Steel Heat Treating

Cincinnati Annealing & Heat Treating Services

WE DO THE BIG STUFF

…AND MORE!

Derrick Company has been providing metal heat treating services throughout the United States and Canada since 1943.  As the above photo illustrates, at Derrick we specialize in handling VERY LARGE PARTS!  Our large 14 ft. x 14 ft. x 44 ft. long furnace, with door openings on each end, gives us the ability to process parts up to 100 ft. long & 100,000 lbs.  While we are indeed experts at processing large parts/loads, we also process small and medium size parts on a regular basis (100 lbs.+).

Other furnaces/ovens at Derrick range in size from our large 12 ft. x 12 ft. x 35 ft. long car-bed furnace, down to our smallest 4 ft. x 4 ft. x 6 ft. automatic, electric oven. Our quenching capabilities include forced air, water, boiling water, glycol solution, and press quench.

What Is Heat Treating?

Heat treating is a process that is used in metalworking industries to change the physical properties of a material. Heat treating can also change the chemical properties of a material. This application and procedure is referred to as metallurgy. Metallurgy is defined as the science that deals with extracting metals from their ores, purifying and alloying metals, and creating useful objects from metals. Heat treatments are essentially used to manufacture parts and materials and to change the composition of those parts, creating a new or different material. Heat treatment can involve both heating and chilling, often to temperature extremes. Heat treating can harden or soften the material to arrive at the desired result. All of our heat treating equipment here at Derrick Co. is certified to do the job right. We provide heat treating services for annealing, quenching, and stress relief processes. We provide stress relief heat treatment for the following purposes:

What Is Annealing?

Understanding Sub-Critical and Controlled Atmosphere Annealing Metal involves raising the temperature of the material and then cooling it in a controlled fashion. This treatment gives the following benefits:

• The metal is softened, making it more workable.
• It improves and enhances the machinability of the material.
• It increases material ductility, allowing it to be more easily drawn into a wire or hammered into thin sheets.
• It enhances the toughness of the material.
• In alloys such as steel, it improves the material homogeneity, reducing blemishes and other unblended regions.
• In alloys, grain size is significantly reduced.
• It prepares the material for further heat treating processes.

Stages of Annealing

• Recovery – occurs at the lower temperature stage. It results in metal softening due to the removal of linear defects.
• Recrystallization – new strain-free grains nucleate (crystallize about a seed) and grow. The new structure has fewer internal stresses than the pre-heated material.
• Grain growth – an optional stage which the grain grows and the microstructure coarsens. This stage is often followed by a hardening process.

Critical Temperature and Sub-Critical Annealing

For normalization, the material is raised to a temperature of 30 to 50 degrees Kelvin above the critical temperature. The critical temperature is the level at which the material structure can be reordered. For example, in steel it is 723 degrees Centigrade. A sub-critical anneal, also known as a process anneal, does not raise the material temperature above the critical level. Depending on the material, the temperature may only reach from between 260 to 760 degrees Centigrade. Sub-critical processing is easier than the full process and can be done more quickly. In return for an easier process, the material gains many of the properties of the full process, but to a lesser degree. This is often enough for some applications. Atmosphere Annealing The heat treatment process can result in surface oxidation. Atmosphere processing, used with non-reactive gases such as nitrogen and argon, prevents this problem. Let Us Review Your Heat Treatment Process. Our experts at Derrick can help you design the proper process for your metallurgical needs. Contact us today for more information.

INDUSTRIES SERVED

• Heavy Manufacturing
• Steel Fabrication
• Machining
• Automotive
• Aerospace
• Heavy Transportation
• Industrial Construction

• Power Generation
• Petro-Chemical
• Mining
• Oil & Gas
• Food/Beverage/Drug
• Military/Defense
• Agriculture