Different heat treatments have significant effects on the
microstructure and mechanical properties of a material. Heat treatment
processes include annealing, normalizing, and quenching and tempering.
In the lab, specimens are heated in the furnaces
and given different heat treatments. The effects of each heat treatment
are determined using diverse equipment in the lab: microstructure by
the video microscope, hardness by the Rockwell hardness tester, and tensile tests (data for stress-strain curves) by the Instron Model 4400 load frames.
