Annealing

Annealing is a heat treating process that is performed to produce a “soft” structure, consisting generally of small carbides which are evenly distributed in ferrite. This structure provides for lower tensile strength, lower hardness, and high ductility in the material processed. The processing temperature and the rate of cooling depends upon the material being annealed and the purpose of the heat treatment. Annealing can then be basically described as heating metal to, and holding at a suitable temperature, and then cooled at a suitable rate.