Heat Treating – Hardness

Hardness and the Austempering Method (For Carbon Steel Retaining Rings)

Over the years, Rotor Clip has consistently produced retaining rings with tremendous strength and ductility. The key to producing such quality, high performance products has been Rotor Clip’s perfection of the austempering method. Through this process, retaining rings undergo a complete transformation to the desired bainitic structure thus eliminating brittleness and ensuring strength. This is accomplished by our heat treating furnaces (see drawing below). They feature automated feeding which eliminates any possible overloading of the furnace. Parts are uniformly placed on the belt by means of an oscillating feeder, to ensure all parts reach a uniform temperature.

The parts pass from the furnace into a molten salt quench tank where they are transformed isothermally at a predetermined temperature and time. This results in parts with a bainitic structure characterized by good mechanical properties.

Hardness data for Rotor Clip carbon spring steel, stainless steel, and beryllium copper retaining rings are listed at the end of each specification chart.