Everything You Need to Know about Normalising
12 May 2022
At Buy A Beam, we’re proud of our reputation of our variety of trusted online steel suppliers, connecting customers all over the UK with local steel suppliers. With an extensive history in steel fabrication ourselves, we’re no strangers to the terminology used in the steel industry.
One of these terms is known as normalising, which many may not know outside the realm of structural steel fabrication. However, if you know you’ll eventually buy steel online for a construction project, you may benefit from learning about what this means. This guide explains everything you need to know.
What is Normalising in the Steel Industry?
Normalising is a type of heat treatment that makes metals more ductile after it has been through thermal or mechanical hardening.
The heat treatment involves heating the structural steel raw materials before cooling them back down to room temperature by directly exposing them to air. Normalising steel alters its microstructure, thereby reducing its hardness and improving its ductility.
Why Do Steel Fabricators Normalise?
You may find that metal fabricators would normalise steel beams, steel tubes, box sections, channels, and similar products because another process has affected its hardness and flexibility.
Regardless of whether this alteration was intentional or accidental, normalising steels causes the microstructures to reform into more malleable ones, making the product more machinable, formable and less likely to succumb to residual stresses.
The Steel Normalising Process
There are three main processes of normalising within steel fabrication work.
1. Recovery
Using a furnace or similar heating device, the metal is heated to a high temperature (approximately 800-920℃), roughly matching the hardening temperature. The high temperature causes the internal stresses to be relieved.
2. Recrystallisation
The metal is subsequently heated above its recrystallisation temperature but below its melting point, thus causing new grains to form without any pre-existing stresses.
3. Grain Growth
The metal is subsequently heated above its recrystallisation temperature but below its melting point, thus causing new grains to form without any pre-existing stresses.
When Would Steel Normalising be Necessary?
Metals can only be normalised if heat can alter their microstructures. Numerous alloys can undergo normalising, including (but not limited to):
- Copper
- Brass
- Aluminium
- Cast iron
- Other iron-based alloys such as stainless steel, tool steel or mild steel
Normalising isn’t restricted to structural steel used in construction; it can also be used for various other applications. Some examples include the following.
Stainless Steel Stampings
In the automotive industry, it’s relatively common to normalise ferritic stainless steel stampings. This would generally take place after the forming process has finished.
Nickel-Based Alloys
Companies working in the nuclear industry may require certain alloys to normalise their products after welding. Steel welding may alter the thermal properties, and thus normalisation may be necessary to bring the metal back to a workable state.
Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel
Work hardening can affect the brittleness of carbon steel sections, thus requiring them to be normalised.
What’s the Difference Between Annealing and Normalising?
Annealing and normalising are very similar processes within the steel fabrication industry. Both methods involve heating metals to or above specified temperatures and allowing them to cool slowly to create a ductile microstructure.
The primary difference is that annealing involves the controlled cooling of metals in a furnace. Normalising involves cooling materials in environments at room temperature and exposing them directly to air.
With these changes in mind, it’s worth knowing that normalising allows metals to cool far more quickly than annealing. If materials had undergone annealing, they might have slightly higher hardness values and less elasticity.
In conclusion, you may not necessarily need to know the technical ins and outs of complicated processes like normalising or annealing. You can entrust the professional steel fabrication companies registered with Buy A Beam to handle those processes, as they will know the extent of what’s required and by whom.
Connect with Local Steel Suppliers
As a customer looking to buy high-quality UKCA-marked (formerly CE-marked) steel online, all you need to know is whether your products are fit for purpose, how much they cost and how soon they can be delivered to your site.
With the Buy A Beam shop, you can select the number and type of steel products required and specify their dimensions, with instant competitive prices and fast lead times. If your products require specialist processes, you can specify that directly from your chosen local steel supplier when ordering steel online. Many steel stockholders offer a wide range of other added-value services such as crane offloading or free delivery.
See for yourself how easy it is to buy steel online through Buy A Beam. If you’re interested in becoming a steel supplier with us, click here.
Buy Steel Online from Local Steel Suppliers
At Buy A Beam, we are proud to represent many nationwide steel stockholders who exhibit professionalism and quality assurance in ensuring their products are fit for purpose and will not fail.
Whether they are fabricating a set of universal steel beams for a domestic construction project or a bespoke, cut-to-size steel frame building, we are firm in our belief that our online metal suppliers adhere to the highest standards and expectations.
If you are responsible for project managing (wholly or partially) a domestic or commercial construction project, you can order steel online in just a few clicks from a local steel fabricator and supplier through Buy A Beam. You won’t have to worry about wait times for quotes and will instead receive an instant price for the steel you need, along with the length of time for delivery.
Our online shop will connect you to nearby structural steel companies with a full, up-to-date inventory of products in stock and add-on services such as crane hire. If this sounds like something you could be interested in, find out more here.