The product size processing has been fully completed. Is it required to undergo heat treatment to ensure no deformation?
Misconception: Some people, in order to save on product processing costs, finish processing all dimensions before heat treatment, and then go through heat treatment, quenching, and tempering. Require the heat treater to ensure that there is no deformation during the heat treatment process, or only allow deformation within the tolerance zone of the last cold working.
Actual situation: In order to ensure that the product size does not deform after heat treatment, a series of measures need to be taken to prevent deformation. ‌
Firstly, preventive measures include preheating the workpiece before heat treatment to reduce stress caused by temperature fluctuations. Meanwhile, designing the workpiece structure reasonably to avoid sudden changes in cross-section can help reduce uneven distribution of internal stress. During the heating and cooling process, a slow heating method and appropriate cooling medium and speed should be selected to avoid excessive stress caused by rapid cooling. In addition, selecting appropriate clamping methods and fixtures to ensure the stability of the workpiece during heating, insulation, and cooling processes is also very important. ‌
After heat treatment, subsequent treatments such as tempering and aging should be carried out in a timely manner to eliminate residual stress and further improve the dimensional stability of the workpiece. These measures include but are not limited to pre-treatment, control of heating and cooling rates, selection of clamping methods, strict adherence to subsequent processing and process operations, all of which are key steps to ensure workpiece quality and prevent deformation.