A manufacturer of aviation engine parts is enhancing its research capabilities with the acquisition of an adapted vacuum furnace to investigate the improvement of aviation components. The company has plans to build a new research center where the customized furnace will be used for laboratory materials testing.
Vice President of Vacuum Business Segment
SECO/WARWICK
The manufacturer currently operates a SECO/WARWICK vacuum furnace used in the production of aircraft engine parts. The newly purchased Vector® furnace is equipped with isothermal quenching, which allows the cooling process to operate with better control of the load temperature and blower control using a frequency inverter. In addition, the SECO/PREDICTIVE system, a furnace monitoring and diagnostics option, allows users to detect the risk of failure before it occurs and thus minimizes unplanned downtime.
“Compact, specially adapted Vector furnaces are suitable for both scientific institutes and production plants that are looking for new material solutions and want to improve their components,” said Maciej Korecki, vice-president of the Vacuum Furnace Segment at SECO/WARWICK. “This furnace will not be used in series production, but in development processes, contributing to the creation of innovative solutions for the aerospace industry.”
SECO/WARWICK rebuilt the heating chamber so that the dimensions of the working space allow for effective development processes and installed a temperature uniformity system for temperatures reaching above 2372oF (1300oC). The purpose of personalization is to enable the system to produce an effective heat treatment of dedicated parts provided for the investment project, specifically R&D research on aircraft engine parts.
The Vector furnace designed for this client is characterized by the use of two gases: argon for partial pressure (ensuring the process purity, required by restrictive aviation standards) and nitrogen for hardening. It also has a dew point sensor for each gas. This is a system which solves one of the critical aspects of heat treatment, which is to prevent water vapor condensation, causing the processed load surface oxidation.
Press release is available in its original form here.
