About High Tempered Steel
Tempering is a treatment used on metals, usually alloys such as steel, in which the metal is heated at high levels and then cooled to improve the properties of the metal. The main goal of tempering steel is to make the steel stronger. Thus high-tempered steel is stronger than steel that has not been tempered. High-tempered steel can be used exactly the same as untempered steel but is preferable in the area of construction. Does this Spark an idea?
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Function
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High-tempered steel can be used for the same functions as untempered steel, including construction, tools and automobiles. High-tempered steel's strength makes it more suitable when the steel must endure strong forces such as extreme pressure, as in the case with buildings. Tempering also increases the steel's ductility. Ductility is a characteristic that describes how materials can be reshaped without being fractured.
Types
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When high-tempered steel is tempered, it is first heated to create a solid solution in a process called austenizing. Then the steel is rapidly cooled in a process called quenching. The steel is then tempered, or treated with heat, between 300 and 500 degrees Fahrenheit and between 700 and 1,200 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the steel reaches these temperatures, it is then slowly cooled as to control the temperature.
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Warning
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Tempering steel at higher temperatures will not create a stronger steel. There is a trade-off for ductility and brittleness. As the steel becomes more ductile, it will become more brittle. As such, the tempering process is in fact a very delicate balancing process.
Misconceptions
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Some people think you can determine the temperature of steel during the tempering process by noting the color of the steel. For example, steel that is red is not has hot as steel that has been heated to a yellow color and a yellow color is not as hot as steel that has been heated to a blue color. This is untrue since temperatures during the tempering process are often too low to make such a determination. It is best to have a device to measure the temperature as opposed to attempting to determine the temperature through the color of the steel.
Features
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When steel is tempered, its particles rearrange into a stronger, more durable form. For example, when steel is tempered, martensite, which is a steel crystalline structure, transforms into bainite, which is a stronger crystalline structure.
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Resources
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