Vacuum Heat Treatment
Aerobraze Europe currently has 6 furnaces which are used for vacuum heat treatment, vacuum brazing and vacuum fusing of sprayed coatings. These furnaces are some of the largest of their type in Europe and are the biggest in the UK. Components up to 2.8m in length and up to 2.1m in diameter can be processed at temperatures up to 1300oC and vacuum levels better than 10-4mbar.
The furnaces are approved for aerospace use and maintained as Class 4 in accordance with AMS2750D. This equipment is used for a wide range of work which includes vacuum stress relieving, vacuum annealing, solution treatments, aging processes, and high temperature vacuum brazing.
The vacuum furnaces are able to heat parts to high
temperatures whilst protecting them from oxidation or scaling. Components are loaded into the furnaces in special fixtures which support the parts evenly during the thermal cycle. The removal of air from the vacuum chamber, by the pumping system, ensures that the surface of the part remains un-oxidized and helps maintain its original finish throughout the process cycle. Metals are heated and cooled at certain rates to allow the development of specific properties such as strength or corrosion resistance.
Loads are located on a furnace hearth or alternatively, if required, long slender components can be hung vertically.
A number of the furnaces are equipped with view ports which allow the items under treatment to be observed. This can be particularly important when fusing coatings or undertaking high temperature brazing processes.
All furnaces have vacuum diffusion pumps and are capable of vacuum levels <1x10-4 mbar and New Eurotherm Controllers have been fitted to the furnaces and extensive refurbishment of the internal hot zones has been undertaken recently.
Each furnace is controlled by a Eurotherm T2550 controller with Eycon20 HMI providing the furnace status display. A Eurotherm E-Suite SCADA system running on Windows XP is used for an overview of heat treatment operation and remote supervision.
For more information please contact us.
