Nucor Corp. announced a capital investment that will add vacuum degassing to its engineered bar capabilities at its mill in Darlington, S.C. Adding this capability will enable the mill to produce engineered bar products meeting some of the most stringent quality specifications in the industry. The vacuum degassing system is expected to begin operations in late 2020. According to Nucor, the investment wlll position it to better serve customers in the southeastern U.S. 

Furnacare Inc., a TAV Group Company, sold a TAV horizontal vacuum furnace with a maximum temperature of 2462°F (1350°C) to an international mint. The furnace, which has useful dimensions of 400 mm (15.7 inches) wide x 400 mm (15.7 inches) high x 600 mm (23.6 inches) long, has high-speed quenching with up to 25 bar of helium with an optional recovery circuit. A large pumping group allows for rapid evacuation of the chamber and high operating vacuum level. In addition, a closed-loop gas cooling system combines high flow capacity and pressure to guarantee fast and uniform cooling of the load.

The DRYVAC DV 200 and DV 300 complement the existing product range of DRYVAC 450, 650 and 1200 and offer the same user benefits for applications requiring smaller sizes.

HiLobe series Roots pumps can be used for industrial vacuum applications such as electron-beam welding, vacuum furnaces or freeze drying.

SECO/VACUUM (SVT), a SECO/WARWICK company, sold a vacuum tempering furnace to a global manufacturer of cutting tools. The furnace, which will be used for tempering and stress relieving metal parts, is part of the company’s expansion and complements another vacuum tempering furnace commissioned earlier in 2019 at the facility. The horizontal, front-loading furnace has an all-metal hot zone for clean vacuum processing. It includes a convection fan and a pressurized gas quench for quick cooling.

Many factors come into play during the vacuum sintering process, from the size and materials used in the furnace hot zone to whether debinding and sintering processes are combined in a single unit.

The LS series of dry screw pumps is a more compact and lower-cost replacement to multi-stage dry Roots pumps for a wide range of vacuum applications.

Solar Atmospheres ordered a 12-foot-long car-bottom vacuum furnace with advanced pumping system and rapid cooling capability for its Greenville, S.C., facility. The 144-inch-deep x 54-inch-wide x 54-inch-high horizontal furnace is capable of processing loads up to 50,000 pounds. Manufactured by sister company Solar Manufacturing, installation is scheduled for early 2020. The furnace design features a vacuum pumping system capable of achieving an ultimate vacuum of 1 x 10^-6 Torr, which is crucial to the processing of titanium and other high-grade alloys.

Modern designing of mechanical components and tools should take under consideration their intrinsic stresses and surface condition.