Particularly suitable heat treatment for highly roughened parts. This is performed in order to reduce internal stresses in the finished parts or to minimize dimensional deviations that will occur during the subsequent heat treatment.

This heat treatment is usually carried out on moulds, tools or on components that later should be nitrided. This treatment is also applied over structures or welded parts, in order to simultaneously reduce the level of internal stresses and the hardness oscillations produced by the welding process.

Stress relieving treatment do not produce steels softening, but take into account different parameters related to chemical composition and delivery condition.