Vacuum heat treatment began in aerospace and other high-technology fields and is now common in general engineering. Processing under vacuum prevents surface oxidation and decarburization and keeps distortion low, so parts leave clean with less rework and less post-treatment cleaning.
Furnaces are designed around the job: top loading, bottom loading or front loading. Bottom-loading units carry hearth loads from 25 kg to 1000 kg. Horizontal front-loading units have a cold-wall chamber with a metal or graphite hot zone and a side-swinging door.
Specifications
| Furnace type | Cold wall: top, bottom or front loading |
|---|---|
| Hot zone | Cylindrical or cubical |
| Temperature range | 800 to 2200 °C |
| Vacuum level | 10⁻² to 10⁻⁶ mbar |
| Vacuum system | Rotary-roots, diffusion pump or turbo molecular pump |
| Heating elements | Molybdenum, tungsten or graphite |
| Gas quench | Up to 5 bar, optionally 10 bar |
| Controls | Thyristor power control, programmable temperature controller, recorder, PLC, SCADA or HMI |
Key features
- High vacuum environment. Minimizes oxidation and gives clean, high-quality results.
- Uniform temperature. Excellent temperature uniformity for consistent results.
- Robust and reliable design. Built for continuous, long-term operation.
- Energy efficient. Designed for optimal power consumption.
- Customizable solutions. Available in various sizes and configurations to suit your process.
Applications
- Annealing, isothermal annealing, stress relieving
- Hardening, tempering, normalizing, case hardening
- Sintering and pre-sintering
- Brazing
- Alloying
- Laboratory work
Advantages
- Clean, bright surfaces
- Low distortion
- Less rework and cleaning