Normalizing

Heat Treatment

Определение

A heat treatment in which steel is heated to above its upper critical temperature (Ac3) and then cooled in still air, producing a finer and more uniform microstructure than full annealing.

Подробное объяснение

Normalizing is used to refine coarse grain structures caused by hot working or casting and to reduce compositional segregation. The air-cooling rate is faster than furnace cooling used in annealing, resulting in finer pearlite and slightly higher hardness and strength. It is a common conditioning treatment applied before final machining or subsequent heat treatments.