Vacuum/Surface Treatments

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Solar Manufacturing designed, built and shipped a vacuum furnace to a company specializing in tool and die. The furnace, which will primarily be utilized to harden tool steels, is capable of operating temperatures up to 2400°F (1315°C). It features a graphite-insulated hot zone measuring 12 inches wide x 12 inches high x 18 inches deep and a load weight capacity up to 250 pounds.

Solar Atmospheres of Michigan Inc., formerly known as Vac-Met Inc., successfully reached its first milestone in the relocation phase. Solar Atmospheres has invested over $5 million in new equipment with all new utilities. The installed equipment includes two vacuum furnaces, an air tempering furnace and a freezer. As a result, the company was able to host its first AS9100D audit at the facility in Chesterfield, Mich. This quality management system audit for aviation, space and defense organizations, which incorporates ISO9001 standards, passed with zero findings.

One of the largest service hardening plants in Spain has purchased a vacuum furnace from SECO/WARWICK. The furnace on order, a Vector, will increase the company’s efficiency when hardening larger-dimension elements. It will join a machine park in which there is already one Vector vacuum furnace and a two-chamber furnace with an oil quench manufactured by SECO/WARWICK. The vacuum furnace will be equipped with options such as convection, directional cooling and isothermal quenching. According to SECO/WARWICK, it has a large working space measuring 35.5 x 35.5 x 47 inches (900 x 900 x 1,200 mm) with the capacity to adjust to an oversized load by utilizing the advantages of a circular heating chamber.

A plant that produces highly advanced fasteners for the largest manufacturers in the aerospace industry ordered a vacuum furnace from SECO/WARWICK. The furnace will process self-locking nuts, nut plates, barrel nuts, stud nuts, spline nuts, clamp nuts and a wide range of washers and flanges. It will operate at temperatures up to 2372°F (1300°C). The furnace will be delivered in a standard configuration and become part of the Italian company’s modern production plant.

SECO/WARWICK received an order from a South American manufacturer of weapons and military equipment for the supply of a Vector vacuum furnace. The single-chamber furnace will process components – including barrels, reels, locks and firearm magazines – that are expected to perform with outstanding resistance to negative external conditions. The gas-cooled vacuum furnace, which can be used for a range of heat-treatment processes and has a work space measuring 35.5 x 35.5 x 47 inches (900 x 900 x 1,200 mm), is designed to process large elements. It features convection heating, which improves heat-transfer efficiency when heating at lower temperatures, and directional cooling, which enables differentiated cooling of problematic parts in terms of shapes.

Solar Manufacturing shipped a vacuum furnace to a U.S.-based fastener manufacturer. The furnace will be primarily used to age harden various fasteners made of high-strength alloys used in the aerospace industry. It features a graphite-insulated hot zone measuring 36 inches x 36 inches x 48 inches with a weight capacity of 5,000 pounds, a maximum operating temperature of 2400°F (1315°C) and a 100-HP quench motor. Solar Manufacturing’s SolarVac Polaris control system was customized to interface with the fastener manufacturer’s in-house automation system for recipe control and data acquisition.

SECO/WARWICK received an order from a manufacturer of wind power plants for a vertical vacuum furnace designed to perform low-pressure carburizing for the gearboxes. The solution on order combines the advantages of two technologies: atmospheric and vacuum processing. A very large, vertical heating chamber makes low-pressure carburizing of oversized parts possible, while the furnace pit structure saves space in the company’s production facility.

Solar Atmospheres commissioned a new 25,000-square-foot brazing facility in Souderton, Pa., aimed at high-volume, high-quality braze production. The facility includes six vacuum furnaces dedicated to brazing, including an all-metal hot-zone furnace designed for brazing stainless steel to copper with silver- and gold-based braze filler metal (BFM). The production facility also boasts 4,000 square feet of climate-controlled workspace where technicians assemble and inspect parts, ranging from tiny capillary-tube manifolds to large land-based gas-turbine blades. The operation incorporates increased capacity for helium leak testing and pre-braze tack welding of braze assemblies.

Solar Manufacturing shipped a vacuum furnace to a firearms manufacturer based in the Midwest. It will primarily be used to anneal firearm components. The vacuum furnace features a graphite-insulated hot zone measuring 36 x 36 x 48 inches with a weight capacity of 5,000 pounds and a maximum operating temperature of 2400°F (1315°C). Solar Manufacturing also assisted with installation.

GIFA, Metec, Thermprocess and Newcast (Bright World of Metals 2023) drew 63,300 visitors from 114 countries in Düsseldorf, Germany. About 2,200 exhibitors from 56 countries presented the power of the metallurgical industry and displayed their equipment and solutions. Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence (AI) were much-discussed topics in the 12 exhibition halls of the four trade fairs.