I shall be requiring forgings made from stainless steel – what do you know about heat treatment, and passivation of stainless?
Heat treatment of stainless steels, apart from the precipitation grades, generally falls into two categories, namely annealing or hardening and tempering. Some forging companies have their own heat treatment facilities others would sub contract to approved contractors. In regard to passivation, this treatment is necessary to remove embedded scale, and or iron particles which may cause surface rusting. The process involves an acid treatment to remove these imperfections. Some forges would possess suitable equipment and would make up the necessary solutions as required. Others would prefer to sub contract.
