What is a stress relieving oven?

When it comes to industrial work, metals go through a lot of stress. The stresses that occur in these metals are often due to welding, machining, forging or rolling processes that stress and compress the materials. A stress relieving oven is used to reduce this stress. Read more about a stress relieving oven and how it works below:

What is it?

A stress relieving oven is an oven that uses heat to relieve stress from materials that have gone through various industrial processes. The temperature of these ovens ranges between approximately 150°C and 650°C with most operations occurring at the highest operating temperature. It is used to reduce the risk of any dimensional changes occurring in other manufacturing processes or in the use of the final product.

How does it work?

In order to relieve the stress from the metals, they are heated to a temperature between 550°C and 650°C, though this may vary depending on the type of metal that is placed in the oven as aluminium should only be heated between 150°C to 275 °C. Once they have reached this temperature, they must be kept at the temperature constantly for up to 2 hours. Once they have been in the stress relieving oven for the necessary amount of time, the metal components should be cooled very slowly in order to prevent the risk of tension in the components. In some cases, gas is used during the cooling process to prevent oxidation from occurring. After this process, the metal will be ready for further manufacturing or its final purpose.