1. Heat treatment vocabulary

The vocabulary is defined by standard NF EN 12258-1. This standard applies to wrought and cast products.

The most commonly used definitions are listed below, with the addition of common terms and definitions not included in the standard.

• Age-softening: reduction in strength and hardness at room temperature of certain alloys, due to spontaneous precipitation in the work-hardened structure of the metal.

• Heat-treatable alloy: alloy whose hardness can be improved by heat treatment.

• Self-quenching alloy: an alloy whose critical quenching rate is lower than the natural cooling rate occurring in still air after hot forming, in or out of the mold, after solidification of castings.

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