The Normalizing Process

Materials And Applications

Today, metal parts manufacturers frequently employ this process to help maintain strong, workable steel components.

Materials

Normalizing requires the capability to re-heat steels and other ferrous metal alloys to very high temperatures. However, most manufacturing facilities which perform casting frequently can perform normalizing without investing in extensive additional tools or materials. Perhaps for this reason, normalizing constitutes one of the most cost-effective post-casting or forging processes.

In many situations, manufacturers place parts outdoors during the cooling stage. In some cases, normalizing represents simply one step in more complex post-casting finishing processes. Steels cooled at ambient temperatures eventually may return to the production floor for further processing or machining.

Applications

Numerous applications exist for utilizing normalized steel and ferrous metal industrial parts. Their added ductility makes these products more attractive in many markets. Normalized components display greater resistance to brittleness after hardening, for instance, making them desirable in numerous settings compared to non-normalized steel parts.

Some popular applications include metal bars used in building construction and fence posts. Additionally, manufacturers today usually normalize heavy steel forgings, such as the axles and wheels of heavy machinery equipment and railroad cars.