Annealing (metallurgy)

Annealing, in metallurgy and materials science, is a heat treatment wherein a

material is altered, causing changes in its properties such as strength and hardness. It
is a process that produces conditions by heating and maintaining a suitable
temperature, and then cooling. Annealing is used to induce softness, relieve internal
stresses, refine the structure and improve cold working properties.

In the cases of copper, steel, and brass this process is performed by

substantially heating the material (generally until glowing) for a while and allowing it
to cool slowly. In this fashion the metal is softened and prepared for further work such
as shaping, stamping, or forming.

Contents
 1 Stages of annealing
 2 Annealing in a controlled atmosphere
 3 Diffusion annealing of semiconductors
 4 Thermodynamics of annealing
 5 Specialized annealing cycles
o 5.1 Normalization
o 5.2 Full anneal
 6 See also

 7 External links

1. Stages of annealing
There are three stages in the annealing process, with the first being the
recovery phase, which results in softening of the metal through removal of crystal
defects, the primary of which is the linear defect called a dislocation and the internal
stresses which they cause. The second phase is recrystallization, where new grains
nucleate and grow to replace those deformed by internal stresses. If annealing is
allowed to continue once recrystallization has been completed, grain growth will
occur, in which the microstructure starts to coarsen and may cause the metal to have
less than satisfactory mechanical properties.

2. Annealing in a controlled atmosphere

The low temperature of annealing (about 50 °F above C3 line) may result in
oxidation of the metal’s surface, resulting in scale. If scale is to be avoided, annealing
is carried out in an oxygen-, carbon-, and nitrogen-free atmosphere (to avoid
oxidation, carburization, and nitriding respectively) such as endothermic gas (a
mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen gas, and nitrogen).

The magnetic properties of mu-metal (Espey cores) are introduced by annealing the
alloy in a hydrogen atmosphere.
3. Diffusion annealing of semiconductors
In the semiconductor industry, silicon wafers are annealed, so that dopant
atoms, usually boron, phosphorus or arsenic, can be incorporated into substitutional
positions in the crystal lattice, resulting in drastic changes in the electrical properties
of the semiconducting material.

4. Thermodynamics of annealing
Annealing occurs by the diffusion of atoms within a solid material, so that the
material progresses towards its equilibrium state. Heat is needed to increase the rate of
diffusion by providing the energy needed to break and form new bonds. The
movement of atoms has the effect of redistributing and destroying the dislocations in
metals and (to a lesser extent) in ceramics. This alteration in dislocations allows
metals to reform more easily, so increases their ductility.

The amount of process-initiating Gibbs free energy in a deformed metal is also

reduced by the annealing process. In practice and industry, this reduction of Gibbs
free energy is termed "stress relief".

Thus, the relief of internal stresses is a thermodynamically spontaneous

process; however, at room temperatures, it is a very slow process. Therefore, the high
temperatures at which the annealing process occurs serve to accelerate this slow--
albeit spontaneous--process.

The reaction facilitating the return of the cold-worked metal to its stress-free
state has many reaction pathways, mostly involving the elimination of lattice vacancy
gradients within the body of the metal. The creation of lattice vacancies are governed
by the Arrhenius equation, and the migration/diffusion of lattice vacancies are
governed by Fick’s laws of diffusion.

Mechanical properties, such as hardness and ductility, change as dislocations

are eliminated and the metal's crystal lattice is altered. On heating at specific
temperature and cooling it is possible to bring the atom at the right lattice site and new
grain growth can improve the mechanical properties.

5. Specialized annealing cycles

5.1 Normalization

Normalization is an annealing process in which a metal is cooled in air after

heating.

This process is typically confined to hardenable steel. It is used to refine grains

which have been deformed through cold work, and can improve ductility and
toughness of the steel. It involves heating the steel to just above its upper critical
point. It is soaked for a short period then allowed to cool in air. Small grains are
formed which give a much harder and tougher metal with normal tensile strength and
not the maximum softness achieved by annealing.

5.2 Full anneal

A full anneal typically results in the softest state a metal can assume. To
perform a full anneal, a metal is heated to its annealing point and held for some time
to allow the material to fully austenitize. The material is then allowed to cool slowly
so that the equillibrium microstructure is obtained. In some cases this means the
material is allowed to air cool in other cases the material is allowed to furnace cool.
The details of the process depend on the type of metal and the precise alloy involved.
In any case the result is a more ductile material that has greater elongation and
reduction of area properties but a lower yield and tensile strength. This process is also
called LP annealling for lamellar pearlite in the steel industry as opposed to a process
anneal which does not care about the microstructure and only has the goal of
softening the material. Often material that is annealled will be machined and then be
followed by further heat treatment to obtain the final desired properties.