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VAV 72114 DOQ Vacuum Oil Quench Furnace has been used in service continuously since 1989. The furnace is used to harden a wide variety of aerospace parts made from high strength steels such as 4340, 4140 and 300M. It is also equipped with a gas quench system for interrupted quenching processes like ausbay quenching.
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VAV 72126 DOQ Vacuum Oil Quench Furnace
(3D model shown here) was commissioned in 1998. To save floor space, the furnace’s heating chamber is raised and lowered on a fixed gantry to expose the hearth. Workload is placed on the hearth with a customized loader designed by VAC AERO.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VAC AERO’s As a world leader in vacuum oil quenching of large aerospace components, VAC AERO is preparing for increases in commercial aircraft production that are forecast over the next few years. Despite the fact that production for portions of these programs continues to move offshore, VAC AERO expects to be installing additional vacuum oil quench capacity to support forecast increases in demand in North America. Indeed, some of the new large aircraft programs will require some of the biggest vacuum oil quench furnaces ever constructed by VAC AERO.
Vacuum oil quenching offers various environmental and economic benefits over traditional hardening techniques in salt bath and controlled atmosphere furnaces. Because vacuum furnaces are inherently leak tight, control of surface chemistry is precise and the decarburization and high temperature oxidation problems often associated with traditional salt bath and controlled atmosphere heat treating can be eliminated. This technique also allows manufacturers of aircraft landing gear and structural components to finish machine critical surfaces on these components prior to heat treating thereby reducing final machining costs when the part is in the hardened condition. As a result, the process is favored for many aircraft landing gear heat treating applications which have made VAC AERO a key supplier of heat treating services for landing gear components in various legacy and recent aircraft programs like Airbus A380, Boeing 777 and the new Boeing Dreamliner.
VAC AERO operates three of the world’s largest vacuum oil quench furnaces, (some which have been used in service continuously since 1989,) all designed and manufactured by the company’s Furnace Manufacturing Division. The largest of these furnaces can process loads up to 72” in diameter by 126” inches high. Large vacuum oil quench furnaces are complex in construction and require skill and experience to operate and maintain. As both furnace manufacturer and a heat treater, VAC AERO understands the importance of uptime in the operation of its equipment. This is becoming particularly important as competitive pressures increase from lower cost manufacturing regions abroad as well as responding to price reduction demands from the customers themselves. To maximize uptime, VAC AERO uses practical heat treating experience in all its vacuum furnace designs.
Technology transfer as well as operator training has also become a bigger focus, with education in the safety and quality aspects receiving as much attention as technical training. VAC AERO holds AS9100, Nadcap, and numerous customer approvals for heat treating, welding and tensile testing.
For more information on VAC AERO’s Oil Quench Furnaces please click here.