The Andritz Group, a manufacturer of complete lines for cold-rolled strip production and processing, has ordered a vertical vacuum furnace. The furnace for gas quenching processes will help produce consistent product quality.
SECO/WARWICK Group , a manufacturer with North American locations, equipped the Vector® furnace with a graphite chamber, gas cooling system, and a rotating hearth. The Andritz Group, with this system, adds to their heat treat capabilities in hydraulic power, pulp, and paper as well as metals processing industries.
This is the first vacuum furnace manufactured in the Tianjin facility of the SECO/WARWICK Group. “We have already worked with the Andritz Group, but this time it is the first contract with our Chinese branch. The Vector furnace is manufactured in our Chinese factory, which significantly shortens the solution’s delivery time to the customer," says Maciej Korecki, vice president of the Vacuum Products Segment at SECO/WARWICK Group.
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
ThermTech, heat treat service provider in Waukesha, WI, has increased their capabilities to provide services for the medical, aerospace, mining and oil, nuclear, and agricultural industries.
Jason Kupkovits, vice president of Sales & Strategic Direction at the company, commented on that ThermTech will be continuing their 40 years of quality assurance, turnaround time, on-site engineering, and customer service standards.
Partnering with Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems, ThermTech significantly increased their normalizing, annealing, stress relieving, tempering, and neutral hardening capacity through the acquisition of three new furnaces. These three furnaces --- now fully operational --- include: a dual zone, direct-fired box austenitizing furnace; a large batch tempering furnace; and an additional tempering furnace. These furnaces are compliant with AMS2750 at different class certifications.
ThermTech has also added two additional vacuum furnaces from Ipsen, USA. The furnaces have dimensions of 36” wide x 36” tall x 48” long with capabilities of quenching up to 6 bars of pressure utilizing nitrogen or argon gas as the quench medium. These large vacuum furnaces are AMS class 3 (+/-15°F) certified capable of AMS2750.
ThermTech added a solution annealing furnace from Williams Industrial Service to give their operational aluminum line additional heat treat capabilities. This line is capable of a sub-15 second transfer to air blast quench, a water quench range of 55°F up to boiling, a sub-7 second transfer to water quench which exceeds AMS 2770/AMS2771 specifications, as well as load thermocouple monitoring during the solution treatment, quenching, and aging.
Another recent acquisition includes a new austempering/marquenching furnace from Michigan based AFC-Holcroft. This furnace can handle a single part racked in the vertical orientation up to 56" long. The working dimension of the furnace is 36" W x 72" L x 56" H and is capable of operating with salt temperatures ranging from 350°F -- 750°F. "The UBQA system is an environmentally friendly ‘green technology,’" commented Dan Hill, sales engineer at AFC-Holcroft, "which can be used to impart resistance to distorting, cracking or warping of heat-treated components.” Applicable processes include marquenching, austempering, and carburizing with additional washing and tempering capacity accompanying the new marquenching/austempering furnace. Installation is expected in early 2023.
The heat treat service provider's long-term strategy is to increase growth in the Midwest and on a national scale. This includes adding more workers and integrating the use of a robotics handling systems, which is expected to be installed in late 2022.
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
PEMCO Conversions – Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services operators will join the "Three Second Club" with a new dual chamber heat treating system capable of quenching aviation grade aluminum aircraft parts in less than five seconds.
The modern DELTA H® Technologies, LLC Dual Chamber Aerospace Heat Treating (DCAHT®) system will replace PEMCO's previous DELTA H furnace which was installed in 2011 at PEMCO's location at Tampa International Airport.
The system, with an upper chamber convection oven operable to 500°F and a lower chamber convection furnace operable to 1200°F, includes soak time and quench delay recorded to within 1/10 of a second as well as full documentation systems for work order, part name, quality, and before/after condition. Honeywell controls and recorders are featured and include remote computer control, data entry, and process monitoring. In addition to processing aluminum parts, the system is equipped for PH stainless steel aging and titanium ferrous alloy processes. The replacement system is fully compliant with SAE AMS2750G requirements.
To achieve SAE compliance, DELTA H provided additional training for PEMCO employees.
“We look forward to sharing about our continued success with [DELTA H’s] great product [. . . ]. We couldn't be any happier," Cruz Hernández, Airborne Maintenance and Engineering Services Back-Shop supervisor stated,
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
Härtewerk Chemnitz GmbH, a large German commercial hardening plant (Lohnhärterei), has purchased a horizontal, two-chamber furnace low-pressure carburizing and oil quenching system from an international heat treat solutions provider. In the German plant, the integral quench system will replace legacy atmosphere technology and expand their capabilities for mass-producing parts.
This is the first SECO/WARWICK furnace equipped with vacuum heating at the heat treater's German plant and the first Super IQ solution in Germany. The system has a heating chamber, loading and unloading vestibule, and a quenching bath. The equipment in the system enables users to perform a variety of heat treatment processes, heat, and chemical treatment, as well as low-pressure carburizing and quenching.
"The machines we have worked with so far had required time-consuming and expensive preparation, especially when the equipment was not at the right temperature," commented Kai Werlitz, technical operations manager at Härtewerk Chemnitz GmbH. "The Super IQ furnace that we have ordered eliminates not only these difficulties but also enables efficient heat treatment with very high repeatability and uniformity of the carburized layer, which with atmospheric furnaces was only possible to a limited extent."
The heat treater's Chemnitz and Chomutov plants provide a wide range of services related to metal heat treatment and focus on Germany and Europe's mechanical engineering, automotive, and metalworking industries.
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA announced their newly designed vacuum oil quench furnace (VOQ) has passed startup protocol. There were zero flare and smoke-ups during the quench cycle and the transfer mechanism moved 2000 pound loads with no issues.
"[Recently]," Bob Hill, president of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, says, "insurance companies are reluctant to write policies for commercial heat treaters simply because they see a single flame or evidence of smoke. In the past, unfortunate accidents have occurred with explosive endothermic atmospheres and flammable oils. I am convinced that this new Solar Manufacturing furnace is a much safer and greener way to oil quench parts."
Watch internal and external camera footage during a quench operation.
The design of the furnace allows for reading work temperatures within the 36" x 36" x 48" hot zone. No oxygen probes are necessary, since the furnace operates with an atmosphere devoid of oxygen. Alloys of dissimilar carbon contents and similar cross sections and austenitizing temperatures can be treated in the same load.
To read about the installation of this VOQ, or to watch a video of the largest component of that installation, click here.
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA received delivery of their vacuum oil quench (VOQ) furnace last week.
This 36” x 36″ x 48” furnace from Solar Manufacturing will be fully installed, tested and operational in early April. See the largest component, a 40,000 pound vestibule/oil quench tank, being transferred and inverted into its pit. This will be the first vacuum oil quench furnace to employ work thermocouples in the actual load!
Solar Atmospheres indicates that they will be releasing updates on this furnace in the future.
Today, we cast our sights overseas to our European information partner, heatprocessing, to find out what’s new internationally. Major movements in steel and implementations of new furnace tech are the themes.
Steel Wire Plant Needs New Bell Annealer System
“After detailed technological analysis, Italy’s Trafilerie San Paolo, srl. has selected a Hicon/N2 bell annealer facility for steel wire by Ebner Industrieofenbau.
“The facility will be installed in TSP’s newly-remodeled steel wire plant in Molteno (LC). Initial installation will comprise two Hicon/N2 workbases, one heating bell and one cooling bell, as well as all required peripheral equipment. The scope of supply includes all required supplementary equipment such as hydraulic power supply equipment, a pressure control station, analysing systems, state-of-the-art electrical systems with automation technology and a central visualisation system terminal.”
“Wuhan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. (WISCO) has awarded Tenova LOI Thermprocess another order for the installation of a continuous quench for efficient cooling of thin steel plates.
“The quench is specially designed for efficient cooling of thin and very thin plates of high strength and wear resistant material. The quenches adopted for this application ensure maximum hardness and outstanding flatness combined with unique and powerful models and overall automation.”
A new vacuum furnace for a division of the US Department of Defense will bolster its capability to ensure supply chain reliability. The furnace is equipped to handle steel hardening, surface engineering, vacuum annealing, nickel alloy processing, and titanium heat treatment.
As a critical supplier of aerospace components to the US Department of Defense, this division will use the new vacuum oil quenching furnace, provided by SECO/WARWICK, Group, to handle functions of the department’s existing heat treatment furnaces and expand their capabilities. The addition of low pressure carburizing (LPC) and high pressure gas quenching (HPGQ) is new to this location.
“Assuring redundancy in heating needs of this location was critical,” said Piotr Zawistowski, Managing Director of SECO/VACUUM.
Peters’ Heat Treating, Inc., a 40-year-old heat treating company that specializes in a variety of high tech heat treating processes, moved its headquarters into a newly expanded Meadville, Pennsylvania facility located in the western part of the state.
Additionally, Peters' Heat Treating also announced two new lines of business: aluminum alloy processing and stainless steel black oxide.Vice President Diana Wilkosz shared in a recent interview, "We added these two new lines because of the growing demands from the automotive, aerospace, energy, and defense industries. We are also working on Nadcap certifications."
The company specializes in vacuum processing, atmosphere heat treating/integral batch quench processing, laser heat treating, aluminum alloy processing, carburizing, scale free aging/stress relieving, cryogenics, black oxide coating, induction processing, nitriding/FNC and the proprietary Nitreg nitriding processes.
After being in their original facility for 40 years, this expansion, that covers 32,000 square foot of manufacturing space, has provided them the opportunity to expand and update their vacuum line, provide room to add new vacuum furnaces, as well as increase their product offerings and continue to grow the now 60-employee business.
“We are excited to consolidate our services and knowledge in a way that maintains our history and dedication to the local community and industry while providing us the runway for a successful future,” said Andy Wilkosz, newly named president in 2019 and son-in-law of founders Doug and Jackie Peters. “These current times are challenging, but we know our business and the country will persevere.”
In addition to Peters' Heat Treating, the family also co-ownsLaser Hard, a robotic laser heat treating company.
“It’s been a pleasure to be a part of the local community and to help companies grow,” Doug Peters said. “Probably the thing I’m most proud of is the great people I’ve had the opportunity to work with. I’ve watched them buy houses and have children, and now their kids are having children.”
To learn more about Laser Hard, listen to the Heat Treat Radio episode in which they are featured.
Youngstown Tool & Die (YTD), an Ohio manufacturer of aluminum extrusion dies, upgrades its in-house atmosphere heat treatment capabilities with the purchase of two high-pressure gas quench (HPGQ) furnaces. The decision to buy stems from the manufacturer’s plans to expand within their community.
“Our expansion,” said Dave Mrdjenovic, General Manager at YTD, “has been facilitated by a localized government development program to expand employment and business development in our area, so we are moving quickly to take advantage of the program. Upgrading our existing atmosphere furnaces to high pressure gas quench vacuum furnaces will significantly improve our performance as we grow.”
The two Vector® HPGQ furnaces were provided by SECO/VACUUM (a SECO/WARWICK Group company).These furnaces are designed for the heat treatment of dies in all types of applications, such as stamping, molding, and extrusion as well as for other uses. Because Vector’s HPGQ system cools dense masses both evenly and quickly without distortion, die quality and consistency are improved compared to the more historically used atmosphere heat treatment methods. These furnaces create a bright and clean final product.