651-778-3300 Mon - Fri 7:00am - 3:30pm 867 Forest Street, St. Paul, MN 55106
Certified
Gray, ductile, and austempered ductile iron castings up to 250lbs.
ASTM A536, SAE J434, ASTM A48, SAE J431

What is heat treatment?

Iron, in its pure form, is lustrous, silvery, and soft. Its electrons can spin in the same direction to combine with alloying elements effortlessly. Iron is also polymorphic; its crystal structure can transform into different forms by changing the temperature and carbon content. The NIM team knows what your iron components need (regarding alloys and temperatures) for the casting to perform its intended function in its future environment.

Some iron castings, depending on the application, require heat treatment. Stress relieving or annealing to soften are processes used in-house at Northern Iron and Machine. NIM utilizes specialized annealing ovens for this process. Where hardening is required, proven outside contractors can be employed.

Also available at Northern Iron are heat-treating processes that increase part strength and yield while reducing part elongation. Among these processes are normalize and temper, quench and temper, and austemper. To learn more about heat treating types, techniques, and terms, read How heat treatment helps your iron casting perform its best at our sister company, C.A. Lawton.