/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1039328
Trying to think about how to put this simply.

Think of a garden lattice trellis like the one in the pic, you can collapse it side to side which will change the shape of the structure, that structure would technically be stronger mechanically after you've manhandled it to look like a bundle of sticks. Which is essentially what we do when beating the fuck out of steel. We modify the metal both physically and at a structural level, but once its at that bundle of sticks level, you can't easily bend, twist or do much with it.

Now to return that lattice to its open structure, you need to apply heat, so the atoms in the metal redistribute themselves- then over time the lattice structure in the metal can grow, essentially the same as crystals do (if you've ever done a science experiment with hot salt water, bit of string dangling in it) which still require heat to grow until they've reached their normal lattice state. In some steels you also need pressure, (the same as certain types crystals) and other physical effects.

I think that sort of makes sense