Airplanes Don鈥檛 Fly Without Heat Treating
Heat treating is the unsung hero of the commercial and military aviation industries. Much like the support staff behind any good play or movie, and the mom behind the Olympic athlete, heat treating of critical aerospace parts is relegated to the background, to the fine print of the credits鈥f at all. But if it weren鈥檛 for heat treating, planes wouldn鈥檛 fly, ships wouldn鈥檛 sail, submarines wouldn鈥檛 dive, and cars wouldn鈥檛 drive.
This article introduces you to the technical world of vacuum heat treating and why vacuum thermal processing is vital to the aerospace and defense industries.
First, let鈥檚 nail down what we mean by 鈥渉eat treating.鈥� 聽In simple terms, heat treating is cooking metal much like you would cook food 鈥� with a predetermined recipe and desired outcome in mind. 聽Metal is placed into an oven, or more accurately a furnace (ovens typically don鈥檛 handle temperatures over 1,000掳F), and precisely held at a specified temperature for a pre-determined period of time. 聽The metal is then cooled either slowly or quickly depending on what properties are desired. 聽Thermal processing can make the metal harder, softer, stronger, more flexible, more rigid, more wear resistant, chemically altered, or a host of other desirable properties.