Furnace Operation

Vacuum Gas Cooling – Is Pressure or Velocity Most Important? (Part 1)

There is an age-old adage that exists in the heat treating world. That supposition states that “the smaller the vacuum furnace, the faster it will quench.” Our study compared the cooling rates of two distinctly sized High Pressure Gas Quenching (HPGQ) vacuum furnaces- a large 10-bar vacuum furnace equipped with a 600 HP blower motor versus a smaller 10-bar vacuum furnace equipped with a 300 HP motor.

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The Use of Graphite for Vacuum Furnace Fixturing

The vacuum furnace industry has searched for many years for the ideal material to be used in fixtures and grids for processing workloads at elevated temperatures. The support structures should be lightweight to achieve desired metallurgical results during the cooling phase of the process cycle.

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Preventing Eutectic Reactions and Diffusion Bonding in Vacuum Processing

The purpose of this paper is to explain reactions that can occur during a vacuum processing cycle and different methods of preventing these reactions.

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The Returning Need For the All-Metal Vacuum Furnace Hot Zone and Specific Application Advantages

In this article, we will highlight some of the essential design requirements needed to provide the proper all-metal furnace for these critical applications.

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Basic Vacuum Practice by Varian

Basic vacuum practices, a primer and basic introduction for vacuum technicians

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Dew Point Versus Oxygen Content in Vacuum Processing Part 2

Since the majority of commercial and captive heat treat facilities do not typically operate under controlled environments, the temperature and humidity swings can often be drastic.

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Dew Point Versus Oxygen Content In Vacuum Processing

It is well known that accurate measurement of any heat treating atmosphere can have a significant effect on the quality and process yield of heat treated components.  Traditionally, dew point analysis has always been the bellwether in determining our heat treating atmospheric conditions.

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Understanding Emissivity and Thermocouple Test Blocks

A recent process development test relating to carburizing illustrated the need to better understand the effect of surface emissivity and the proper use of dummy thermocouple test blocks. The testing involved carburizing areas of a partially copper plated alloy steel part. The copper plating covered areas of the part that were not to be carburized. Since the configuration of the part made it impossible to place a thermocouple within the part, a dummy test block made of carbon steel with the approximate same cross-section was used for the process thermocouple without proper consideration of the surface condition of the test block. Using the test block as the control, carburizing was initiated at the proper temperature based on the test block having reached that temperature. At the completion of the test, the part was examined for carburizing results and found in the non-copper plated areas, the depth of the carburized case to be shallow. This indicated that the cycle performed did not initially hold the part long enough at the correct temperature prior to carburizing. This resulted in the conclusion that when using dummy test blocks for controlling process times and temperatures, many factors must be considered including surface emissivity.

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Technical Considerations for the Use of Carbon and Carbon Composite Materials for Fixtures and Grids

Advanced material solutions for fixtures, grids and internal furnace components are available today. They are designed to allow for higher processing temperatures, larger loads, increased production rates, energy savings, and lower overall cycle costs.

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