Austempering is a specialized heat treat process that imparts superior properties to ferrous metals. What makes Austempering better than the competition? It may provide the following benefits to your components:

Less Distortion
Austempering is an isothermal process. Unlike other heat-treat processes, the transformation that takes place during Austempering happens over many minutes or hours. This means the component slowly transform uniformly to its new microstructure. This means less distortion and no cracking during quenching.

True, any heat treat process is going to cause part growth. However, because this process is isothermal, components of the same incoming chemistry will grow the same way every time. Lot to lot and part-to-part, your components will have predictable growth from the Austempering process. That means you can design the dimensional change into your component and let it grow to its tolerance.

Higher Strength
Austempered materials gain strength and toughness due to the unique microstructure gained through the Austempering Process.

Higher Toughness
Austempered materials gain strength and toughness due to the unique microstructure gained through the Austempering Process.

Less Noise
Austempered Ductile Iron and Austempered Gray Iron are quiet alternatives to steels and irons. Due to the presence of graphite in the microstructure of these un-treated metals, they have a higher noise-damping coefficient than that of steels. After Austempering, these materials show an increase in damping coefficient, making them quieter than they were when untreated. When noise is your problem, try an Austempered Iron to decrease noise and vibration in your components.

Better Wear Resistance
The Unique characteristics of an Austempered Material make it more wear resistant than many competive materials. The high case hardness of Carbo_Austempered steel give it a tough wear surface. The imbedded carbides and Austempered microstructure of Carbidic ADI make it a competitive wear material for ground engaging applications. The high strength and toughness of ADI and Austempered Steel make them more suitable for higher wear applications. Try Austempering today to create components that can handle wear better than conventional materials.

Lighter Components
With 3 times the strength of aluminum and 2.3 times the density, ADI can replace aluminum at a weight savings! When you increase the strength of your component by using the Austempering process, you can use thinner sections in your components, and cut down the weight of your products.

Lower Overall Component Cost
Increasing the strength of your component, making it tougher, lighter and more wear resistant – can decrease the amount of material needed to produce your product. Less material means less raw material cost going into your component. Switching from a costly forging, welding or fabricating operation to a lower cost casting operation can also save you many dollars in manufacturing costs. Not to mention that irons and steels are significantly less expesinve materials that aluminum, magnesium and other composite and plastics materials.