(2000 Vol.32-No.5)IS BRITISH HEAT TREAMENT LOSING ITS HEAT? A look at the Contract Heat Treatment scene in the U.K.

摘要

Heat treatment engineers have always complained that their customers regard heat treatment as an 'add on' - an afterthought. This attitude Is still to be found although 100 years ago I am sure it was the norm; heat treatment was still a 'black art'. Techniques were unreliable, uncontrolled and inexact, so engineers continued to over-design by 100 per cent ... just in case! Manufacturers were more than willing to let someone else do their 'dirty' work, so as early as the 1920's, specialist heat treatment companies were springing up in places like Birmingham.