Heat Treatment of metals is the controlled heating and cooling of metals to optimize their physical and mechanical properties for use in the oral environment. Heat treatment is primarily of two types i.e. Softening Heat Treatment and Hardening Heat Treatment. The softening heat treatment is given to reduce strength and hardness, remove residual stresses, restore ductility after cold working procedures and refine grain size to improve life and appliance performance. Hardening Heat Treatment is given to the metal to increase strength and wear properties during actual working conditions. In this brief review it is attempted to highlight the basic mechanisms involved during heat treatment of metals and the methods of heat treating metals in actual practice.
Heat Treatment, annealing, gold alloys, base metal alloys, superlattice
