Artificial Aging

Thermal treatment at moderately elevated temperatures to induce controlled precipitation from a supersaturated solid solution, enhancing strength.

You do precipitation hardening to get uniform hardness and strength back into the material after welding or cold forming. You heat the part in a controlled way and hold it at temperature for a certain time so that fine precipitates can form in the structure. Then you let it cool slowly, otherwise the part becomes hard and brittle again. If you go too hot or anneal too long, the structure becomes coarse and the material loses toughness.

MetallurgieSchweißtechnik