VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

Cincinnati Radiator Bolsters Aluminum Brazing Capabilities with New VAB Furnace

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS, BRAZING NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

Cincinnati Radiator, a manufacturer of radiators and cooling products, recently expanded its production capabilities at its Fairfield, Ohio, facility with the addition of a vacuum aluminum brazing (VAB) furnace. This acquisition will enable the company to perform in-house radiator core brazing.

The VAB furnace, with a weight capacity of up to 2,000 lbs, is the third manufactured and installed by Ipsen.

Prasenjit Ray
General Manager
Cincinnati Radiator
Source: Ipsen

“This furnace has so many recipes for us to use,” said Prasenjit Ray, general manager of Cincinnati Radiator. “We were planning to test it out for two months, but we weren’t expecting to get production-quality within those two months. What shocked and surprised me was that the first cores that came out were perfect. We’ve produced 10 (in the first month) and it runs like a new Cadillac.”

“We knew that we needed a way to make cores here. When customers had to rely on cores processed in China, it could mean a four-month lead time. If we had our own furnace, we could operate a just-in-time production,” said Ray. “We went with John Pease (Ipsen Regional Sales Representative) and Patrick McKenna (Ipsen USA President & CEO) to California to see a company operating two Ipsen VAB furnaces. Our team knew that, once we saw them in operation, we wanted to work with another company within the United States. Ipsen could offer great aftermarket support, and the delivery was worth the wait.”

Main image (left to right): All of Cincinnati Radiator: Abhilash Uppala, Manufacturing Engineer; Prasenjit Ray, General Manager; Michael Petitt, Assistant Operations Manager; and James “Tom” Aynes, Accounting Manager. Source: Ipsen.

The press release is available in its original form here.

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MIHEU Expands with 4th Vacuum Furnace

/ MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

MIHEU, a commercial heat treater for the steel processing industry, recently expanded its vacuum furnace line for processing large dies at its hardening plant with a single-chamber vacuum furnace.

The SECO/WARWICK furnace will allow MIHEU to increase processing capacity while maintaining precision, joining three other vacuum furnaces purchased from the supplier. The vacuum furnace with high pressure gas quenching includes large load capacity and workspace with an option to make adjustments for an oversized load.

Jędrzej Malinowski
Sales Manager
SECO/WARWICK Group
Source: LinkedIn

“The Vector vacuum furnace will solve the challenge of hardening large dies, because it uses a large working space,” said Jędrzej Malinowski, sales manager of SECO/WARWICK. “The furnace is equipped with convection heating — a system which improves the heat transfer efficiency when heating at lower temperatures, as well as directional cooling, which allows for cooling problematic shape elements in various ways.”

“We wanted a solution which would shorten the heat treatment cycle time,” commented Aleš Prikeržnik, managing director at MIHEU Slovenia. “By expanding our machine park with a new vacuum furnace, we will significantly shorten the waiting times for customer orders. . . . We already have three such solutions and we are very pleased with their operation.”

MIHEU is a Slovenian commercial heat treating center with a range of additional services, including traditional hardening and tempering in oil in pit furnaces, carburizing, carbonitriding, nitrocarburizing, hardening in vacuum furnaces, and all types of nitriding, gas and plasma nitriding processes.

The press release is available in its original form here.

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Huake Casting Control Technology Expands Production with Vacuum Furnace

/ AEROSPACE HEAT TREAT NEWS, ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

A manufacturer of components for the aviation and energy sectors is expanding its production capabilities with the acquisition of a horizontal vacuum heat treatment furnace. Huake Casting Control (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd., will use the equipment to manufacture precision gas turbine components and aircraft parts. 

A Vector® horizontal vacuum heat treatment furnace
Source: SECO/WARWICK Group

The solution, a member of the Vector® family of furnaces provided by SECO/WARWICK Group, comes with a graphite heating chamber and a 15-bar absolute gas quenching system, can operate at temperatures up to 2550°F (1400°C), and has a maximum gross load weight of 1767 lb (800 kg).

“We were convinced to choose the Vector furnace because of its wide range of heat treatment processes and applications, fast cycles with high pressure gas quenching and low consumption of energy, process gases and other media. Another undoubted advantage is that Vector is environmentally friendly and has low process gas emissions,” said Li Naixu, chairman of Huake Casting Control (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd.

“Huake ​​Casting Control Technology has become our customer as the result of the SECO/WARWICK Group’s increasing reputation in Asia. . . . We want to provide partners with solutions which will allow them to grow and achieve their intended goals related to production, quality and profitability,” said Liu Yedong, managing director of SECO/WARWICK China.

The press release is available in its original form here.

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Adamus Expands Heat Treating Capabilities with Vacuum Furnace

/ MEDICAL HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

Adamus, a punch tool manufacturer for the pharmaceutical industry, has enhanced its heat treating operations with a vacuum furnace. The company manufactures punch tools and spare parts for tablet presses, capsule presses, and blister machines, and the new furnace is intended for processing a wide range of punches used in tablet production.

Maciej Korecki
Vice President, Vacuum Furnace Segment
SECO/WARWICK
Source: SECO/WARWICK

“Adamus contacted us for the fourth time,” said Maciej Korecki, vice president of the vacuum furnaces segment at SECO/WARWICK. “This time, the partner wanted to replace an older, inefficient vacuum furnace with oil hardening, with a modern, more ecological and more economical vacuum furnace with gas hardening. Vector will perfectly meet these needs. It is compact, so it will not take up much space, it is efficient and ensures process purity, which is extremely important in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Vector vacuum furnace
Source: SECO/WARWICK

The Vector vacuum furnace on order solves Adamus’s challenge to grow production in order to meet their increased demand for the number of punch hardening processes for tablet production. The presses produce components that are integral to the manufacturing process in the pharmaceutical industry, which maintains demanding standards, procedures, and technical parameters.

“The challenge is the constantly growing demand for our punches and spare parts used for units operating in pharmaceutical plants,” said a representative of Adamus, based in Poland. “However, it is important to choose well-thought-out solutions which will be used in many processes when expanding the machine park, ensuring the highest quality of production.”

The press release is available in its original form here.

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Turbine Manufacturer Expands Heat Treat Capabilities with Vacuum Furnace

/ ENERGY HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

A manufacturer of wind and gas turbines is bolstering its heat treatment capabilities with a vacuum furnace to process oversized gas turbine structural components.

Maciej Korecki
Vice President of Vacuum Business Segment
SECO/WARWICK
Source: SECO/WARWICK.com

The vacuum furnace provides a work zone that accommodates the company’s need to heat treat large-sized parts and uses three process gases, argon, nitrogen, and hydrogen, to increase the process purity and reduce gas consumption costs during the cooling process. This is the eighth vacuum furnace the company has purchased from SECO/WARWICK and will be installed at the manufacturer’s European location.

“The demand for gas and wind turbines is systematically growing all over the world, and renewable energy is currently the focus of attention in all industries. It plays an important role in mitigating climate change, which is why it is important for us to be able to support a Partner who focuses on sustainable, renewable, and unlimited green energy,” said Maciej Korecki, vice president of the vacuum segment, SECO/WARWICK Group.

Kamil Siedlecki
Sales Manager
SECO/WARWICK
Source: LinkedIn

“The furnace’s three-gas partial pressure system helps prevent evaporation and sublimation of alloying elements from the load surface during vacuum heat treatment or vacuum brazing. Partial pressure control is important when processing many materials to prevent the hot zone evaporation and contamination,” said Kamil Siedlecki, sales manager at SECO/WARWICK.

The press release is available in its original form here.

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Automotive Parts Supplier Acquires Vacuum Furnace To Conduct Aluminum Brazing Tests

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS, BRAZING NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

An automotive supplier has acquired a vacuum furnace for brazing aluminum components. The VAB furnace was designed according to the client’s guidelines and will be used by the R&D department to conduct development tests in the field of aluminum vacuum brazing.

SECO/WARWICK previously provided vacuum technology systems to the automotive parts manufacturer and built the VAB furnace based on the design of a single-chamber VECTOR furnace.

Maciej Korecki
Vice President of Vacuum Business Segment
SECO/WARWICK
Source: SECO/WARWICK.com

“Orders requiring a specific approach always make us happy, because it builds, inspires, and develops both our body of knowledge and the technology. This project was certainly a challenge for the entire SECO/WARWICK Team, because the partner’s assumptions, in relation to the requirements placed on our furnace, were really high,” said Maciej Korecki, vice president of the vacuum furnace segment at SECO/WARWICK. “They required a very complicated and individual solution in the form of a cuboid shape of the heating chamber equipped with flat, large-surface heating elements. They were arranged in twelve independent temperature control zones, ensuring very high dynamics of load heating and ideal temperature uniformity.”

Lukasz Chwiałkowski
Sales Manager
SECO/WARWICK
Source: SECO/WARWICK

“We were tasked with creating a VAB furnace with unique solutions: a special square heating chamber equipped with flat heating elements made of Inconel 600 material, arranged in twelve independent temperature control zones” said Lukasz Chwiałkowski, sales manager at SECO/WARWICK.  

The press release is available in its original form here.

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PAI Industries Bolsters Capabilities With In-House Carburizing Vacuum System

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS, CARBURIZING NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

PAI Industries, a manufacturer of parts to the heavy-duty truck industry, has expanded its in-house heat treatment with a NANO vacuum furnace system.

The Georgia-based company partnered with vacuum furnace manufacturer ECM USA to transition its production line from out-sourced heat treatment to in-house vacuum technology in order to perform low pressure carburizing and through hardening around the clock.

The upgraded system will increase capacity and expedite production at PAI’s 112,000 square foot manufacturing facility. The NANO furnace system is comprised of one module with three stacked up heating cells (which can be extended to six heating cells, corresponding to two heating modules) and gas quenching cells to quench the parts. The carburizing cells are stacked up to reduce the footprint’s installation as much as possible. The furnace system integrates directly into the production line which allows it to reduce the cycle time while simplifying the flow between the machining and heat treatment.

The press release is available in its original form here.

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East Coast Manufacturer To Replace Aging Fleet of Vacuum Sintering Furnaces

/ MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

An East Coast manufacturer has purchased six new vacuum sintering furnaces to replace the 1980s-era sintering furnaces it has used for heat treating components.

SECO/VACUUM received the commission to transition the production line from nine 40-yr-old SECO/WARWICK sintering furnaces to the six Vector sintering vacuum furnaces with 2-bar gas cooling. The furnace hot zones will be 26″ wide, 30″ high, and 62″ deep (660 x 760 x 1575 mm), which are the same size as the retiring furnaces, allowing them to continue using their existing heat treat fixtures.

Sintering is a critical process used to fuse metals together without reaching melting temperature. It is generally used for fixing the strands of wire mesh in place, consolidating powder metals, or any application where the objective is fusing metals together while remaining below melting temperatures.

The press release is available in its original form here.

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Heat Treater’s Michigan Expansion Progressing

/ MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

The Michigan expansion of a furnace manufacturer and heat treating company has advanced with the erection of the entire steel structure in one week. The new 20,000-sq-ft building for Solar Atmospheres of Michigan Inc. will not only house additional vacuum and air furnaces but will also serve as a new shipping and receiving space.

Solar Atmospheres, headquartered in Souderton, PA, relocated equipment to its Michigan facility in April, 2024, where the ten vacuum furnaces are fully operational. The expansion project, which began in July, 2024, will more than double the company’s current footprint in Chesterfield, MI, and is on track for completion by the end of 2024.

The press release is available in its original form here.

Follow the development of this story in the previous Heat Treat Today posts found here, here, and here.

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SECO/WARWICK Group Expands US Footprint

/ MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, VACUUM FURNACES NEWS

The SECO/WARWICK Group, the parent company of SECO/VACUUM Technologies and SECO/WARWICK USA, has announced plans to bolster its production capacity in the U.S., increasing its footprint and workforce. The expansion will include relocating a portion of its manufacturing and a metallurgical lab for vacuum furnaces from its headquarters site in Poland to Crawford County, Pennsylvania.

The 120,000-sq ft facility located in Meadville, PA, will house equipment for furnace production and serve the company’s North American customers through the addition of parts, service, and training capacity, resulting in an increase in its heat treat manufacturing workforce. an international furnace manufacturer

SECO/WARWICK Group announced that this expansion received support from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania through a $2 million package of matching fund grants from the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) through its Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP). The primary use and intent of RACP funds is for reimbursement of eligible construction costs which SECO/WARWICK Group companies will match on a 1:1 basis. The Commonwealth will also provide an additional $69 thousand in matching funds for job training through the Workforce & Economic Development Network (WEDnet).

Employees of SECO/VACUUM Technologies and SECO/WARWICK at the announcement of the Meadville, PA, site expansion, held jointly by The SECO/WARWICK Group and the Commonwealth of PA Department of Community and Economic Development
Source: Heat Treat Today

State, county and local officials as well as representatives from the international and US-based offices of the SECO/WARWICK Group were present at an event marking the expansion.

“Governor Shapiro is committed to making Pennsylvania an economic leader by investing in the growth of businesses like SECO/VACUUM and SECO/WARWICK,” stated the Commonwealth in the grant award letter. “In addition to the financing package outlined above, the Governor’s Action Team is prepared to provide both companies with any assistance that may be required throughout the application process, as well as to coordinate the involvement of all other state agencies in the project.”

“We look forward to working with our local partners including the City of Meadville, the Economic Progress Alliance of Crawford County (EPACC), the Workforce and Economic Development Network (WEDnet), and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) to make this expansion happen!” said Piotr Zawistowski, president and managing director of SECO/VACUUM.

Pictured in feature image (L to R): Don Marteeny, vice president of engineering; Slawomir Wozniak, president and CEO, SECO/WARWICK Group; Piotr Zawistowski, president and managing director of SECO VACUUM Technologies

The press release is available in its original form here.

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