Evaluating a material’s response during austenitization
Carbon content in steel has a direct correlation to the hardness and overall strength of a component after heat treatment. Carbon can take many...
Understanding gas composition
Evaluating furnace atmospheres for proper gas composition is the key to desired performance results
Induction Hardening Choices for Gears
Of the various types of applied energy processing, induction hardening is the most common. Induction heating is a process that uses an alternating electrical...
Hardening and tempering in the same cell
Tempering hardened steels is one of the most important heat treating processes used in part manufacturing. Induction tempering produces hardness and mechanical properties similar...
Revisiting the 1:1 Rule for oil quenchants
The rule of thumb “one gallon of oil to one pound of parts and fixtures” has been in the literature for a long time....
Kanthal APMT for nuclear-energy application
The major earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan in 2011 did serious damage to boiling water reactors of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant....
Use of molten salts for martempering of steel
In July’s column, I talked about molten salts and the different types. In this short column, we discuss the benefits of using molten salts...
Quality review: Heat-treat related certifications
As heat treaters, we must admit that, at the end of the day, what we feel we are paying for is a certification that...
The effect of agitation on oil quenchants
In this column, I will discuss the effect of agitation on the cooling curve of oil quenchants.
Oil has been used for many years as...
Furnace atmospheres and temperature
Getting the Right Protective and Carburizing Atmosphere
The makeup of a furnace’s atmosphere in the heat treating process varies based upon the application. For carburizing,...
Furnace Types
Heat treating furnaces consist of several subassemblies: insulation (fiber and brick), heating systems (electric and gas), material handling, quenching, atmosphere system, process and control...
Inducing heat treatment for case hardening
Induction hardening has become an increasingly popular heat-treatment method for steel due to its extremely fast processing speeds. Compared to other case hardening methods,...
Finding leaks in an atmosphere furnace
Visual inspection, routine preventative maintenance of atmosphere furnaces is critical to maintaining safety, efficiency
AMS2750 pyrometry revisions tweak a crucial process
AMS2750 pyrometry is a daunting heat-treat special process requirement in the aerospace industry. It’s a literal definition implying measurement of temperature, but it also...
The importance of contract review
Within any aspect of our business structure, understanding the specific requirements needed to produce product that conforms to customer requirements is important. These requirements...
Troubleshooting induction hardening problems: Part 2
Last month, I began a two-part article about troubleshooting induction hardening problems and discussed possible corrections. This month, I will discuss biological and odor...
Simulation tools to effectively calculate process
One common goal for a wide range of industries has been to increase power density in shaft and gear components. The steel producing industry...
Q&A with Aziz Jamaluddin
What is Epcon?
Epcon is a full-service organization, starting with front-end business development/marketing, sales and application engineering, through complete in-house engineering, design, and drafting —...
Is there a furnace problem?
That question is much easier to answer if you learn the indicators, alarms, switches
Enhanced properties of metal matrix nanocomposites
Application of carbon nanotube (CNT) reinforced metal matrix nanocomposite (MMNC) has been increasing rapidly since the discovery of CNT in the 1990s. These novel...
Quench tank agitation by submerged jets
In this column, I will discuss agitation by submerged jets.
Common methods of agitating quench tanks, and other types of tanks, are by sparging or...
Understanding the technology is key to proper use
I teach pyrometry courses throughout the year and, when I do, I include a thermocouple tutorial video from YouTube. In this video the function...
Thermal triplets: PM, sintering, and case hardening
From my experience, powder metals (PM), sintering, and case hardening are three processes that could be said to be joined at the hip. More...
Anatomy of a Heat-Treating System
Ninety-eight 600-pound trays are in continuous process, 13 are in the pre-process queue, nine preheating, 14 in the boost carb, eight in the diffusion...
The art of heat treat: The framework
I was once taught that heat treat is an art as much as it is a science in achieving the results required for the...
Determining heat-treat operator training
With the fast pace of change in the heat-treat industry, it is understandable that more automation is in demand. This automation inevitably improves repeatability...
Extending the Hot Zone’s Life Span
One most commonly recommended procedure for making your equipment perform more effectively is to run a cleanup cycle, which removes contaminants from within the...
Q&A with David Wolff
What’s a typical day like for you at Nel Hydrogen?
I’m in field sales and work with customers to make sure their process needs that...
Atmosphere furnace control
Proper temperature is crucial to part quality, but don’t overlook its effect on atmosphere control
Sintering metal powders
In this column, I will discuss the process of sintering metal powders, an important part of manufacturing powder metallurgy (PM) parts.
Introduction
Powder metallurgy is a...
A Short Guide on Water Vapor
Water vapor (e.g., excessive retained humidity) is the most commonplace enemy of vacuum furnaces. In fact, it is the No. 1 threat to everyday...
Using welding simulation tools to model WAAM
In its simplest form, additive manufacturing has been used since before the common era where low temperature melting materials such as tin, silver, copper,...
Quality staff: Understanding the technical side
Last month, we examined the history and heat-treatment of aluminum and how it applies to the quality functions of the industry. This month, we...
Stress evolution during quench hardening of steel
Quench hardening of steel components involves complex, nonintuitive phenomena, particularly as it relates to the dimensional changes and stresses induced. Figure 1 shows a...
Heat-treating workhorse – integral quench furnace
In this column, we will discuss the workhorse of the steel heat-treating industry – the integral quench furnace.
The integral quench furnace, or sealed quench...
Q&A with Don Selmi
What is Premier’s mission?
To provide heat-treating systems that are dependable as well as innovative, with performance-proven technology that will enhance the physical properties and...
Influence of agitation on polymer quenchants
Polymer quenchants are used extensively to quench a large variety of materials in a variety of processes. Polymer quenchants can be used for immersion...
Improving temperature uniformity during tempering
The final step in any steel heat-treatment quenching process which produces a martensitic microstructure is tempering. Martensite is a metastable phase and is extremely...
The life of a heat treat process engineer
Editor’s note: Beginning with the March 2020 issue of Thermal Processing, there will be multiple contributors to the Quality Counts column. Conrad Kacsik’s Jason...
Intensive Quenching
Heat treating is similar to art in many ways, but not for the reasons you might think. Art, it’s said, is in the eye...
