Age HardeningAge hardening is a heat treatment process for strengthening suitable alloys. Age hardening, also known as precipitation hardening, is a process whereby the hardness of an alloy can be increased if it is held at a suitable temperature for a period of time. During the 'ageing' process hardening occurs as a result of precipitation of hard particles, increasing the 'resistance to dislocation motion' within the microstructure. Hardening may occur at room temperature with some alloys, but the rate of hardening increases as the temperature is increased, until a point is reached when softening, or 'overageing' occurs. It is a process that is mainly associated with heat-treatable aluminium alloys and nickel alloys.
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