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Heat Treatment of Metals

Engineering Applications and Design
Engineering Materials

Heat Treatment of Metals
J. Winning, Dipl.R.T.C.
99 pages

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It is a noteworthy fact that the trend of modem engineering design is generally towards greater strength allied to lighter weight in the various materials used for constructional purposes. In the field of engineering metals this demand, often urgent, has led to the development of many new alloys to meet the changed ideas of present-day designers. Factors of safety which in the past would have been considered by competent engineers to be quite normal, are now regarded as extravagantly high. In order to offset any possible danger which may arise from this reduction in weight and dimensions, modem metals must necessarily be reliable as well as strong, and it is characteristic of present metallurgical practice in preparing the engineer's raw materials that scientific control is widely adopted. This quality of reliability is partly conferred by the high purity of the alloys, reflecting the care with which the material has been manufactured, and partly by exact and well-controlled heat treatment. The latter factor is of prime importance in factories engaged in mass production, since the physical properties of each part must conform, within narrow limits, to a definite specification. While it is true that reputable manufacturers of raw materials work to very high standards and, indeed, often take pride in bettering existing standards, much of their efforts are nullified by erratic and careless heat treatment in subsequent manufacturing operations.