VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

PA Heat Treater Plays a Role in NASA’s Artemis 1 Mission

HTD Size-PR LogoThe most recent launch of NASA’s Artemis 1 Mission included a large titanium manifold housing designed to rapidly propel astronauts away from the main rocket in case of a catastrophic explosion or any other unexpected event. This critical part was vacuum heat treated by Solar Atmospheres of Western PA.

Titanium manifold weldment after vacuum heat treatment and shown on the Artemis 1 Orion Spacecraft
Source: NASA
Michael Johnson
Sales Manager
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA

On Wednesday, November 16, 2022, NASA’s unmanned Orion spacecraft launched successfully from Cape Canaveral at 1:47 am for a six-week test flight around the moon and back. This launch marks the first iteration of NASA’s moon-to-Mars Artemis 1 program.  For the 2014 Orion launch, NASA introduced the Launch Abort System (LAS). Once fired, the LAS will accelerate the astronauts away from the main rocket at forces up to 10 to 15 times normal gravity (“G’s”).

“Before the mighty Artemis rocket left Earth’s atmosphere with 8.8 million pounds of thrust, many of the components and support hardware had already experienced a lunar-like atmosphere here in western Pennsylvania,” commented Michael Johnson, sales director at Solar Atmospheres. “Many of the [6AL-4V] titanium and Inconel components were processed well below 1×10-5 Torr throughout thermal processing. Although our crew here on Earth were wearing nitrile gloves, it’s overwhelming to know we had a hand in heat treating these critical parts.”


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North American Heat Treat Manufacturer To Ship 10 Furnaces

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Trevor Jones
President
Solar Manufacturing, Inc.
Source: Solar Manufacturing, Inc.

A vacuum furnace manufacturer in North America has acquired purchase orders for ten vacuum furnaces this 3rd quarter.  The furnaces will be shipped to companies in the following market sectors: aerospace, commercial heat treating, and additive manufacturing.

Solar Manufacturing Inc. is based out of Pennsylvania, and the new systems will be sent to locations throughout North America. The various types of new furnace orders ranged in size from the compact Mentor® and Mentor® Pro series to a large production furnace with a work zone of up to 72” in length.

“[S]trong quotation activity levels seem to indicate customers are optimistic to expand after the pandemic ramifications continue to ease," commented Trevor Jones, President of Solar Manufacturing.


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Vacuum Furnaces: Time To Buy? Tips To Help Make Decisions

Best of the WebSource: Ipsen

Shopping for a new heat treat vacuum furnace? Much thought and research goes into preparing for such an investment. Expanding heat treat capabilities or replacing current equipment are big decisions in business growth. Take the time to ensure wise decision making. This best of the web article helps examine what specifically is needed in the vacuum furnace purchase. Following these tips will help you make an informed and industry-savvy furnace purchase.

First, the article encourages knowing what the new furnace's "process and production" specifically will be. Next, a list of many of the furnace's capability options is examined. Finally, choices regarding technology on the furnace are presented.

"Always keep in mind your process, parts and industry regulations as you begin your research. Choosing a furnace is a big investment, one that, if chosen wisely, can streamline your processes and save critical time and resources."

Read more: "Choosing the Right Vacuum Furnace for Your Needs"


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Heat Treat Supplier To Provide Andritz Group With Vertical Vacuum Furnace

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Maciej Korecki
Vice President of Business of the Vacuum Furnace Segment
SECO/WARWICK

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.


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Heat Treater’s New Switch Saves Production Run Time

HTD Size-PR LogoSolar Atmospheres in Souderton, Pa, has had an automatic disconnect switch installed into a production car bottom vacuum furnace. The switch saves time by eliminating the manual maneuver of disconnecting and then re-connecting the power terminal bars at each end of the car bottom during each production run.

The switch, from Solar Manufacturing, Inc., is rated for 1,000 amps, 50V AC per pole, and the switches are installed at each end of the hot zone. Not only have the disconnect switches performed as well as expected since installation at Solar Atmospheres Souderton, PA, location, but they also have improved production.

Source: Solar Atmospheres


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General Atomics Heat Treats 7 Modules for Superconducting Magnet

HTD Size-PR LogoGeneral Atomics has heat treated the seventh and final module for a large superconducting magnet for ITER, a multi-national science experiment, with a vacuum furnace from a heat treat furnace supplier in Pennsylvania.

In order to convert the 6 km long stainless-steel-jacketed coil of Niobium-Tin conductors into superconductors for the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) experiment, each of these 4-meter by 2-meter 110-ton solenoid sections had to be heat treated for five weeks, exceeding 650°C (1202°F) at its peak. The heat treatment served to alloy the Niobium and Tin strands together into Nb3Sn, which becomes a superconductor when chilled with liquid helium to 4 Kelvin.

No such heat-treating furnaces existed, so General Atomics turned to SECO/VACUUM, a SECO/WARWICK Group company in Meadville, PA, to build a heat-treating furnace large enough to fit these solenoids and packed with all the technology needed to meet the strict quality control standards of this experiment.

Peter Zawistowski
Managing Director
SECO/VACUUM TECHNOLOGIES, USA
Source: secowarwick.com

"SECO/WARWICK Group did a great job designing in backup systems and robust design," commented Nikolai Norausky, program manager at General Atomics. "Any time we had questions or needed maintenance they were there to help."

The vacuum furnace that the supplier provided had to perform multiple tasks, including to bake off residual impurities from coil fabrication and to anneal internal stresses introduced at different stages of part fabrication. “General Atomics put so much time and money into these coils we really didn’t have any room for error," added Peter Zawistowski, managing director of SECO/VACUUM, "so nearly every component had to be doubly redundant."

Explore the experiment in Heat Treat Today original content article.


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Heat Treat Furnaces To Improve Hardening Capabilities for Aalberts

Alberto Martin
Sales Director -- Spain
Aalberts surface technologies TEY

HTD Size-PR LogoInternational manufacturer Aalberts surface technologies Group will receive two vacuum furnaces to the group’s Spanish branch in País Vasco. The system on order solves the manufacturer's problem with hardening large dimension elements.

The manufacturer mainly operates in the automotive industry, as well as the machine industry and, with this order, has signed its tenth contract with international furnace supplier, SECO/WARWICK. Aalberts is ordering the heat treat furnace provider's horizontal retort furnace for high-efficiency tempering with vacuum purging and the Vector® vacuum furnace. The Vector, with a useful working space of 600mm x 600mm x 900mm will increase the efficiency of the current hardening plant, improving the economics of hardening processes. The retort furnace will significantly increase the processing capacity of the current hardening plant for tempering processes.

Once again, SECO/WARWICK equipment will contribute to increasing the efficiency of our entire Group," said Alberto Martin, director of Sales --- Spain at Aalberts surface technologies TEY. Aalberts surface technologies is a global company with over 80 years of experience, operating in over 70 countries.


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Heat Treat IQ System for Härtewerk Chemnitz Hardening Plant

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Kai Werlitz
Technical Operations Manager
Härtewerk Chemnitz GmbH
Source: Härtewerk Chemnitz

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.


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Global Power Tech Leader Will Use Heat Treat Furnace for Nuclear Applications

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A global leader in power technologies purchased a vacuum furnace from a North American furnace provider. The equipment will be used for specialized nuclear operations.

Peter Zawistowski
Managing Director
SECO/VACUUM TECHNOLOGIES, USA
Source: secowarwick.com

SECO/VACUUM, a SECO/WARWICK Group company, was awarded the order for the 2-bar Vector®, a single chamber high-pressure quench vacuum furnace. It will be used for a variety of heat treating processes, including hardening of tool steels as well as high vacuum sintering and annealing. The furnace design will achieve deep vacuum levels, allowing the customer to process materials for nuclear applications. The new Vector will replace an older furnace, adding significantly more capabilities and process flexibility.

"I’m very proud of how our SECO/VISORY group managed this relationship," noted Peter Zawistowski, managing director of SECO/VACUUM. "Our product management and engineering staff collaborated with the customer’s engineering and commercialization teams for over a year to develop a proposal for the specialized capabilities they required."


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Horizontal Nitriding System Delivered at Hydro Heat Treat Location

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Marcin Stokłosa
Project Manager
Nitrex Poland
LinkedIn.com

A global aluminum and energy company, Hydro Extrusion Norway, recently received a horizontal nitriding system, configured to replace an old decommissioned furnace

This latest delivery by Nitrex is the only one of its kind at Hydro facilities globally; the rest are pit-type furnaces. The nitriding equipment for Hydro Extrusion Norway in Magnor, Norway will integrate with the existing infrastructure of the plant as well as fit in the specific floor space allocation.

"Before placing the order, Hydro did its due diligence – visiting extrusion facilities with Nitrex equipment to get user opinions on the solution including the technology, die performance, extruded profile quality, and our support services," adds Marcin Stokłosa, project manager at Nitrex. "Moreover, the test trials produced very good results."


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