Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. received a contract from a Tier 1 manufacturer of forged suspension components for a system that will produce lightweight forged-aluminum parts for passenger vehicles. The system includes a pre-forging rotary-hearth aluminum heating furnace, water quench and continuous aging furnace. The equipment will be integrated into an automated forging cell that includes specialized material-handling components and advanced controls.

Can-Eng’s patented rotary-hearth furnace will be used for the heating of aluminum billets prior to forging. Its multi-level compact design is ideal for modern automated cells, where a reduced footprint of equipment is required while processing parts of varying sizes and cycle times. The customized airflow system is used to produce a large operating range while maintaining rigid uniformity requirements. After forging, the parts are automatically transferred into a water quenching system custom-designed to specifically handle the current and future range of parts. CFD modeling was used to develop the agitation flow across forgings. A continuous aging system automatically conveys forgings using a material-handling system that includes the accumulation of finished parts without direct operator intervention.