THE ALLOY REVIEW A Nifty Alloys LLC Publication METALLURGY FEATURE Annealing vs Tempering: The Condition Behind Every Hardness Number Two of the most frequently confused terms on a metals specification are annealing and tempering. Both are controlled...
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THE ALLOY REVIEW A Nifty Alloys LLC Publication METALLURGY FEATURE Annealing vs Tempering: The Condition Behind Every Hardness Number Two of the most frequently confused terms on a metals specification are annealing and tempering. Both are controlled heating-and-cooling treatments. Both change a metal's hardness and toughness. And that overlap is precisely why the two get mixed up on drawings, purchase orders, and technical discussions — with real consequences for how a component performs once it's in service. “Heat treated” alone is not a specification — it is an invitation for the wrong condition to be delivered. Softening From the Ground Up: Annealing Annealing is a softening treatment. The material is heated above its recrystallization temperature (for non-ferrous metals) or its upper critical temperature (for steels), held there long enough for the microstructure to transform, and then cooled very slowly — typically inside the furnace itself. That slow cool is what defines anneali
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