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Vacuum Carburizing

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2025-02-27

Solar Atmospheres Adds Two Additional 2-Bar Vacuum Furnaces

Solar Atmospheres in Souderton, PA, is currently commissioning two additional 2-bar vacuum furnaces, expanding its capabilities to meet increased demand in the aerospace, industrial gas turbine sectors, and for specialized hydride/de-hydride processing of Titanium, Tantalum, and Niobium. These vacuum furnaces, produced by Solar's sister company, Solar Manufacturing, feature large working hot zones (45” x 45” x 72”) and are rated for operations up to 2400°F with a precise temperature uniformity of ±10°F.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2024-08-12

SECO/WARWICK Group To Expand Their Meadville Manufacturing Facilities

As part of its strategy to better serve its North American customers, the SECO/WARWICK Group, the parent company of SECO/VACUUM and SECO/WARWICK USA, has committed to expanding its manufacturing capacity in Pennsylvania by relocating a portion of its manufacturing and a metallurgical lab for vacuum furnaces from its headquarters site in Poland to Crawford County.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2024-04-11

Marcin Krajdocha Joins Nitrex Europe as Technical Sales Manager

Nitrex welcomes the newest member of the Nitrex Turnkey Systems Team: Marcin Krajdocha. Marcin steps into the new role of Technical Sales Manager responsible for Nitriding Systems in the DACH region and the Vacuum furnace product line in Europe.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2024-04-01

Solar Atmospheres of Michigan Successfully Relocated to Chesterfield

Solar Atmospheres of Michigan has successfully relocated from the old Fraser and Warren facilities to a new, state-of-the-art location in Chesterfield, MI. All ten furnaces (both new and existing) are fully operational at the Chesterfield plant, heralding a new era of efficiency and productivity. 

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2024-03-29

Seco/Warwick to Establish Mexico Office

The American branch of Seco/Warwick has decided to expand its presence on the continent. Mexico is an important market for Seco/Warwick USA; hence, the decision was made to open a sales and service office in Monterrey. The new Seco/Warwic, Mexico division will occupy about 2,000 square feet of office space in a high-rise business park, including garage parking and controlled-access reception.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2024-02-05

Former East Coast Sales Rep, Dave Wolfe, Joins ECM USA as Senior Sales Engineer

ECM USA is excited to announce the addition of Dave Wolfe to our team as a Senior Sales Engineer. Formerly serving as an East Coast representative based in Pennsylvania, Dave brings a wealth of experience to our organization. His extensive sales background encompasses not only ECM vacuum furnaces but also spans 30 years of technical sales expertise, demonstrating a consistent track record in delivering customer-focused solutions for a diverse range of thermal processing equipment, including Photovoltaic/PV applications.

FEATURE ARTICLES | 2023-04-14

What’s Happening in Heat Treating?

Quality control, EV components, energy consumption and material influences are just a handful of topics being discussed in heat treating today. New heat treat methods and global trends will be the topic of conversation later this year at Heat Treat 2023. Here’s a round-up of some stories circulating across key market segments.

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INDUSTRY NEWS | 2023-03-23

Solar Atmospheres of California Installs Large Car Bottom Air Furnace

Solar Atmospheres of California (SCA) successfully installed a brand new 14-foot-long car bottom Air Furnace with a total load capacity of up to 30,000 pounds. The furnace was surveyed in accordance with AMS2750 and is uniform within ±10°F (Class 2). The furnace has a working zone that is 60-inches square by 168 inches long and handles a workload up to 30,000 pounds. With a maximum operating temperature of 1450°F, this furnace accommodates not only the tempering of large tool steel components but also age hardening of 15-5 PH, 17-4 PH, 13-8PH and nickel-based alloys, and the annealing of Titanium Forgings.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2023-02-15

Solar Atmospheres Obtains Boeing Approval for Vacuum Oil Quenching

Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the approval of a critical Boeing specification for the oil quenching of alloy steels in accordance with Boeing’s specification BAC 5617.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2023-01-09

Solar Atmospheres of Michigan’s Future Home

Solar Atmospheres of Michigan, formerly Vac-Met, has recently purchased 18,000 square feet of plant space on four plus acres in Chesterfield Michigan. The new building is 20 miles Northeast of the two existing Vac-Met facilities which are currently located in Warren and Fraser Michigan. 

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2022-11-23

Solar Atmospheres Vacuum Heat Treats Titanium Manifold for Artemis 1 Mission

For the 2014 Orion launch, NASA introduced the Launch Abort System (LAS). This large manifold housing made from 6AL-4V titanium is designed to rapidly propel astronauts away from the main rocket in case of a catastrophic explosion or any other unexpected event. Once fired, the LAS will accelerate the astronauts away from the main rocket at forces up to 10 to 15 times normal gravity (“G’s”). This critical part of the safety system was once again vacuum heat treated by Solar Atmospheres of Western PA for their most recent launch. 

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2022-09-02

Ayla Busch was Honored with the German Leadership Award 2022

Expertise, vision, information management, success, ethical conduct, human competence, and diversity: Ayla Busch had convinced the jury in all these categories and therefore received the German Leadership Award 2022. 

PRODUCT NEWS | 2022-06-01

Solar Puts VOQ Furnace into Full Production

A newly designed Vacuum Oil Quench (VOQ) furnace, purchased by Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, recently entered into full production after passing a vigorous start up protocol. 

PRODUCT NEWS | 2022-05-24

Ipsen USA Provides Vacuum Furnace to Italian Commercial Heat Treater

Ipsen recently installed the second Turbo2Treater vacuum furnace at Temprasud, a commercial heat treater in Fresagrandinaria, Italy. 

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INDUSTRY NEWS | 2022-04-26

Solar Atmospheres Retains SHARP Accreditation

Solar Atmospheres of Western PA (SAWPA) was recently awarded three years merit status for SHARP Accreditation. The Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) is designed to recognize employees and employers for their effort in establishing and maintaining all elements of an effective safety and health program.

INDUSTRY NEWS | 2022-03-03

UniCase Master with 4D Quench

Summary
Many techniques have been developed over the years to control heat treatment distortion, including the use of different quenching medias, optimization of heat treatment cycles, altering the material chemical composition and even press quenching. Now, learn about Quenching in the 4th Dimension!

SECO/VACUUM's white paper discusses the new 4D Quenching technology, a safe and simple hands-off heat treatment process, minus the challenges of press quenching.

GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2020-12-28

Don't Forget the Follow-Up!

One of the cardinal rules of design engineering is that you will never overcome physics. It is an applied science so misunderstanding or ignoring m...
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2019-03-01

Moving Heat Treating In-Line

Single Piece Flow Streamlines Production for High-Volume Gear Manufacturers.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2018-11-15

Beautiful on the Inside

Higher Quality Internal Gears

TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2017-01-01

Repair of Large, Surface-Degraded Industrial Gears - a New Approach

This paper presents a new approach to repair industrial gears by showing a case study where pressure angle modification is also considered, differently from the past repairing procedures that dealt only with the modification of the profile shift coefficient. A computer program has been developed to automatically determine the repair alternatives under two goals: minimize the stock removal or maximize gear tooth strength.
ADDENDUM | 2016-01-01

Mind-Boggling Gears

Square, rectangular, triangular, oval, even fish-shaped - Clayton Boyer's Weird Gears come in every shape except for circular, and they all work. If you're interested in giving them a gander, check out Boyer's Youtube video (just search "weird gears" and it'll be right there at the top) to see them in motion
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2014-04-14

Vacuum Carburizing Symposium Registration Closes April 28th

Ford Motor Company Conference and Exposition Center, Dearborn, Michigan. The ALD Holcroft Vacuum Carburizing Symposium will feature two days...
GEAR TALK WITH CHUCK | 2014-03-07

What Did They Know and When Did They Know It?

[starbox] No, I am not launching a criminal investigation. The title of this posting summarizes my ongoing study of the history of gear ratings....
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2013-11-26

ALD Announces Dates for Vacuum Carburizing Symposium

ALD-Holcroft has announced the dates for the 8th Vacuum Carburizing Symposium, to be held in 2014 on May 6th and 7th. This two-day event ...
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2013-09-01

New-Formula Acetylene Cool for Heat Treatment

Acetylene with DMF solvent enables benefits of low-pressure vacuum carburizing.
EVENTS | 2011-10-01

EMO Hannover - More than Machine Tools

Some gear-related highlights from the recent EMO show in Hannover, Germany.
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2010-03-01

Why Vacuum Carburizing

Heat treat alternative offers advantages over conventional methods.
VOICES | 2008-09-01

The Staying Power of Low-Pressure Carburizing

Open any heat treating journal today and you’re certain to find multiple references (articles, technical papers and/or advertisements) promoting low-pressure carburizing (LPC). The uninformed might breeze by these references thinking it’s the next flash-in-the-pan, but unlike in the past, this time the process has legs.
TECHNICAL ARTICLES | 2008-08-01

Distortion Control by Innovative Heat Treating Technologies in the Automotive Industry

The proper control of distortion after thermal treatment of powertrain components in the automotive industry is an important measure in ensuring high-quality parts and minimizing subsequent hard machining processes in order to reduce overall production costs.
EVENTS | 2008-07-01

Vacuum Carburizing Takes Center Stage

ALD-Holcroft Vacuum Technologies Co. will host a two-day technical symposium at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan September 23– 24, 2008.
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2007-08-01

New Vacuum Processes

This paper introduces new process developments in low-pressure carburizing and carbonitriding using either high-pressure gas quenching or interrupted gas quenching.
FEATURE ARTICLES | 2007-06-01

Wind Turbine Market Leads Hansen Transmissions to India

When Belgium-based Hansen Transmissions was under the ownership of Invensys plc in the late 1990s, the parent company was dropping not-so-subtle hints that the industrial gearbox manufacturer was not part of its long-term plans. Yet Hansen’s CEO Ivan Brems never dreamed that, less than a decade later, he would be working for an Indian company.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 2006-01-15

Solar Atmospheres Offers Full Production Vacuum Carburizing Services

Solar Atmospheres’ new Low Torr Vacuum Carburizing furnace and services are now operating at Solar’s Eastern Pennsylvania ...

EVENTS | 2005-01-01

Events

The complete Events section from January/February 2005, including coverage of a vacuum carburizing conference.
INDUSTRY NEWS | 1993-07-01

Gear Tip Chamfer and Gear Noise; Surface Measurement of Spiral Bevel Gear Teeth

Could the tip chamfer that manufacturing people usually use on the tips of gear teeth be the cause of vibration in the gear set? The set in question is spur, of 2.25 DP, with 20 degrees pressure angle. The pinion has 14 teeth and the mating gear, 63 teeth. The pinion turns at 535 rpm maximum. Could a chamfer a little over 1/64" cause a vibration problem?
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