Stress Relief
Glossary · Materials & Heat Treatment
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Stress relieving is a low-temperature heat treatment that reduces the internal stresses left in a part by welding, forming or heavy machining, without changing its hardness.
In practice
The part is heated below its transformation temperature, held, and cooled slowly. Nothing about the metallurgy changes; the locked-in stresses simply relax.
Why it matters
A weldment or a heavily roughed part carries stress that releases as more material comes off — so it moves after machining, sometimes days later. Stress relieving between roughing and finishing is how that is prevented on parts that have to hold tight tolerances.
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