No. 1039 is a 2000°F (1093°C) inert-atmosphere furnace used for heat treating turbine components.

Gardner Aerospace, one of Europe’s leading suppliers of aircraft parts and sub-assemblies, invested in a high-pressure fluid-cell press from Sweden’s Quintus Technologies. Gardner recently opened a 45,000-square-meter manufacturing facility in Chengdu, China, that will support China’s rapidly developing domestic market for aerospace parts. The 800-bar (11,600-psi) press has a forming area of 700 mm x 1,800 mm (27.6 x 73 inches). Gardner purchased a high-pressure fluid-cell press from Quintus in 2015. It has a central position at the company’s facility in southern France, where it has generated significant cost savings and eliminated several forming operations.

Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire select assets of Bombardier aerostructures and aftermarket services businesses in Belfast, Northern Ireland (known as Short Brothers); Casablanca, Morocco; and Dallas, Texas. The acquired Bombardier operations employ more than 4,000 people at three sites comprising approximately 3.4 million square feet. The backlog of work includes long-term contracts on the Airbus A220 and A320neo, along with Bombardier business and regional jets.

L&L Special Furnace Co. Inc. shipped a floor-standing box furnace to a high-tech aerospace and associated components manufacturer located in the southeastern U.S. The furnace, which has a work zone measuring 120 inches wide x 48 inches high x 72 inches deep, will be used for processing aerospace parts and various thermal applications. It has a temperature gradient of ±20°F from 1100-2150°F using eight zones of temperature control with biasing to balance any differential in temperature gradients.

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.

Premier/BeaverMatic recently manufactured and shipped spray/dunk washers from Premier’s new 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Farmington Hills, Mich. The equipment was delivered to an international aerospace firm in the southeastern U.S. The spray/dunk washers are designed to clean 1,250 pounds of heat-treated material using a full immersion oscillating dunk cycle, propeller agitation and a separate high-pressure, with solution, spray cycle. The washers are fabricated entirely of 304 stainless steel and include safety light curtains, powered access doors, electric heating, automatic water makeup, liquid level switches, extensive heat shielding and guarding to protect plant personnel from incidental contact with hot surfaces. 

Delta H Technologies delivered a dual-chamber aerospace heat-treating furnace system to the United States Air Force’s Kunsan Air Base in South Korea. The highly specialized furnaces will provide heat-treating capacity for military aircraft while adhering to the strict calibration and record standards of the Armed Forces. The furnace is designed exclusively to comply with aerospace and military pyrometry standards AMS 2750E and USAF/NAVAIR Technical Order 1-1A-9. With this technology, all aviation-grade metals such as aluminum, stainless steel, titanium and ferrous alloys can be rapidly heat treated in a single system. This minimizes downtime for mission-critical aircraft.

SECO/WARWICK Group’s subsidiary based in Meadville, Pa., has been awarded a major contract to build and commission a specialized aluminum solution heat-treating furnace for a U.S. manufacturer. The furnace, which is AMS 2750-compliant and Nadcap-capable, will be engineered to load, heat treat, quench and discharge with minimal operator assistance. It will be used to heat treat products for automotive, aerospace and medical applications.

Wisconsin Oven Corp. shipped a horizontal solution-treat system with a chiller to a manufacturer in the aerospace industry. The electrically heated system has a maximum oven operating temperature of 1100°F and work-zone dimensions of 12 feet, 3 inches wide x 3 feet, 11 inches long x 4 feet, 6 inches high. It was designed to heat a 2,840-pound gross load consisting of a mixture of aluminum and steel to 1000°F, provide a soak at temperature and then quickly move the load into a quench tank. A hydraulically operated load/unload system lowers and raises the load for quenching.

Wisconsin Oven Corp. shipped an electrically heated horizontal-quench solution-treat system to an aerospace-industry supplier. The system has a maximum oven operating temperature of 1200°F and work-zone dimensions measuring 5 feet, 4 inches wide x 5 feet, 6 inches long x 5 feet, 4 inches high (above the rollers). It was designed to heat a 565-pound gross load, consisting of a mixture of aluminum and steel, to 1000°F, provide a soak at temperature and then quickly move the load into a quench tank.