Restorative heat treatment optimises strength properties of machined aluminium

Products machined from large solid blocks of aluminium often suffer with reduced strength properties, potentially leading to catastrophic failure during service. Alloy Heat Treatment (AHT), the UK's leading subcontractor in heat treating aluminium, provides for restoration of optimum strength properties to proof machined products using re-heat treatment, inspection, testing and release to the required temper.

AHT has the capacity to heat treat automotive and aircraft products up to 2.5m x 2m x 1.9m and 5 tonnes gross weight in its state-of-the-art drop bottom facility, located at its 70,000sq ft Dudley site. In addition to providing straight forward heat treatment to manufacturers and machinists, AHT also offers both hardening and softening heat treatments to material stockists and suppliers who have difficulty in sourcing material in the required temper.

As components become increasingly complex, AHT plays an increasingly important part in its aerospace and automotive customers' supply chains. A quench distortion correction function, termed as "setting", endorsed by Nadcap, automotive OEM's and suppliers is just one added value option provided by AHT.

Setting provides for freshly quenched products to be manipulated to customer supplied checking aids or to specified machining tolerances. The setting process is further supplemented by a refrigeration process, allowing for storage of freshly quenched products at temperatures as low as -29oC (which retards natural age hardening that prevents setting), permitting distortion correction to be undertaken without detriment, in accordance with prime contractors and OEM's specifications.

Endorsed by NADCAP accreditation and approval by major aerospace and automotive manufacturers, the AHT Team is always available to discuss customer requirements and understand individual requirements.