In a drop bottom furnace the charge is lifted into the heating chamber and lowered straight into a quench tank directly below. This gives the very fast quench needed for the solution treatment of aluminium alloys, with quench delay inside 10 seconds.
The working range allows a full T6 treatment in one furnace: solution annealing, quench and artificial ageing. Designs meet aerospace requirements including AMS 2750 and AMS 2770, and the furnaces are fully automated with PLC and SCADA. They can also run continuous ageing cycles of 16 to 24 hours.
Specifications
| Temperature range | Up to 750 °C (aluminium alloys) |
|---|---|
| Chamber shape | Cylindrical or rectangular |
| Heating | Electric or gas-fired |
| Furnace class | Class 2 |
| Quench delay | Within 10 seconds, hydraulic lift and quench |
| Controls | Digital PID programmer, over-temperature controller, extra K type thermocouples, PLC and HMI |
| Supply | 400 V, 3 phase, 50 Hz or as required |
Applications
- Solution annealing (solutionizing)
- Ageing
- Complete T6 treatment of aluminium alloys
Advantages
- Heavy-duty lifting and quench mechanism
- Clamped door seal prevents cold air leaks
- High-velocity air for fast, even heating
- Quench tank with heating or cooling
- Custom sizes
- Factory tested before shipment
Common questions
Why is quench delay important?
The material must drop to room temperature quickly to stop precipitation forming before the part is locked in solution.
Why age straight after solutionizing?
Some alloys take days to harden naturally. Artificial ageing at low temperature gives the strength and hardness sooner.
What is solution heat treatment?
It dissolves precipitates in metals such as stainless steel, aluminium, copper, titanium and nickel alloys, producing a single-phase structure.