LEAX Detmold > manufacturing > Hardening shop as part of our contract manufacturing services
LPC hardening shop with 2 chambers at LEAX Detmold plant

Our hardening shop at the Detmold plant

At our case hardening shop, we operate two Degussa Durferrit ovens, and work with the carbojet process. A broad variety of materials is processed in both ovens:

In case hardening we process e.g. 16MnCr5, 20MnCr5 and 18CrNiMo6-7. We quench and temper nitriding steels such as 42CrMo4, 31CrV9, and 18CrNiMo6-7. Further processing options include stress-free annealing and BG annealing. We can effortlessly handle batches up to 1,000 kg.

Moreover, we have a modern vacuum hardening plant for low-pressure carburisation. This way, oxidisation of the workpieces is prevented to the greatest possible extent, and there’s no need for sandblasting. This modern technology significantly reduces the time required for hardening, which in turn has positive effects on the entire production process as well as the environment.

Together with our technicians, you decide which procedure best suits your application, also taking the costs into consideration.

Heat treatment

In the case hardening process, carbon is added to the workpiece in a thermochemical process. After this "carburizing" process, the workpieces are hardened and relaxed by tempering.

This process is preferred for hardening drive parts and gear wheels, because:

  • The higher hardness of the surface layer gives the part a higher wear resistance
  • the load-bearing capacity is significantly increased
  • the tough core improves flexural fatigue strength and overload tolerance
  • the fatigue strength is increased

Suitable materials for case hardening are e.g. case-hardening steels, stainless steels with a low carbon content, steels with a base carbon content of less than 0.25 mass % carbon".