Austempering is a heat treatment that produces a ductile and stable bainitic structure on steel applications. The treatment is done in 2 steps – first heat into the austenite phase and then quench to a temperature level so that the austenite is transformed into bainite instead of martensite. Bainite is tougher than martensite.
BENEFITS
Austempering is used across a variety of applications in the automotive, rail, and heavy engineering industries; applications include gears, shafts, crankshafts, camshafts, clutch plates, seat belt components, drive shafts, rollers, rocker arms, and many others.
Austempering benefits ferrous metals, particularly ductile irons and medium to high carbon steels including: