The type and reliability of instrumentation and process controls used on vacuum furnaces in the heat treatment industry is critical to both the performance of the vacuum furnace itself as well as the results that are achieved when processing critical components. It is not an understatement to say that given the life expectancy of vacuum equipment, instrumentation and controls should be updated every few years to take advantage of the most advanced technology possible (e.g., remote communication and diagnostics, process monitoring and control by Internet-based devices and the like).

Demands on Instrumentation and Control Packages

Temperature control and as a result temperature uniformity can be difficult because of the heat transfer characteristics of the furnace as it moves, for example, from convection to radiant heating and convective/conductive heat transfer during quenching. For example, the ability to vary the furnace heating rate (e.g., 3°C/min – 25°C/min) demands precise and accurate measurement and control, including setpoint program control with guaranteed soak features.

Vacuum furnaces are often used for a variety of products and processes by the heat treater making recipe management an important function. Temperature overshoot of set points is typically not allowed. Setpoint program control is often applied to the temperature, vacuum level and gas pressure with extensive interaction between these programs and also with the logic control.

There is a constant need throughout the industry to produce the highest quality parts to the most stringent product specifications. Both long-established and new materials are being employed to meet the needs of lighter, stronger, smaller and more efficient designs, and the use of vacuum technology in manufacturing is of paramount importance in achieving these goals.

The strategy being adopted by manufacturing to meet these needs relies heavily on vacuum processes and equipment through:

• Process development – New materials, new products, and new applications demand absolute cycle repeatability, flexibility, and control, and as such, designers are specifying vacuum processing over other heat treatment methods.
• Process substitution – Older process technologies and the equipment associated with them are being replaced by vacuum equipment. The justification lies in reduced unit cost achieved by lowering the overall cost of manufacturing and/or through material and efficiency savings.
• Process replacement – Product-performance demands are forcing designers to look toward vacuum processing and its ability to offer a superior product for the same or very similar cost.

More and more application uses are being found for composite materials and their use is expanding beyond just aerospace applications. As such, you may be wondering how they are manufactured. Composites are manufactured using multiple layers of material, each with different properties, combined into a single structure. By joining them in this manner, the resultant “composite” material is unusually strong and light. It has greater strength, flexure, and more favorable mechanical properties than any of the individual materials used to make the composite. Metal matrix and ceramic matrix composites enjoy widespread use in the wind power, automotive and aerospace industries, among others (Fig. 1), as they offer unique advantages over steel and aluminum. Composite manufacturing is a growing industry and has strong continued prospects for expansion.

The most popular composites, valued for their very high strength to weight ratio, are made of a woven base material such as fiberglass, aramid (Kevlar®) or carbon fiber impregnated with a resin that is hardened into a plastic using heat and/or pressure. The woven material is known as a “prepreg” since it has not yet been impregnated with resin. The resin can be epoxy, polyester, polyurethane, or other plastic in liquid form. The base fiber, such as carbon, has high tensile strength but is not stiff enough on its own to be used as a structural element. The resin can be molded and formed into various shapes but is not strong enough on its own to serve as a structural member. When the base fiber and the plastic are combined, the resultant composite material has both the strength of carbon fiber and the retained shape of the cured epoxy or other hard plastic. This feature, the ability to incorporate the most favorable mechanical properties of each of the constituent materials, is what makes composites such an attractive choice for a wide variety of lightweight structures.

No matter what field you study, an accurate knowledge of its vocabulary is essential to understanding the subject. In the field of vacuum heat treatment, considerable emphasis is placed on the proper use, meaning, and interpretation of certain words or phrases. A brief summary of the terminology including common processes being run is presented below.

Annealing – Heating above the critical (Ac1) temperature and holding at a suitable temperature followed by cooling at a suitable (slow) rate for purposes such as reducing hardness, improving machinability, facilitating cold working, producing a desired microstructure (for subsequent operations), reducing internal stresses, or for obtaining desired mechanical, physical or other properties. Cooling is often performed in the furnace. Other common names and related subjects include black annealing, intermediate annealing, isothermal annealing, malleablizing, process annealing, quench annealing, recrystallization annealing, and spheroidizing.

Cleaning in a solvent offers a level of simplicity and forgiveness not seen in aqueous methods. At one time solvent cleaning was considered mandatory for successful vacuum processing but environmental concerns (VOC and other emissions) and improvements to aqueous systems including drying technology has seen the industry shift to aqueous cleaning as the norm. Today, however, with the advent of vacuum technology, vacuum vapor degreasing has emerged as a viable alternative to aqueous processing.

Solvent cleaning involves three basic steps: wash, rinse and dry. Washing is where the parts are immersed in or placed in contact with a (typically boiling) solvent to assist with the contaminant removal process. The purpose of rinsing is to bring “fresh” or clean solvent in contact with the parts. The aim is to dilute the contaminated solvent present on the surface of the parts from washing. It is important to remember that the rinse solvent must be kept clean. Contaminated solvent is a very common problem and will only reintroduce contaminants back onto the surface. The drying step evaporates the solvent and separates the rinse solvent from the parts.

Today, the maintenance of heat treatment equipment is a point of major emphasis and this is especially true for vacuum furnaces. This article will explore various aspects of vacuum furnace maintenance providing useful tips and practical techniques to simplify the work and make sure that it is done correctly. Let’s begin by understanding the importance of the role of maintenance, and more specifically, how planned preventative maintenance is helping to manage the overall cost of equipment operation.

Accepting the Inevitable

Maintenance is a fact of life for heat treat equipment. In general, the cost of maintenance increases dramatically as the operating temperature increases and/or the process environment becomes more severe (e.g. carburizing versus hardening). This remains true in vacuum furnaces despite the fact that they are often operated below their maximum temperature ratings. As with all equipment, some styles and designs require more attention than others. It is interesting to note, however, that construction of heat treat equipment can often be classified as “heavy duty” or “light duty” by the amount of maintenance required. Of course, if any furnace is operated outside their design limitations, this almost always translates to a need for more extensive maintenance. A great deal of money can be spent – and wasted – if careful thought and clear understanding of the equipment design as well as the extent of the repair is not taken into account. Not taking the time to determine the root cause of why a component failed can have disastrous bottom line consequences. Proper maintenance maximizes “up-time” productivity, and the utilization of planned preventative maintenance programs result not only in better equipment reliability but in improved process repeatability and control – essential to producing good parts with consistent metallurgical and mechanical properties. Once management understands, accepts and budgets for maintenance expenditures, the operation of all heat treating equipment and especially vacuum furnaces become far more reliable.

As in any discipline, understanding the underlying scientific principles has profound practical implications when properly understood. In this series of articles, we will review the first principles of vacuum technology and explain them using real-world illustrations. Most industrial vacuum systems can, in broad-based terms, be categorized in terms of low (i.e., “soft”), medium, high (i.e., “hard”) and ultra-high vacuum. These ranges are very useful in describing the various pressure, flow, and other phenomenon encountered, which leads to a better understanding of vacuum pump selection and operation, and system operational requirements at the different vacuum levels.

As shown by the difference in pressure from low to ultra-high vacuum, industrial vacuum systems must operate under an extremely wide range of pressure. In fact, the range is so large it is hard to actually comprehend. Consider a volume of gas at a pressure of 1000 mbar (atmospheric pressure) in a 1 meter by 1 meter by 1 meter container sealed so that no molecules can escape or enter. It is easy to understand that if the container is expanded in volume while still remaining sealed, the pressure will decrease (and a vacuum will be created) in direct proportion to the increase in volume (in accordance with Boyle’s law). If, for example, the container volume is doubled to 2 cubic meters, the pressure will decrease by half, to 500 mbar. When this relationship is expanded to the scale of industrial vacuum systems, the result is striking. If we take this same 1 cubic meter volume of gas and increase its volume sufficiently for the pressure to be reduced to 10^-12 mbar (ultra-high vacuum), the container will be a staggering 99 km long x 99 km wide x 99 km high, or 200 times the volume of the grand canyon!