1. Ancient heat treatment
Heat treatment of materials has a long history in China. Compared with other regions in the world, the development of ancient Chinese heat treatment technology has obvious regional characteristics. In some respects, China’s heat treatment technology lags behind other regions, but there are also many inventions and technologies that are far ahead in the history of heat treatment in the world. The few achievements have also spread to all parts of the world, and have played a direct role in promoting the progress of the world’s heat treatment technology.
The development of material heat treatment technology in my country is similar to other technologies. The traditional heat treatment technology has experienced a process from germination, establishment, development, prosperity to decline, and finally the introduction, digestion and development of modern technology. With reference to the ancient stages of my country, it can be considered that in the ancient times, my country’s heat treatment has begun to sprout.
In the ancient times, my country’s traditional heat treatment technology began to be initially established; in the Middle Ages, my country’s traditional heat treatment technology has further developed; Traditional heat treatment technology has reached its peak. In modern times, my country’s traditional heat treatment technology has gradually weakened, and modern technology has begun to establish and develop.
2. Progress in modern heat treatment
Heat treatment is a very important basic process in the machinery industry. It plays a decisive role in improving the internal quality and service life of electromechanical products and strengthening the competitiveness of products in domestic and foreign markets. But it took a long time and a great price for people to realize this. Because heat treatment affects the internal quality of the product, it generally does not change the shape of the product, and does not make people intuitively feel its necessity.
If it is not done, it will cause serious distortion and cracking; it will damage the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of the product. As a result, all previous efforts in the manufacturing process were lost. Therefore, the phenomenon of “heavy cold (cold processing) and light heat (hot processing)” has long existed in my country’s manufacturing industry, so that the industry has been in a backward state.
Due to the weak industrial base and the damage suffered during the war, my country’s heat treatment in the 1940s was only a workshop-style production, and no substantial industry had been formed. There is no special subject for heat treatment in engineering colleges, so there is a lack of high-level professional and technical personnel. Most of the heat treatment operations at that time were family skills, shrouded in a mysterious atmosphere, and were in a very backward situation.
my country’s heat treatment industry originated from 156 enterprises aided by the Soviet Union in the early 1950s. Among the machinery factories, there are heat treatment workshops and sections. Purchased a large number of Soviet-made heat treatment equipment, including box-type, well-type, salt bath and other resistance heating furnaces of the 30s and 40s, and established the first batch of electric furnace plants that produced these types of equipment according to Soviet drawings. After the adjustment of the departments, some higher engineering schools established the heat treatment major included in the Department of Mechanical Manufacturing Technology.
From 1954 to 1956, they trained the first batch of college and undergraduate heat treatment graduates. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, there were also a group of international students majoring in heat treatment returning from the Soviet Union. Some scientific research institutions and colleges that have been established one after another can basically carry out the research and development of heat treatment basics and applied technology in accordance with the pace of material and application development, and a series of scientific research results have emerged. As a result, a relatively complete professional system has initially formed in terms of personnel training, research and development, production technology innovation and equipment manufacturing.
Due to the disconnection between scientific research and production applications, the neglect of innovative production equipment, and the short-sightedness caused by long-term isolation, the heat treatment production technology of machinery and metallurgical plants in the 1960s and 1970s did not show significant progress. It was not until the 1980s that communication with the international community was realized, advanced technology and equipment were introduced, and the production technology of some large-scale backbone enterprises had been significantly improved.