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.
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
All the buzz in our industry seems to indicate that additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing are the next hot topics in heat treat, particularly in vacuum heat treat. Heat Treat Today decided to find out how these new technologies are shaping the industry. Read what five heat treat industry leaders had to say about how their companies are preparing for the next generation of AM and 3D printing.
This Technical Tuesday article bringing together the responses from these five companies was first published in Heat Treat Today‘s November 2022 Vacuum print edition.
What changes have you made to accommodate the AM/3D printing marketplace?
Dennis Beauchesne General Manager ECM USA, Inc.
The most important changes relate to the build plate size and how it connects to our standard size systems. Build plates are ever-changing, it seems, as customers have new applications and mostly larger build plates are being requested. In addition, the process parameters – such as temperature and time at temperature and quantity of material – are important. These two items have the most to do with reconfiguring equipment for the AM market. We have also been able to implement our wide range of automation and robotics skills into this equipment as the market scales up for high production.
How will your products and/or services change to accommodate this marketplace?
We are/will be introducing equipment that is in line with standard-build plate dimensions along with reducing operating costs.
Share how 3D printing or AM products/services help heat treaters.
Contact us with your Reader Feedback!
Recent debind and sinter applications have involved, as previously mentioned, complete robotics to handle parts after printing, to debind, to sinter, and then to process specialized by ECM, such as low-pressure carburizing. ECM has also provided equipment to provide all three processes in the same furnace without moving the load or requiring the furnace to cool and reheat. This reduces work processing time along with less handling and less utility cost.
What changes have you made to accommodate the AM/3D printing marketplace?
Mark Hemsath Vice President of Sales, Americas Nitrex Heat Treating Services
Nitrex Vacuum Furnaces, through its GM Enterprises acquisition, has moved heavily into additive manufacturing via large production MIM furnaces, which are able to both remove large amounts of powder binders and sinter the parts in the same process. We are in the process of installing and/or starting up five furnaces for these markets, and we have recently employed even more advanced concepts on high volume wax removal. A further trend is on higher value materials, like nickel and cobalt alloys and titanium, necessitating diffusion vacuum levels for processing. Nitrex Vacuum has had this experience already for many years, so moving to smaller scale 3D designs comes with years of experience.
How might your products and/or services change to accommodate this marketplace?
Smaller units are a trend to keep an eye on. We have over a decade of learning from the large units we offer, and this will allow us to compete in these lower volume markets (i.e., 3D) via our proven expertise. Several facts/ideas that we are keeping top of mind are:
Large potential in the future (whole new market starting to evolve)
Redesign the product to meet the new needs
Good for rapid prototyping and quick low volume parts
Furnaces need to be available with fast delivery 3D printing is finding a tremendous niche in fast part production, sourced internally or sourced quickly. These parts may cost more per piece, but having them fast is often more important, and 3D offers this ability to cut weeks or months off of supply chain sourcing.
Share how 3D printing or AM products/services help heat treaters.
The AM sector is still in growth mode. How we help is to give a full-service solution to those customers who want to really increase their volume yet use vacuum in the process. Vacuum helps to transport the binder vapors away from the parts and into the traps for removal. Full binder removal adds to the quality of the parts, as does vacuum sintering of the final parts. We have supplied a few systems over the years with higher, diffusion vacuum levels. As powder materials evolve to higher value materials, there is more interest in diffusion vacuum, and we recently supplied such a system.
What do readers need to know about AM/3D to make decisions today?
Vacuum is the proper way to debind and sinter. Additionally, 3D printing started slow and there were many technologies evolving. Now, it has started to really grow, and the need for smaller furnaces that can offer the same quality as MIM parts produced in high volumes will be a need for 3D part makers, in medium to low volume parts. This may involve furnaces for sinter only, debind and sinter, or even sinter and heat treat. We can see the need to both sinter 3D parts in a small furnace and also heat treat them with special added processes and surface treatments.
What changes have you made to accommodate the AM/3D printing marketplace?
Phil Harris Marketing Manager Paulo
Adding a hot isostatic press has been the most notable change Paulo has made to serve the growing AM market. It goes a step further than that though; heat treatment of AM parts has rapidly evolved, and the desire for custom cycles and more data has caused us to make instrumentation changes and do more R&D type work. Understanding the full production path of the parts and doing our part to reduce the time parts are spending in post-processing steps, including offering stress relief, HIP, EDM, and vacuum heat treatment in a one-stop-shop.
How might your products and/or services change to accommodate this marketplace?
As trials continue and boundaries are pushed for both additive and the accompanying thermal processing, we’re constantly keeping an eye on what’s next. Investing in equipment that’s capable while maintaining and instrumenting it to provide the data and reliability the market needs is the name of the game. Of course, open communication with additive manufacturers and printer designers makes this far easier. We value communication with printer manufacturers as it helps us understand demand for our services in terms of build plate size, since, as we all know, furnaces and HIP vessels aren’t one size fits all!
Share how 3D printing or AM products/services help heat treaters.
Additive parts have become commonplace and we’re now regularly providing HIP, stress relief, and solution treating for them. A more interesting example is for parts printed in Inconel 718; we’ve developed a combined HIP and heat treat (or High Pressure Heat Treat) cycle which was able meet material properties specifications when the traditional processing techniques were not. This is where we feel the real cutting edge is when it comes to heat treatment of additive parts; the slow cooling HIP cycles developed for casting decades ago aren’t always optimal for today’s additive parts.
What changes have you made to accommodate the AM/3D printing marketplace?
Trevor Jones President Solar Manufacturing, Inc. Source: Solar Manufacturing, Inc.
There are several methods for 3D printing and we as heat treaters and vacuum furnace manufacturers generally classify those methods into two basic groups: those that use liquid binding polymers and those that do not.
For the group who does not use liquid binding polymers, there are no changes thus far to the design of the vacuum furnace that must be made. One significant caution is insuring there is no loose powder on the surface or cavities of the parts. Residual powder on or in the parts could have adverse effects on the parts themselves and to the vacuum furnace. The loose powder can liberate from the part during the heat treat or quench steps during the process and contaminate the vacuum furnace. The powder in the furnace is then considered FOD (foreign object debris) for subsequent heat treatments processed in that furnace. The powder could also accumulate over time and cause an electrical ground the heating elements or the quench motor, clog the heat exchanger, contaminate vacuum gauges and hot zone insulation, among other issues.
For the group that does contain liquid binding polymers, in addition to the comments about avoiding loose powder on or in the parts, care must also be taken to accommodate for the vaporization of the binder that occurs during heating of the parts. The binder, in its vapor form, will condense at cooler areas in the vacuum furnace. The condensed areas are potential contamination points and could have all the same issues and concerns of loose powder as described above. The binder collection locations, whether at intentional or non-intentional places, will also have to be routinely cleaned to maintain ideal binder collection, optimum vacuum pumping, and overall furnace performance.
How might your products and/or services change to accommodate this marketplace?
With the growth of 3D printing using liquid binder polymers, Solar Manufacturing has taken what was learned from the furnace modified at Solar Atmospheres of Western PA for MIM and AM processing and applied it to a new furnace product line specific for the debind and sinter applications. Solar Manufacturing collaborated with our affiliate company, Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, in modifying an existing vacuum furnace to accommodate the debind and sintering processes. A modified hot zone was installed, and a dedicated binder pumping port was added that helps minimize and target the condensation of detrimental binders evaporating out of parts containing binders. The modified Solar Atmospheres furnace is extremely valuable in gaining knowledge about various aspects of the process and learning what works, and what does not work, in furnace and recipe design. Combining the knowledge and experience of process development of Solar Atmospheres with the advanced Engineering Design Team at Solar Manufacturing, we believe we have a furnace design that modernizes and simplifies the debinding process while minimizing traditional maintenance issues.
Share how 3D printing or AM products/services help heat treaters.
We developed a process of debinding and sintering stainless steel parts with our affiliate company Solar Atmospheres in Souderton PA. The project started out with our Research and Development group to develop the process for the client’s parts. As the trials scaled up, test coupons became test parts, eventually full-size loads. There are always challenges to scaling up from test parts to production loads and we were able to provide the support the customer needed through that transition. The R&D eff orts were successful, and the client ended up purchasing multiple furnaces, which was the end goal for both parties.
Additionally, Solar Atmospheres is currently vacuum stress relieving a 3D component for a major U.S.-based aerospace company that is in use in aircraft today. Also, numerous large-scale components destined for deep space.
What do readers need to know about AM/3D to make decisions today?
Bob Hill, president of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, reminded us to “realize and acknowledge that AM is still in its infancy stage. Therefore, many metallurgical uncertainties still exist for the multiple printing processes that exist. Understanding this new kind of metallurgy for each printing process, while developing standards and specifications unique to additive manufacturing, is still a huge obstacle. Until this is accomplished, AM will not be the ‘disruptive’ technology that all the experts predict it will be.” If your business is printing parts with liquid polymer binders, you should seriously consider how you plan on debinding and sintering the parts ahead of time. Printed parts in the “Green” or even “Brown” state are fragile and if you are going to ship the parts somewhere else for the debind and sinter steps, extreme care must be taken to prevent the parts from fracturing during transit. Although the shipping can be safely and successfully accomplished, ideally a furnace is available at the print shop to immediately perform the debind and sinter process to avoid those potential shipping difficulties. The other forms of 3D printing that do not contain liquid polymers generally do have this issue.
What changes have you made to accommodate the AM/3D printing marketplace?
Ben Gasbarre Executive Vice President Sales & Marketing Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems
From our inception, Gasbarre has had expertise in the powder metallurgy industry, which requires debind and sinter applications similar to that in the AM and 3D printing markets. Our ability to supply equipment for both powder and parts producers has set us up for quick adoption into this market. While considerations need to be made specific to AM, our focus has been on technical support and helping the market grow to higher volume applications.
How might your products and/or services change to accommodate this marketplace?
As adoption of these technologies grow, the volume at which parts need to be produced will grow. Our line of continuous processing equipment in both vacuum and atmosphere applications are well suited. Whether it be debind and sinter, annealing, or stress relieving, we have equipment and expertise that can grow from early production to high volumes.
Share how 3D printing or AM products/services help heat treaters.
Overall, Gasbarre is here to be a resource and support the growth of the additive market. Whether that be through new equipment, servicing existing equipment, or involvement in the industry organizations, we have the expertise to drive success today and into the future!
What do readers need to know about AM/3D to make decisions today?
Additive manufacturing is such a dynamic technology, it is difficult to state one specific item. There is the potential for significant growth opportunities for new applications, but also the potential replacement of traditional manufacturing methods. We also know there is substantial backing for the technology by both private industry and government entities. Like other emerging technologies in the automotive and energies sectors, additive manufacturing isn’t a matter of if, but when it’ll achieve wide scale adoption and high-volume applications.
It is amazing how the list of materials being utilized with this technology is growing. While metals and alloys have not been the majority of the market, it is rapidly growing. With that growth, there is a wide variety of applications and thermal processing requirements for those materials. As well, the different additive and 3D printing processing methods (i.e., binder jetting, powder bed fusion, etc.) leads to a similar diversity in thermal processing requirements.
Solar 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
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
Medical devices, medical tools, and prosthetics all have a long history with heat treating. As we look to the future, the materials industry and the advancement of AM into the heat treat industry is moving at lightning speed.
In this article by Trevor Jones, CEO, Solar Manufacturing Inc., see why vacuum furnaces are excellent choices for accurately providing the necessary process parameters for this incredible medical technology that can provide people with mobility, function and independence to improve their quality of life.
This original content column was originally published in Heat Treat Today's Medical and Energy magazine, December 2020.
Trevor Jones CEO Solar Manufacturing, Inc. Source: Solar Manufacturing, Inc.
Thermal processing of metallic alloys is the backbone of the heat treating industry. Speaking of backbones, the human spine, a critical part of the human body, can now be replaced with an additively manufactured and heat treated prosthetic metallic alloy spine. Medical devices, medical tools, and prosthetics all have a long history with heat treatment. As we look to the future, the materials industry and the advancement of AM into the heat treat industry is moving at lightning speed.
AM parts require precise heat treating especially, when it comes to atmosphere control, temperature uniformity, and flexibility. Vacuum furnaces are ideal for accurately providing each of these process parameters. Let’s take a look at each of these heating treat parameters a little more closely.
Atmosphere Control
Vacuum, by nature, is a neutral atmosphere which, in part, means it has no carburizing or decarburizing potential. Therefore, the surface of the parts that is directly exposed to the vacuum atmosphere cannot gain or lose the base carbon content of the alloy. Additionally, vacuum is practically void of oxygen. If the parts were exposed to oxygen at the elevated processing temperatures, the surface of the parts would become oxidized. In minor cases, a superficial oxidation layer would be the result. In more severe cases, the surface could experience alloy depletion and diffused oxygen.
This is particularly important when processing titanium alloys, which are inherently more sensitive to carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. When titanium is exposed to any of these elements, a metallurgical phase called “alpha case” can develop on the surface of the titanium and diffuse inwards towards the core of the part.
In most applications, the alpha case is undesirable, and precautions should be taken to prevent it.
Vacuum processing can also provide an atmosphere where an elemental substance, like nitrogen, can be kept in balance with the parts being processed. For example, if an AM part intentionally contains nitrogen, processing this part in a deep vacuum may remove some of the nitrogen base content in the part. To prevent this from occurring, partial pressure nitrogen in the vacuum furnace keeps the nitrogen in equilibrium. The surface condition of these parts is extremely important especially if the AM parts will be implanted into the human body.
The medical processing room at Solar Atmospheres. Source: Solar Manufacturing, Inc.
Temperature Control
The working zone of the furnace encompasses the parts being processed. It is critical that this entire working zone volume be thermally uniform to achieve predictable and consistent results. If any area of a working zone is cooler or hotter than the temperature of another area, it may negatively impact the heat treatment results including difference in mechanical properties and dimensional changes of the parts. For example, if the process is stress relieving and the parts were not subjected to high enough temperature for the requisite time, the parts may still contain some residual stresses.
Residual stresses can have various negative consequences during manufacturing, including cracking and part distortion – during build and finish machining. Tensile residual stresses in finished parts can also reduce fatigue and corrosion performance.1 A failure of a medical implant in the human body would be disastrous if it could have been avoided with proper heat treating!
Medical Instruments Source: ??
With proper design, vacuum furnaces can provide very tight temperature uniformity of ±5°F with direct part temperature monitoring throughout an entire working zone over a broad temperature range.
Flexibility
The vacuum furnace is extremely versatile in the infinite amount of process variables that are available to be adjusted, including heating rates, soaking temperatures, soaking times, atmospheric conditions, and cooling rates. All these variables can be adjusted to provide precisely what is required for a given alloy to optimize the heat treatment needs for the part being processed. To meet the need of the modulus and the strength and fatigue characteristics of a medical implant, AM technology can adjust the mechanical properties of the implant by changing some of the parameters in the processing.2
One of the many steps in the AM process is heat treating, and vacuum furnaces provide the flexibility that can be tailored to the alloy and heat treatment required. Having an AM prosthetic custom vacuum heat treated to fit the human body, could be the key to its success.
Vacuum furnaces and their unique heat treatment processes are ideal for providing the atmosphere control, temperature control, and flexibility that are essential for AM medical devices, tools, and prosthetics. As the AM market expands and the technology advances, vacuum furnace technology will continue to be integral in fostering that growth.
About the Author:
Trevor Jones began his career as the project engineer at Solar Atmospheres commercial heat treating on their Research and Development Team, concentrating on the improvement of vacuum thermal processing equipment and the development of new processes. He is currently the CEO of the Solar Manufacturing, Inc., a division of the Solar Atmospheres Family of Companies.
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA (SAWPA) will expand their material hardening repertoire by adding vacuum oil quench (VOQ) capabilities. The decision to go with a vacuum oil quench was influenced by serious concerns for the environmental and furnace operator safety. The Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) provides standards for health and safety, some of which caused Solar Atmospheres to question heat treating processes that utilize explosive endothermic gases and flammable open oil quench tanks. As a result of these concerns, Solar Manufacturing and Solar Atmospheres commenced engineering meetings in 2019 to design and build a US-manufactured, safe and quality VOQ.
Solar Atmospheres Vacuum Oil Quench Furnace (Photo source: Solar Atmospheres)
Early this week, Bob Hill, president, SAWPA, Hermitage, PA, announced that the company had purchased and will install a new 36” x 36” x 48” VOQ furnace capable of safely quenching 2,000-pound loads without carbon potential concerns. The furnace, the first of its kind manufactured by Solar Manufacturing, Sellersville, PA, will be operational in early 2021.
Additionally, SAWPA is constructing a 15,000 square foot building to make room for the VOQ furnace line. Besides the VOQ furnace, the line also includes a parts washer, two tempering furnaces, and a charge car. The building expansion will be completed mid-summer 2020 making the entire SAWPA complex 120,000 square feet under one roof.
One of the great benefits of a community of heat treaters is the opportunity to challenge old habits and look at new ways of doing things. Heat Treat Today’s101 Heat TreatTipsis another opportunity to learn the tips, tricks, and hacks shared by some of the industry’s foremost experts.
Today’s tips come to us from Solar Manufacturing Inc., covering Vacuum Furnaces. This includes advice about avoiding disasters, improving vacuum furnace operations, how and when to use water, and troubleshooting.
Vacuum Furnace Disaster with High Temperature (2400F) Bake Out
Thoroughly understand the metallurgical definition of “Eutectic Reactions”. Never high temperature bake-out a vacuum furnace with the grids in it, i.e. 2400°F.
Heat Treat Tip #83
4 Tips to Improve Your Vacuum Furnace Operations
Four Suggestions for Improved Vacuum Furnace Operations
Vacuum furnace door o-ring
1. When wiping the main door O-ring and flange (which must be done every time BEFORE closing the door, especially after unloading a furnace), wipe with only your bare fingers. You risk a splinter or dirty fingers (so what, you are a heat treater), however, a bare fingertip will detect even minute scratches, nicks, or debris on an O-ring or flange. Wiping with a rag increases the likelihood that you won’t detect those conditions until it is too late. Using your bare fingers is also effective in detecting an O-ring that has become dry and in need of a new application of grease.
Thermocouples inserted into an all-metal hot zone
2. After installing a new control or overtemperature thermocouple, and especially when using a Buna N-type grommeted feedthrough, tighten the feedthrough nut quite snugly, and then retighten it after the initial pump-down, checking it again after several furnace cycles. Much of the time the grommet becomes compressed and pulled deeper into the assembly, leaving the nut loose. If this occurs, the TC could be sucked deep into the furnace during a cycle, possibly breaking when unloading the workload. Further, even a modest movement of the control thermocouple can affect the TUS results and lead to product impact concerns.
Vacuum furnace with front door bolted
3. If using an older vacuum furnace with a bolted main flange, always make sure to bolt the flange after achieving a vacuum of about -25″HG. If the door is bolted prior to sufficient evacuation, the bolts will become loose as the O-ring compresses during the pump-down portion of the process. Loose bolts could lead to a gas leak during a positive pressure quench or a vacuum leak during operation.
Recorded chart, green “pen,” of vacuum pump down record
4. During the initial evacuation of a process in a vacuum furnace, let the furnace pump until it gets to a slowly dropping rate prior to introducing partial pressure or turning on the heat. Water vapor is difficult to liberate and it can take some time, especially in a humid environment. Getting as much out as is practical prior to starting a furnace cycle is good practice in the war against discoloration.
Heat Treat Tip #84
When Water Is Your Nemesis!
Typical Stokes 412 vacuum pump oil sight glass
On hot, humid days, moisture collects in the roughing pumps after initial cycle pump down.
• Drain as much water out as possible through the oil drain port of the vacuum pumps, usually about ½ cup of water.
• Crack open slightly, just enough for the water to drain. By cracking the gas ballast valves, this will raise the temperature of the pump and boil the rest of the water vapor off and out through the exhaust piping.
• One thing to remember with the gas ballasts open, the pumping time will be longer. So, don’t forget to close the valves after about 15 minutes.
As soon as the water is removed, only oil will remain.
Heat Treat Tip #85
Typical vacuum chamber water quality sight meters
Cooling Water Type and Chamber Life
In the vacuum furnace world, the life of the vacuum chamber is very important. Specific care should be taken if the furnace is cooled from a domestic water supply, evaporator cooling tower, or pond water, as these sources are very rich in air and will “rust out” the chamber in less than five years. Therefore cooling water should be provided preferably from a (closed loop) air to water heat exchanger, and the cooling water quality checked monthly to the following chemistry: Water circuit flow indicators should be included to check for water turbidity, low to no particulate, in the cooling water with a site indicator type here noted.
Heat Treat Tip #86
Troubleshooting Furnace Pump Down
Jessi Tatum, furnace operator at Solar Atmospheres, Inc.
If you’re having problems obtaining a vacuum level below the 500 to 50 micron range after furnace pump down, some simple analytics will help pinpoint the potential cause. Ask yourself a few questions: If it is a humid day, how long did the furnace sit open during loading, what is the size of the load in the furnace, and were the parts oily that went in? Any “yes” answers could explain slow pump down. If you rule these out, stop the cycle and watch the coarse vacuum display of the gauge. Does it immediately start going back up by tens or hundreds of microns in a very short time? If it does, you have a large leak. Did the thermocouples get in an area where the door O-ring seals? Has the door O-ring been compromised since the last load? Has some valve been left open slightly? Are any of the gas backfill valves leaking? Was something left in the furnace that shouldn’t be there? If the furnace doesn’t leak back very quickly when you stop the furnace cycle, a contaminated vacuum gauge tube or a poorly performing pumping system could be the cause. Is the booster pump running? Are the diffusion pump heaters on and pulling proper current? By following this simple regimen, you can quickly determine what resources you’ll need to assemble to further troubleshoot the problem and get that load going.
A Pennsylvania vacuum furnace manufacturing company has recently relocated its operations to provide more space for building furnaces and furnace equipment.
Solar Manufacturing Inc. has moved from Souderton to Sellersville, Pennsylvania, where the new facility is located on a combined 8.5 acres just three miles from the previous location. The newly-constructed building houses 40,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 17,500 square feet designated office space, with an option for an extra 22,500 square foot addition to the manufacturing building in the future. The move was achieved in several phases, taking place over several weeks in September and October. Despite the scope of the project, Solar Manufacturing experienced only a few minor interruptions.
William Jones, owner of Solar Manufacturing, Inc.
“Solar Manufacturing has expanded throughout the many years since our inception, resulting in our employees working from several different buildings,” said Jim Nagy, President of Solar Manufacturing. “With this move, we are finally united under one roof. Not only is the new space very handsome, but it is also a well-thought-out facility. It is equipped with and geared up for efficient production, with enough capacity to serve our customers well into the future, especially those who need very large vacuum furnaces.”
“This new facility provides us the space we need to grow and consolidate all our staff in one facility,” said William Jones, who along with his wife, Myrtle Jones, owns Solar Manufacturing, Inc. “Now that we’re officially settled, we’re eager to use the new building to its fullest potential.”
The world’s first 100-ton vacuum hot press with gas fan quench cooling capability for up to a 4,000 pound part has recently been installed and is in operation at a commercial and aerospace diffusion bonding operation in Chandler, Arizona.
Refrac Systems selected Solar Manufacturing, part of the Solar Atmospheres family of companies and based in Souderton, Pennsylvania, to perform the installation and startup of a large 100-ton force vacuum hot press that includes a 2-Bar Gas Fan Quench cooling system (GFQVHP). The furnace hot zone was modified to contain 100-ton on load hydraulic ram centered over the zone which is configured to diffusion bond parts up to 36″ wide x 48″ long x 30″ tall. Besides being specifically designed to diffusion bond large plastic injection molding dies, and concurrently quench hardening them, the system is finding applications in bonding advanced superalloy heat exchangers where the quench cooling offers a significant improvement on performance.
“We really drew on the extensive engineering experience base that Solar Manufacturing has for building large gas fan quench cooled vacuum furnaces coupled with our own vacuum hot pressing experience to build this very unique hot press system,” said Norm Hubele, President of Refrac Systems. “Solar’s engineering team really helped out with a lot of great design ideas and manufacturing experience, and the system really contains the most robust and reliable furnace engineering content that both companies could muster.”
“Norm put together a team of engineers to design and build this state-of-the-art GFQVHP, and it contains many innovations,” said William Jones, CEO of Solar Atmospheres. “Throughout the entire process, Norm personally reviewed all aspects of the design and added considerable insight to the development of this unique vacuum furnace system.”
Heat TreatTodayoffers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry.
Personnel and Company Chatter
Tracy Dougherty has been named Vice President of Sales at AFC-Holcroft. Dougherty has been with AFC-Holcroft since 2008 and served in several sales-related roles, most recently as the company’s Sales Manager. As Vice President of Sales, Dougherty will now have a number of added responsibilities, including overseeing the company’s activities in Europe.
Retech Systems, which has been manufacturing vacuum melting systems in Northern California, will transition much of the manufacturing and assembly to facilities in Świebodzin, Poland. All of the future work done at the SECO/Warwick facilities in Poland will be per the established Retech standards with the focus on maintaining all expectations associated with the Retech brand. The Ukiah office will be downsized and will retain engineers, technical directors, technologists, and service staff. Retech’s unique R&D Center will continue to be built up, maintaining a west coast office along with the recently opened east coast office in Buffalo, NY.
Philip Wrisley, Project Manager at Plibrico‘s Salem, Ohio, office, is the recipient of an API STD 936 Refractory Personnel Certification from the American Petroleum Institute (API). This internationally recognized certification verifies Wrisley’s knowledge of API Refractory Installation Quality Control Guidelines for field-testing of monolithic refractory materials, as well as best practices in the installation and repair of refractory linings.
A new 57,500 square foot building dedicated to vacuum furnace manufacturing is under construction at Solar Manufacturing‘s campus in Sellersville, Pennsylvania. As can be seen in the photo below, the four bridge cranes are in place, the full plant and office roof is complete, and much of the concrete floor poured.
A thermal technology company recently announced the opening of its new sales and operations office in Norway. Chromalox, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, manufactures process heating and heat tracing products.
A global leader in aluminum rolling and recycling recently announced an expansion at the company’s Pindamonhangaba, Brazil, plant. This $175 million investment of its flagship facility in South America will bolster Novelis‘s capacity with 100 kilotonnes of additional rolling production and 60 kilotonnes of increased recycling and bring total capacity of the Pindamonhangaba facility to approximately 680 kilotonnes per year of aluminum sheet and 450 kilotonnes annually of recycled metal.
Nucor Corporation has announced that it is acquiring Corporacion POK, S.A. de C.V. (POK), a fully integrated precision castings company with a facility in Guadalajara, Mexico. POK produces complex castings and precision machined products used by the oil and gas, mining and sugar processing industries.
A new automotive structures facility opened in Zilina, Slovakia, dedicated to the production of aluminum crash management systems and body structure components. Constellium‘s 5,200 square meter facility in Zilina features advanced technologies for forming, machining, welding, and heat-treating aluminum automotive components, along with a state-of-the-art quality lab to ensure products meet customer specifications. Constellium plans to expand its facility to 15,000 square meters by mid-2019.
Construction underway for Solar Manufacturing\’s new building. at Sellersville, PA.
Equipment Chatter
A Japanese manufacturer of precision tool steels components recently commissioned a precision vacuum furnace system from SECO/WARWICK. This specialized system reduces energy consumption through power optimization and cycle time reduction, customized to work within the tight physical space limitations.
In addition, an American manufacturer which produces transportation components recently ordered a new precision gas nitriding furnace with ZeroFlow® from SECO/VACUUM (SVT), a SECO/WARWICK Group company.
L&L Special Furnace Co., Inc., has supplied a custom designed and manufactured oil quench tank to a metal stamping manufacturer in the Midwest. The quench tank is specifically used to quench metal stamping dies that are heated to 1,550°F.
Advanced Heat Treat Corp recently posted to Facebook a video of the installation of one of three new nitriding vessels delivered to the company’s MidPort Blvd location as part of an ongoing building expansion.
An international heat treating equipment manufacturer with a location in California, JGEF Furnace, recently sold 6 furnaces to a Japanese heat treating company. Four nitriding horizontal furnaces are front-loading and designed specifically for precision gas nitriding in a retort style with vacuum purge, and two tempering horizontal furnaces are designed to temper workloads after hardening.
SECO VACUUM sells gas nitriding furnace with ZeroFlow®.
L&L Special Furnace Co., Inc., delivers oil quench tank.
AHT installs new intriding equipment
JGEF Furnace ships 6 furnaces to Japanese manufacturer.
Kudos Chatter
Hydro Extruded Solutions Hoogezand B.V. (Netherlands), which produces aluminum profiles as well as anodized and painted components, has become the first aluminum extrusion company to be certified with ASI’s Performance Standard for environmental, social and governance performance.
SECO/WARWICK was recently awarded the Honorary Badge for Meritorious Performance in the area of innovation in a badge award ceremony held at the Royal Castle as part of the celebrations of the 100-year anniversary of the Patent Office and industrial property protection system in Poland. The badge, given to entities and organizations having outstanding achievements in their pro-development activities, was received by Bartosz Klinowski, Managing Director (Europe), Member of the Management Board of SECO/WARWICK.
Hydro Extruded Solutions Hoogezand B.V. certified by ASI.
SECO/WARWICK awarded the Honorary Badge for Meritorious Performance.
Heat TreatTodayis pleased to join in the announcements of growth and achievement throughout the industry by highlighting them here on our News Chatter page. Please send any information you feel may be of interest to manufacturers with in-house heat treat departments especially in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors to the editor at editor@heattreattoday.com.
With electricity costs increasing, heat treat facilities are looking for ways to harness energy and minimize heat loss through a variety of insulating methods and applications. Heat Treat Today‘s Technical Tuesday feature comes from Reál J. Fradette of Solar Atmospheres Inc of Souderton, PA (with Nicholas R. Cordisco of Solar Manufacturing Inc. contributing), analyzing the different types of furnace hot zone insulation materials with the following points taken into consideration:
A) Hot Zone Designs
All-Metal Designs
Ceramic Fiber Included Designs
Graphite Type Insulated Hot Zones
B) Defining Hot Zone Losses For Different Hot Zone Configurations
Calculating Power Losses For A Given Size Furnace
Effect Of Hot Zone Losses On Heating Rates and Peak Power
C) Effect on Power Losses With Various Insulation Layers and Thicknesses
Projecting Relative Losses Versus Felt Thicknesses
D) Equating Insulation Designs To Actual Power Usage
Projecting Cycle Costs For Different Areas Of Operation
Impact of Hot Zone Type on Total Cycle Cost
E) Summary And Conclusions
An excerpt:
The heating rate of a load will dictate the total energy required to heat that load at that heating rate. Heating as fast as possible is not often the best solution to the application.
Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com
