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Solar Atmospheres of Western PA recently installed a new, 14-foot long car bottom air furnace. The furnace was surveyed in accordance with AMS2750 Rev E and is uniform within ±10°F (Class 2).
With a working zone measuring 60” wide x 54” high x 168” long, the furnace will be capable of handling workloads up to 30,000 pounds. A maximum operating temperature of 1,400° F allows this furnace to accommodate the tempering of large tool steel components, as well as the age hardening processes of nickel-based alloys and precipitation hardenable stainless steels.
Bob Hill, president of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, states, “This new air tempering furnace will be a good complement its larger counterpart, a recently installed 20 foot long car bottom furnace. Expanding our large air furnace capability will enhance the turnaround for our ’raw material’ customers, and is more cost-effective than processing in a vacuum environment.”
Related Glossary Terms
- age hardening
age hardening
Hardening of a heat-treated material that occurs slowly at room temperature and more rapidly at higher temperatures. Usually follows rapid cooling or cold working.
- alloys
alloys
Substances having metallic properties and being composed of two or more chemical elements of which at least one is a metal.
- hardening
hardening
Process of increasing the surface hardness of a part. It is accomplished by heating a piece of steel to a temperature within or above its critical range and then cooling (or quenching) it rapidly. In any heat-treatment operation, the rate of heating is important. Heat flows from the exterior to the interior of steel at a definite rate. If the steel is heated too quickly, the outside becomes hotter than the inside and the desired uniform structure cannot be obtained. If a piece is irregular in shape, a slow heating rate is essential to prevent warping and cracking. The heavier the section, the longer the heating time must be to achieve uniform results. Even after the correct temperature has been reached, the piece should be held at the temperature for a sufficient period of time to permit its thickest section to attain a uniform temperature. See workhardening.
- stainless steels
stainless steels
Stainless steels possess high strength, heat resistance, excellent workability and erosion resistance. Four general classes have been developed to cover a range of mechanical and physical properties for particular applications. The four classes are: the austenitic types of the chromium-nickel-manganese 200 series and the chromium-nickel 300 series; the martensitic types of the chromium, hardenable 400 series; the chromium, nonhardenable 400-series ferritic types; and the precipitation-hardening type of chromium-nickel alloys with additional elements that are hardenable by solution treating and aging.
- tempering
tempering
1. In heat-treatment, reheating hardened steel or hardened cast iron to a given temperature below the eutectoid temperature to decrease hardness and increase toughness. The process also is sometimes applied to normalized steel. 2. In nonferrous alloys and in some ferrous alloys (steels that cannot be hardened by heat-treatment), the hardness and strength produced by mechanical or thermal treatment, or both, and characterized by a certain structure, mechanical properties or reduction in area during cold working.
