Throughout 2017, our blog series reviewed all the ways our products play a role in the things you use in your everyday life. As you may know, heat treatments alter the physical and mechanical properties of metal without changing its shape. These treatments increase the desirable characteristics of metal components while allowing further processing to take place.

Join us in 2018 as we continue to talk about heat-treating processes and the products that benefit from them. Below are a few of the applications we will be touching on.

Carburizing

Also known as case hardening, carburizing is a heat-treating process that makes the surface of a metal component resistant to wear, while maintaining the integrity of the components’ core. Carburization works because iron and steel absorb carbon when manufacturers heat the metal in the presence of a material containing carbon, such as carbon monoxide or charcoal. The added carbon makes the surface of the original iron or steel component harder without changing the hardness of the rest of the component.

We’ll talk about how carburizing can improve wear characteristics and mechanical properties of gears, bearings, movable machinery, and oil field components. You might be amazed at how many parts in the vehicles and equipment you use undergo the carburizing process.

Nitriding

This heat-treatment spreads nitrogen across the surface of a component to produce a case-hardened exterior. Manufacturers most commonly use nitriding to treat low-carbon, low-alloy steels but sometimes use the process on medium-carbon and high-carbon steels, aluminum, titanium, and molybdenum. Gears, sprockets, fuel injectors, crankshafts are just some of the products that go through the nitriding process.

Tempering

This heat treatment technique increases the toughness of iron-based alloys. Frequently performed after annealing, tempering reduces excess hardness caused by the high temperatures of annealing. Tempering increases the toughness of metals used in shovels, hand tools, bearings, and gears.

The History of Lindberg/MPH

Near the end of 2018, we will review the historical timeline of Lindberg/MPH, which dates back over 100 years. We will walk you through the evolution of the historic Lindberg/MPH brand that began as the “Replaceable Heating Elements” company in New York.

To stay up to date with all that is Lindberg/MPH, be sure to connect with us on social media! Follow us on Facebook and connect with us on LinkedIn.