Stress Relieving

A process of reducing residual stresses in a metal object by heating the a metal object to a suitable temperature below annealing or transition temperatures, and holding for a sufficient time, usually followed by slow cooling. This treatment may be applied to relieve stresses induced by casting, quenching, normalizing, machining, cold working or welding. Steel wire makers may relieve stresses created in the wiredrawing process to increase the final tensile strength and preventing stress corrosion.