Vacuum/Surface Treatments

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Solar Manufacturing Inc. relocated Souderton, Pa., to Sellersville, Pa. Situated on a combined 8.5 acres just 3 miles from the previous location, the newly constructed $10 million building has 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 17,500 square feet of office space. Solar Manufacturing has the option of adding an extra 22,500 square feet to the manufacturing building in the future.

SECO/VACUUM Technologies (SVT), a SECO/WARWICK Group division with headquarters in Meadville, Pa., will supply a dual-chamber vacuum oil-quench furnace to an aerospace equipment manufacturer. The company is bringing its low-pressure carburizing and hardening work in-house. The furnace uses one chamber for vacuum heat treatment and the second chamber for oil quenching.

Quaker Houghton agreed to acquire the operating divisions of Norman Hay plc, a private U.K. company that provides specialty chemicals, operating equipment and services to industrial end markets. Norman Hay serves industries including aerospace, automotive, oil and gas and power generation through four divisions: Ultraseal, Sifco ASC, Surface Technology and Norman Hay Engineering.

Many papers have been written on the subject of vacuum furnace leaks, how to detect them and how to find them.

Ipsen USA announced its next Corporate Academy class for training field service engineers, part of a fast-track development strategy to continue increasing technical service capacity in the field. This strategy provides a solution to drive the success of heat treating in the industrial manufacturing space. Participants get 26 weeks of comprehensive classroom knowledge, hands-on troubleshooting experience and on-the-job field training. The goal is that participants leave the program with expertise in servicing and maintaining furnace equipment.

Original-equipment manufacturers of automotive dies from all over Europe are using laser heat treating to deliver higher-quality dies faster and cheaper than U.S. OEMs.

Solar Atmospheres, in conjunction with the William and Myrtle Jones Foundation, donated and installed a laboratory furnace for Lehigh University’s Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science. The furnace was designed and built by Solar Manufacturing. With SolarVac Polaris control system, a hot zone capable of holding up to 250 pounds and a maximum temperature of 2800°F, the furnace was installed in Lehigh University’s Whitaker Lab, along with the necessary Solar-built transformer and water cooling system.

Solar Manufacturing shipped a horizontal front-loading vacuum furnace to Georgia Southern University (GSU) in Statesboro, Ga. GSU will be using the furnace primarily for vacuum thermal-processing research and development of various iron-based alloys, including additive-manufactured parts. The furnace includes a graphite-shielded hot zone and heating elements. It has a work-zone size of 12 inches wide x 12 inches high x 18 inches deep and a weight capacity of 250 pounds (114 kg). 

Solar Atmospheres hosted 28 high-school students enrolled in the Summer Engineering Institute (SEI) at Lehigh University on July 11. The group also included a few members of Lehigh University undergraduate students and staff. The SEI program is a two-week residential program, running two sessions back to back. Students are nominated by faculty of local high schools, and the program specifically targets under-represented groups including girls, first-generation students and students who might otherwise have limited opportunities to study in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

Solar Atmospheres recently installed an all-metal hot-zone vacuum furnace at its facility in Souderton, Pa. This is the heat treater’s third all-metal hot-zone furnace installation for its climate-controlled room. The new furnace increases Solar’s capacity for processing sensitive materials such as PH stainless, nickel-chrome-based superalloys, titanium and ferritic and austenitic stainless steels.