Guide to Heat Treatment

At Batchforce, we offer a wide range of heat treatments tailored to the unique requirements of your components. Our capabilities include:

• Surface hardening (Carbonizing, Carbonitriding)
• Temp
• Annealing
• Low-Tension Annealing
• Carbs
• Nitrate

Each process is designed to improve specific material properties, such as hardness, strength, toughness and wear resistance, ensuring the long-term reliability of your parts in demanding applications. We work with a wide range of materials, including:

• Steel (low, medium, and high carbon)
• Stainless Steel
• Tool steel
• Aluminum alloys
• Titanium
• Nickel alloys

Precision in process parameters: optimum material performance

Temperature control in heat treatment

Temperature is the most critical factor in any heat treatment process. Precise control of temperature ensures that desired phase transitions occur in the material, improving mechanical properties without compromising integrity. At Batchforce, we maintain precise temperature ranges depending on the material and process – whether surface hardening, annealing or tempering – to prevent over- or underheating.

Time cycles: key to desired mechanical properties

The length of time a material is exposed to specific temperatures – also known as soaking time – plays a crucial role in the success of heat treatment. Soaking time affects the degree of diffusion in processes such as carbonation and nitriding, or phase transitions in treatments such as annealing and quenching.

Controlled atmospheres for surface integrity and enhanced performance

The atmosphere in which the heat treatment takes place is crucial because it prevents unwanted reactions such as oxidation or decarburization, which can weaken the material. At Batchforce, we use vacuum heat treatment for parts that require an oxidation-free surface and controlled atmosphere furnaces for carburizing, nitriding and other treatments where gas composition is critical.

Material compatibility and specifications

At Batchforce, we understand that different materials require unique heat treatment approaches. We offer customized solutions for a wide range of metals and alloys, ensuring that each material achieves its optimal mechanical properties through our carefully controlled processes.

The table below provides an overview of the compatibility of different material types with specific heat treatment processes, including surface hardening, tempering, annealing, stress-relief annealing, carburizing and nitriding. It gives technical buyers and engineers insight into which treatments are applicable for each type of material.

Carbon and alloy steels

Carbon and alloy steels are often heat-treated for various industrial applications. Our heat treatments for these materials – such as quenching, tempering and surface hardening – are designed to improve hardness, toughness and wear resistance, tailored to the specific carbon content and alloy compositions.

Stainless steels and tool steels

Stainless steels, especially martensitic and aging-hardening types, require special heat treatments to improve hardness and corrosion resistance.

Aluminum alloys and nickel alloys

Our heat treatment solutions for aluminum alloys focus on improving strength through solution heat treatment, quenching and aging.

Pre- and post-treatment processes: optimization at every step

At Batchforce, we place great importance on both the pre- and post-treatment processes, which are essential to the success of heat treatment. Below is an overview of the processes and their applications for each treatment method.