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After years of skepticism, cryogenic treatment of metals has become an accepted and popular technique as a secondary process to follow the quenching of heat-treated parts.
This process acceptance is due to the transformation of retained austenite to martensite and/or the precipitation of newly formed carbides arising from the sub-zero treatment process. Best results are seen in tool steels and high carbon steels (wear improvements by more than 500 percent!), where the amount of retained austenite normally is high.
Liquid nitrogen is an effective cooling medium due to its extremely low temperature (-196° C). To serve our customers we have developed several cold boxes for cryo-treatment using liquid nitrogen.
Some of the benefits that Sub-Zero treatment offers:
- improved stress relief
- better dimensional stability
- more uniform structural stability
- improved wear resistance
- useful technique for shrink fitting
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