The Datapaq Furnace Tracker automatically generates CQI-9 and AMS 2750E reports for aluminum vacuum brazing furnaces.

Some say we are on the cusp of another industrial revolution, namely the decentralization of manufacturing heralded by the growth of additive-manufacturing (AM) technology.

Vacuum aluminum brazing is a careful balance of time, temperature and vacuum level.

Once again, our readers weigh in on the best articles in 2018. This time it is in the melting/forming/joining category. Interested in what they have to say? Check out the list that follows.

StandardAero Component Services dedicated a 30,000-square-foot expansion of its component repair facility in Miami, Fla. The additional working space and capital improvements included the installation of a vacuum furnace, state-of-the-art clean line and water-jet cleaning capabilities. According to StandardAero, the facility will now be the largest provider of aerospace and aerospace-derivative combustor overhauls in North America and the second largest in the world.

In the operation of vacuum furnaces, the quench-gas heat-exchanger fins can become clogged with various debris and dirt that is very difficult to completely clean with standard pressure washing and other conventional methods. The clogged heat exchanger greatly impedes quench-gas flow, resulting in reduced work cooling rates.

SECO/VACUUM, a SECO/WARWICK company, received an order from a global manufacturer to supply a second vacuum furnace to its U.S.-based operations. This second furnace, a vacuum temper furnace for tempering and stress relieving metal parts, is part of the company’s U.S. expansion and becomes a centerpiece in a new processing line. The horizontal, front-loading furnace has an all-metal hot zone for clean vacuum processing.

As additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing, continues to evolve, many challenges still plague this exciting new technology.

Questions about AMS 2750 are common for readers of this journal. We review the impact of this important pyrometry specification to help you deal with the complexities and unknowns in the high-temperature environment of sintering.

All four Solar Atmospheres facilities (Souderton, Pa.; Hermitage, Pa.; Fontana, Calif.; and Greenville, S.C.) recently obtained certifications to AS9100 Revision D and ISO 9001:2015. Solar has held AS and ISO quality management systems registration certificates since 2001.