Stress Relieving Sheet Metal

The process for metal stress relief is similar to flame hardening but the maximum temperature and cooling rates are different.

Stress relieving sheet metal.

When the metal is unclamped the weld metal pulls at the base metal and the weld distorts. Stress relieving is a technique to remove or reduce the internal stresses created in a metal. Then if the yield strength of the material is exceeded. Stress relieving is a heat treating process that consists of heating the steel to a temperature below the critical range to relieve the residual stresses resulting from hot rolling welding shearing or gas cutting.

The degree to which this occurs depends on the weld joint geometry part design and material grade and thickness. Common methods for stress relieving carbon steel and alloy steel include. Stress relieving is usually accomplished by heating a metal below the lower critical temperature and then cooling uniformly. Stress relieving normalising and annealing all prepare metals and alloys for further processing or for the intended service conditions.

These stresses may be caused in a number of ways ranging from cold working to non uniform cooling. Unlike normalizing or annealing stress relieving does not change the metal s chemical mechanical properties. Machining and cutting as well as plastic deformation will cause a build up of stresses in a material. Stress relieving is carried out on metal products in order to minimise residual stresses in the structure thereby reducing the risk of dimensional changes during further manufacturing or final use of the component.

Heating steel to 150 200 degrees celsius after hardening relieves peak stresses and is used for components such as ball bearings. Stress relieving is the process generally specified after welding of most materials. They control the ability of materials to be machined with ease perform without distortion in service be formed without cracking or splitting be subsequently hardened or carburised with minimal distortion. Generally the higher the metal s carbon content and the more restrained a joint is the greater the stress.

Removing or reducing the residual stresses generated by welding is required for improving the dimensional stability of weldments. Stress relieving is a form heat treating also known as annealing that describes a variety of processes designed to alter the physical and perhaps even the chemical properties of a metal in order to increase its ductility and reduce its hardness so that it is more workable.