Post Bend Heat Treatment

A feature of induction bending pipework is that due to the heat input allied to the stresses formed during process, mechanical properties may be altered – sometimes significantly.

The majority of materials we bend, particularly high yield carbon & duplex type steels etc. require a full body furnace heat treatment after bending in order to either restore or, as is often the case, enhance mechanical properties. Through our local sub contractor we are able to offer a variety of heat treatments including the following;

Normalise

Usually applied to carbon steels such as ASTM A106 Gr. B, A333 Gr. 6 & API 5L X52, this process includes a set time at temperature with a still air cool to ambient outside the furnace atmosphere

Normalise & Temper

Commonly associated with materials containing a higher level of chrome e.g. ASTM A335 P11 & P22 etc. Once complete, the normalise process (as above) is followed by tempering for an extended time at a lesser temperature, again with a still air cool to ambient

Quench & Temper

Intended for high yield materials e.g. API 5L X65, the material is held for a time at temperature then rapidly quenched in a cooling medium to provide a hardening action. Once complete, the quench is followed by tempering at a lesser temperature, this time with a still air cool to ambient

Solution Anneal

Applied to stainless & duplex steels such as UNS S31803 & UNS S32760, the material is held at an elevated temperature for the required time before rapid cooling in either air or water. No secondary heat treatment is usually required with this process.

The image below shows our contractor’s multi-zone electronically controlled furnaces employing lean burn technology to deliver maximum efficiency alongside their state of the art 170,000 litre quench tank