Heat Treatment, Furnaces & Thermal Processing worked example

Part Distortion Risk with severity of distortion if it occurs of 15 score: a worked example

This scenario runs the part distortion risk calculation on the strong side: severity of distortion if it occurs of 15 score, with every other input held at its documented default. Use it when geometry, fixturing, quench severity, residual stress, or section changes could create unacceptable distortion.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Severity of distortion if it occurs: 15 score (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 6)
  • Likelihood distortion occurs this run: 4 score (unchanged)
  • Difficulty of detecting distortion before shipment: 3 score (unchanged)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Part Distortion Risk score = distortion impact severity × 0.40 + distortion occurrence likelihood × 0.35 + distortion detection risk × 0.25) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 8.15 score for part distortion risk score, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 15 score for distortion impact severity.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 4 score for distortion occurrence likelihood.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 3 score for distortion detection risk.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where severity of distortion if it occurs sits at 6 score and the headline result is 4.55 score, this scenario comes in 79.12% above the baseline at 8.15 score.
  • Use it during process planning for distortion-prone geometries, when qualifying a new part or quench recipe, or to rank parts competing for limited inspection and fixturing attention. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Part Distortion Risk score: 8.15 score (headline result)
  • Distortion impact severity: 15 score
  • Distortion occurrence likelihood: 4 score
  • Distortion detection risk: 3 score

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Part Distortion Risk calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.