Austempering — The Process HTI Was Built On.
One process, mastered since 1976 — plus the stress relieving, age hardening, and finishing capabilities that surround it. Here’s what HTI runs, and why austempering outperforms conventional heat treating.
HTI By The Numbers.
The core facts that define how HTI runs, before a single part ever ships.
Vital Statistics
Capabilities, equipment, certifications, and specifications at a glance. Opens as a PDF in a new tab.
What Austempering Does Differently.
Austempering is an isothermal heat treatment. Steel is quenched in molten salt and held at temperature so it transforms to bainite rather than martensite — producing greater toughness and ductility at a given hardness, with far less distortion than conventional quench and temper.
- Bainitic transformationHeld isothermally in molten salt to form bainite — tough and ductile, not brittle.
- Reduced distortion & crackingThe isothermal salt-quench dramatically lowers dimensional distortion and eliminates the cracking risk of conventional quench and temper.
- Clean surface for platingParts emerge with a clean, salt-quenched surface ideal for subsequent plating.
- Improved fatigue resistanceThe bainitic structure improves fatigue-cycle resistance in finished parts.
See Austempering In Action.
A look inside the furnace room — the belt line, the salt quench, and the discipline behind every lot.
Austempering Vs. Conventional Heat Treating.
Not every heat treater can austemper well. HTI has built an entire company around mastering the one process — backed by on-site technical staff who help solve difficult, high-precision applications.
Next-Gen Throughput & Performance.
Powered by intelligent process control, HTI’s flagship belt furnace is engineered to maximize quality, reliability, and output for your most demanding production runs.
- Precision gap timingEliminates cross-contamination risks during back-to-back loading while smoothly optimizing product flow to drive maximum throughput.
- Fail-safe redundancy & protectionRedundant atmosphere control systems paired with low-fire burner re-fire safety mechanisms deliver top-tier operational stability and equipment safety.
- Smart barcode integrationFor qualified customer programs, incoming loads receive a barcoded traveler that automatically communicates with the furnace control system, instantly populating the correct processing recipe to eliminate manual errors.
- Centralized recipe managementCustomized heat-treat recipes for qualified programs are securely mapped to individual part numbers in a centralized database, ensuring exact repeatability batch after batch.
- Full traceability & CQI-9 complianceAdvanced data collection software continuously logs critical parameters, generating comprehensive production reports that document full CQI-9 compliance and complete process transparency.
Tightly controlled process specifications, next-gen throughput on our flagship line, and full CQI-9 traceability on every job — engineered in, not left to chance.
The Capabilities Around The Core.
The same specialization applies to the processes that surround austempering — including materials other heat treaters turn away.
Stress Relieving
Reduces the internal stresses introduced during fabrication and forming, without compromising the integrity of the finished part.
Age Hardening — Beryllium Copper
Precipitation hardening of beryllium copper: Alloy 25 (C172) and Alloy 165 (C170), taken from H temper to HT temper.
Rust Prevention
Post-treatment oil dip and spin for clean, corrosion-protected parts ready for the next operation.
Tumbling & Deburring
Vibratory tumbling removes burrs and sharp edges from austempered parts — delivering clean, handling-ready components as part of the same flow.
What We Run — And How.
From high-carbon and alloy steels to beryllium copper, and from first-article prototypes to millions of parts. Flexible loading matches the part and the volume.
- Alloy rangeAISI 1045 through 1095, plus 4130, 4140, 5060, 5160, 6150, 8660, and E52100.
- Part thickness0.005″ to 0.150″.
- Part lengthUp to 8″.
- Loading optionsHand-placed, hand-sprinkled, bulk-loaded with computerized autoloaders, or sample-bagged for prototypes.
- VolumeFrom first article to millions of parts.
Our Commitment To Excellence.
HTI’s Business Management System is built to conform with ISO 9001:2015 — and it runs on a simple quality policy: pursue zero-defect delivery, meet every customer requirement, and improve continuously. That commitment is documented in HTI’s Business Policy Manual and lived out on the shop floor every shift.
- SafetyDoing what’s right for our employees.
- IntegrityDoing the right thing.
- ExcellenceDoing things right.
- ServiceDoing things with the right attitude.
Backed by a formal Code of Conduct Policy, Anti-Bribery Policy, and Ethics Policy — keeping HTI’s workplace safe, ethical, and accountable to every employee, customer, and supplier.
Business Policy Manual
Quality policy, management commitment, and operational standards. Opens as a PDF in a new tab.
See Our Process In Person.
Come tour HTI’s Logansport, Indiana facility and see the furnaces, the loading systems, and the process discipline firsthand — then bring us your toughest part.