Solar Manufacturing recently shipped a 10-bar gas-quenching vacuum furnace to a captive heat treater in New England. Featuring high-pressure gas quenching and vacuum carburizing, the furnace has a graphite-insulated hot zone with a work area measuring 24 inches wide x 24 inches high x 36 inches deep and a load capacity up to 2,000 pounds. The AMS 2750F-compliant furnace has a maximum operating temperature of 2400°F (1315°C) and temperature uniformity of ±10°F. The furnace is equipped with the state-of-the-art SolarVac Polaris control system with carburizing software.

This article presents the vacuum-carburizing technology of Pyrowear® Alloy 53 steel. It discusses the methods of establishing different carbon concentration profiles in a layer and their influence on the hardness profile.