within the stainless steel itself. This is known as inter-granular corrosion, and it will degrade the strength and resistance to stress cracking in the final product.
With a specialized brazing and metal treatment company stainless steel heat treatment will be done accurately, correctly and with attention to detail. Each component will have a consistent, bright finish and will have the characteristics required for the stainless steel because of accurate processing every time.
