This article reviews the developments that have taken place, particularly for surface treatments, within the heat-treatment processing industry.

Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems recently commissioned a precision gas nitriding and ferritic nitrocarburizing (FNC) furnace for a commercial heat-treating company located in the Midwest. The furnace is capable of processing workloads that are 48 inches wide x 72 inches long x 40 inches high and weigh up to 7,000 pounds. It utilizes Super Systems Inc. controls for automatic KN and KC control to AMS 2759/10 and 2759/12 specifications. The furnace is designed to meet AMS 2750E as a Class 2 furnace, which allows it to be used to perform nitrogen tempering and stress relieving.

SECO/VACUUM, a SECO/WARWICK Group company, received an order for a high-volume nitrocarburizing furnace serving a major automaker via a tier-one supplier. The horizontal retort furnace is designed for precision nitriding capability and productivity. It will allow the company to produce, in North America, a significant number of parts used by automotive suppliers and will be integral to a larger investment in the firm’s component manufacturing operations. In addition to ferritic nitrocarburizing (FNC), the furnace can also provide clean stress-relief processing.

Service Heat Treating, a commercial heat-treating company located in Milwaukee, Wis., has developed an alternative heat-treatment process known as WearAll that has shown to provide better wear resistance than carbonitriding for a number of critical-service components.

SECO/VACUUM (SVT), a SECO/WARWICK Group company, received an order from a U.S. manufacturer for a precision gas nitriding furnace with ZeroFlow technology. The furnace will allow the company to offer engineered steel surfaces that exceed, in many cases, its competitors’ product performance. The company manufactures a range of transportation components. In addition to gas nitriding, the furnace has ferritic nitrocarburizing capability and pre- and post-oxidation. It also has the ability to clean temper and clean anneal to temperatures up to 1400°F.  

Ferritic-nitrocarburizing (FNC) processing is becoming a more common alternative to coating processes that require improved mechanical properties and resistance to corrosion, often on plain-carbon and low-alloy steels.