Patenting (heat treatment)
Patenting is a special method of heat treatment . It is used on tape and wire , among other things . The purpose of the process is to set a structure that is favorable for the subsequent cold forming . For this purpose, after austenitization , the material is cooled to a temperature that is above the martensite start temperature . The cooling can take place in air or in a salt bath . In wire production, a tightly striped perlite (also known as sorbitol ) is achieved, which is a structure that is well suited for drawing .