If the workpiece is heated to a higher temperature and the aging treatment is carried out in a short time, it is called artificial aging treatment. If the workpiece is stored at room temperature or under natural conditions for a long time, the aging phenomenon occurs, which is called natural aging. Aging treatment. The purpose of aging treatment is to eliminate the internal stress of the workpiece, stabilize the structure and size, improve mechanical properties, etc. Aluminum aging found that the hardness of this alloy after quenching is not high, but after being placed at room temperature for a period of time, the hardness will increase significantly. The phenomenon came to be known as precipitation hardening. https://www.vacfurnace.com/technology-frontiers/automotive-leaf-spring-vacuum-heat-treatment-news/
This discovery has generated great interest in the engineering community. Subsequently, people successively discovered some aluminum alloys, copper alloys and iron-based alloys that can be strengthened by aging treatment, creating a new strengthening method that is fundamentally different from general steel quenching and strengthening - aging strengthening. During solution treatment, the heating temperature must be strictly controlled, so that the solute atoms can be dissolved into the solid solution to the maximum extent without melting the alloy. The allowable deviation of the heating temperature for solution treatment of many aluminum alloys is only about 5 °C. https://www.vacfurnace.com/technology-frontiers/aluminum-alloy-die-casting-mold-vacuum-heat-treatment-news/

For artificial aging treatment, the heating temperature and holding time must be strictly controlled to obtain the ideal strengthening effect. In production, staged aging is sometimes used, that is, it is first kept at room temperature or a temperature slightly higher than room temperature for a period of time, and then kept at a higher temperature for a period of time. Doing so can sometimes get better results.https://www.vacfurnace.com/technology-frontiers/four-stages-of-cemented-carbide-vacuum-sintering/
When maraging steel is quenched, microstructure transformation occurs and martensite is formed. Martensite is a supersaturated solid solution. This steel can also be strengthened by an aging treatment.https://www.vacfurnace.com/technology-frontiers/slender-shaft-vacuum-quenching-news/