Technologies and Processes for the Advancement of Materials

ISSUE FOCUS ///

PYROMETRY / PROCESS CONTROL / AISTECH PREVIEW

PRINCIPLES
OF PYROMETRY
COMPANY PROFILE ///
Dalton Electric Heating Company

APRIL 2019
[Link]
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CONTENTS ///

26

PRINCIPLES OF PYROMETRY
AMS2750E covers a lot of pyrometric territory regarding
equipment used for thermal processing. Look closely, and
it gets a little tricky.

34
THE VERSATILITY
OF THE PIT FURNACE
Pit furnaces provide a wide range of thermal
processes for typically far less cost than other
types of furnaces.

COMPANY PROFILE ///

CONSISTENTLY PERFORMING
AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS

30 Dalton Electric Heating Company offers its

customers uniquely patented heater options with a
commitment to first-class service to back it up.

2 APRIL 2019 COVER PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK

 POWDERMET2019
June 23–26, 2019 • Sheraton Grand • Phoenix, Arizona

International Conference
TECHNICAL PROGRAM
on Powder Metallurgy
Held with the co-located conference AMPM2019, Additive Manufacturing
& Particulate Materials
with Powder Metallurgy, POWDERMET2019 attendees will have access to
over 200 technical presentations from worldwide experts on the latest
2
research and development.
0
1
9 TRADE EXHIBIT
Additive Manufacturing The largest annual North American exhibit to showcase leading suppliers
with Powder Metallurgy of powder metallurgy, particulate materials, and metal additive manufacturing
processing equipment, powders, and products.

SPECIAL CONFERENCE EVENTS

Including special guest speakers, awards luncheons, and evening networking
events.

Metal Powder Industries Federation Register by May 10! Visit [Link] for details.
APMI International
[Link] 3
DEPARTMENTS ///
APRIL 2019 VOLUME 8 / NUMBER 4

UPDATE /// Industrial Heating Equipment

Association (IHEA)
New Products, Trends, Services & Developments
In this section, the national
trade association representing
the major segments of the
industrial heat processing
equipment industry shares

18
news of the organization’s activities,
upcoming educational events, and
key developments in the industry.

METAL URGENCY ///

9CrMo steels are critical in
addressing energy demand,
mitigating greenhouse gas
emissions, reducing SOx and
NOx emissions, and increasing
8 efficiency. 20

½½TPS ships five Blue M ovens to automotive manufacturer. HOT SEAT ///
The metallurgical outcome is just
½½Abbott Furnace to host brazing symposium in Mexico. one objective of the auto industry’s
½½Fastener manufacturer buys AFC-Holcroft furnace. CQI-9 standard. 22

Q&A ///
MATTHIAS PASCHER
HARDNESS PRODUCT MANAGER ///
BUEHLER
QUALITY COUNTS ///
Successful thermal processing
RESOURCES ///
40
means ensuring the final product
Marketplace 38 conforms to the requirements
Advertiser index 39 specified by the purchaser. 24

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retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher. The views expressed by those not on the staff on Thermal Processing magazine, or who are not specifically employed
by Media Solutions, Inc., are purely their own. All “Update” material has either been submitted by the subject company or pulled directly from their corporate website, which is assumed
to be cleared for release. Comments and submissions are welcome and can be submitted to editor@[Link].

4 APRIL 2019
REACH MORE
CUSTOMERS
Advertise with us in print and
online, and you can reach over
16,000 readers – many who are
key decision makers at their
companies.

To learn more, contact national sales director

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[Link] 5
FROM THE EDITOR /// David C. Cooper
PUBLISHER

Chad Morrison
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Get ready for AISTech 2019 in Pittsburgh EDITORIAL

ittsburgh will be the place to be in May when AISTech 2019, The Iron & Steel Kenneth Carter
P Technology Conference and Exposition, fires up.
The event is expected to feature technologies from all over the world to help
EDITOR

Jennifer Jacobson
steel producers compete in today’s extremely competitive global market. ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Iron and steel are often building blocks of the heat-treat industry, which is why Joe Crowe
Thermal Processing is happy to promote this show that will provide perspective on the CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
technology and engineering expertise needed to power a sustainable steel industry. Look
for a copy of Thermal Processing on display at the show. SALES
The April issue of Thermal Processing is not only an opportunity to promote industry
Chad Morrison
events that are essential to heat-treating, but it’s also shining a spotlight on activities ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
vital to the industry, namely pyrometry and process control.
Our good friend and frequent contributor Jason Schulze has gone above and beyond Dave Gomez
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER
for this issue as he shares his expertise on how AMS2750E covers a lot of pyrometric
territory regarding equipment used for thermal processing. Jim Faulkner
And his monthly Quality Counts column involves process control. In that, he takes a REGIONAL SALES MANAGER
look at how successful thermal processing means ensuring the final product conforms
to the requirements of the purchaser. CIRCULATION
Another one of our valued columnists takes a look at process control as well. In his Teresa Cooper
Hot Seat column, Jack Titus reveals how process control is vital to heat-treating and how MANAGER
the metallurgical outcome is just one objective of the auto industry’s CQI-9 standard.
That’s just a taste of what you’ll find in this month’s issue of Thermal Processing. Jamie Willett
ASSISTANT
Make sure you check us out at AISTech, and hit me up with suggestions at the email
below so we can continue to make Thermal Processing the best heat-treat source it can be.
And, as always, thanks for reading!
DESIGN
RIck Frennea
CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Michele Hall
GRAPHIC DESIGNER

CONTRIBUTING
KENNETH CARTER, EDITOR WRITERS
Thermal Processing magazine JASON SCHULZE
editor@[Link] TRIRATNA SHRESTHA
BILL ST. THOMAS
(800) 366-2185 x204 JACK TITUS

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Coop w
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P. O. BOX 1987 • PELHAM, AL 35124
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CALL FOR ARTICLES Have a technical paper or other work with an educational David C. Cooper Chad Morrison
angle? Let Thermal Processing publish it. Contact the editor, Kenneth Carter, at PRESIDENT VICE PRESIDENT
editor@[Link] for how you can share your expertise with our readers.
Teresa Cooper
OPERATIONS
6 APRIL 2019
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Connect your company
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[Link] 7
UPDATE /// HEAT TREATING INDUSTRY NEWS

special speed control up to 10 rpm. They

are rated for NFPA 86 Class B and can heat
up to 300°C in 60 minutes or less. Blue M
mechanical convection ovens are ideal for
many laboratory and industrial oven appli-
cations, such as ASTM testing, epoxy curing,
moisture drying, UL testing, aging of elec-
tronic components and devices, plus many
other processes and testing requirements.
“Our customers often have application
requirements that do not fall exactly in
line with our standard designs, which is
why our ability to customize equipment for
each customer’s manufacturing needs is so
important. These Blue M ovens were cus-
tomized with special rotating carriers and
speed control to accommodate the custom-
er’s application,” said Ashlee Kaczorowski,
product manager.
Unique features of the mechanical con-
vection ovens include:
› ›Differential air pressure switches alert
operators before costly problems with batch
runs.
› ›Many different workspace sizes to fit
virtually any requirement.
› ›Quick access for simple inner chamber
cleaning.
› ›Easy-to-use controller for repeatable
results and fewer training requirements.
› ›Reinforced type 304 stainless steel
interior resists corrosion and makes clean-
The shipped Blue M industrial ovens have temperature ranges of 15°C above ambient to 350°C. (Courtesy: ing easy.
Thermal Product Solutions) › ›Adjustable air intake and exhaust damp-
ers for flexible testing conditions.

TPS ships five Blue M 350°C. The interior work chamber dimen-
sions are 20” W x 18” D x 20” H. They are
› ›Infinitely variable control from full
recirculation to full one-pass to accommo-
ovens to automotive designed with semi-perforated walls that
allow for tuning of the oven airflow to
date any processing need.
› ›Profiling or single setpoint tempera-
manufacturer maximize heating rates and uniformity.
The airflow in the chambers meets ISO-188,
ture controls offer flexible recipe options.
› ›Standard air flow switch.
Thermal Product Solutions, a global manu- 2007 requirements. Interior lights that are › ›Safety door switch shuts down heaters
facturer of thermal-processing equipment, operated by a toggle switch and viewing and blower when door opens.
announced the shipment of five Blue M windows in the doors were added to each › ›NFPA 86 Class B oven.
standard mechanical convection ovens to of the mechanical convection ovens for easy › ›Airflow in chamber meets ISO-188, 2007
a global manufacturer of automotive parts. viewing of the workspace. requirements.
These Blue M industrial ovens have tem- The Blue M ovens were customized with
perature ranges of 15°C above ambient to rotating carriers (rotisseries) that included MORE INFO [Link]

SEND US YOUR NEWS Companies wishing to submit materials for inclusion in Thermal Processing’s Update section should contact
the editor, Kenneth Carter, at editor@[Link]. Releases accompanied by color images will be given first consideration.

8 APRIL 2019
Abbott Furnace bleshooting issues. Abbott’s Symposium is
ideal for brazing engineers, maintenance
to host brazing personnel, product designers, and anyone
involved in the production of brazed com-
symposium ponents for the automotive industry.
Abbott Furnace will be hosting its Second
Abbott Furnace Company will host its Fifth Annual Continuous Brazing Symposium in
Annual Continuous Brazing Symposium in the United States in November 2019.
Puebla, Mexico, May 21-23, 2019. The train-
ing event is a gathering opportunity for MORE INFO [Link]
manufacturers and suppliers to the braz-
ing and powder metal sintering industries.
It is an opportunity for those new to the U.S.-based fastener
industry as well as seasoned professionals
interested in honing their knowledge of
manufacturer buys
brazing.
For two and a half days, attendees will
AFC-Holcroft furnace
Penn State University adjunct professor Dr. Steve
hear from experts in the areas of continu- Feldbauer A Midwestern facility of a U.S.-based leader
ous furnaces, filler metals, belts, CQI- in the manufacture of safety-critical fasten-
9, furnace atmosphere generation, and Melcor LLC; Cory Bloodsworth, director, ers and assembly solutions has purchased
atmosphere flow control, troubleshooting, New Business Development, Cambridge a new MB48-120 mesh belt furnace from
maintenance and optimization. Lecturers Engineered Solutions; Antonio Mendoza, AFC-Holcroft.
are Penn State University adjunct professor supplier technical assistance at Ford Motor The new equipment will replace an older
Dr. Steve Feldbauer, who serves as Abbott Company, Mexico; Joel Gutierrez, account AFC-Holcroft installation. The new mesh belt
Furnace Company’s director of research and manager of Kymera International; and furnace will integrate with existing com-
development; Miguel Martel, mechatron- Eric Jossart, director of sales, heat treat at panion equipment such as a loading system,
ics engineer at Abbott Furnace Company, United Process Controls. pre- and post-wash systems, oil quench, and
Mexico; Victor Zacarias, managing director, In addition, attendees will be able to temper furnace.
Global Thermal Solutions, Mexico; Creed interact personally with the lecturers to The new mesh belt furnace will be used
Darling, director, technical sales, Bellman- address more specific questions and trou- in the production of metal fasteners. AFC-

MULTIPLE TEMPERS
Servicing heat
ONE NADCAP REPORT treat industry
worldwide
We take pride in being a one-stop
shop for custom heat treating
equipment and maintenance that is
ready to serve 24 hours a day, seven
days a week
+ Nationwide troubleshooting and on-site
maintenance for vacuum furnaces and
pumping systems
+ We offer vacuum pump rentals, pump
rebuilds, pump rebuild kits, spare parts,
+1200ºF to -300ºF • 99% Up Time and leak detections

CONSISTENT & REPEATABLE

PROCESS CONTROL 260-897-HEAT (4328)
(800) 851-7302 sales@[Link]
info@ [Link]
[Link] Vesco: 860-627-7015

[Link] 9
UPDATE /// HEAT TREATING INDUSTRY NEWS
Holcroft mesh belt lines can be customized
with a variety of options, including oil and
salt quenching. These systems also include
the latest energy saving technologies to
reduce atmosphere and gas consumption.
Delivery and start-up of the new equip-
ment are expected in the first quarter of 2019.
Founded in 1916, AFC-Holcroft is one of
the U.S. market leaders in the production of
industrial furnace equipment for ferrous
and non-ferrous metals. The company man-
ufactures turn-key heat-treating systems
for applications including commercial heat
treating, bearings, automotive, aerospace,
mining, aluminum heat treatment, gear
manufacturing, fastener manufacturing,
and alternative energy industries.

MORE INFO [Link]

Grieve offers
550ºF floor-level
cabinet oven
The Grieve No. 1030 is a 550ºF floor-level
electric cabinet oven currently used for
The Grieve No. 1030 550ºF floor-level electric cabinet oven. (Courtesy: Grieve)
heating large gears at the customer’s facility.
Workspace dimensions of this oven measure
48” W x 48” D x 60” H. 40 KW are installed allurgy in the world, reports a record order enjoyed robust sales in 2018. The final
in Incoloy-sheathed tubular elements to heat portfolio of more than $105.3 million after results reflect great progress for this prod-
the oven chamber, while a 2,000 CFM, 2-HP three quarters of 2018. uct segment that has prompted continuing
recirculating blower provides horizontal air- The Group’s sales in the first three investment in this technology and expan-
flow across the workload. quarters of 2018 increased by 10 percent sion into new markets.
This Grieve cabinet oven features 6-inch compared to the same period of 2017. The Projects include:
insulated walls, aluminized steel exterior operating profit for this period was approx- › ›The sale of two complete technologi-
and interior, and five levels of dual-lane imately $5.3 million, while the net profit cal lines, each consisting of a two-chamber
roller conveyor rated at 300 pounds per level. was about $3.5 million. sealed quench furnace and auxiliary equip-
Controls onboard No. 1030 include a “A good performance and a rich portfo- ment for one of the world leaders in the
digital indicating temperature controller, lio of contracts, both completed and newly commercial heat-treating market.
manual reset excess temperature control- signed, result from a combination of excel- › ›Delivery of a continuous operating
ler with separate control contactors, and a lent business relationships, a global reputa- roller hearth window bending line to the
recirculating blower airflow safety switch. tion for proven technology, and consistently Czech Republic and Poland.
building a strong Seco/Warwick brand,” › ›The installation of a fire resistance test
MORE INFO [Link] said Paweł Wyrzykowski, Seco/Warwick furnace for the Scandinavian market.
Group CEO. › ›The latter product deserves a special

Seco/Warwick Group The strong market position of the Seco/

Warwick Group is built not only by facto-
distinction, because Seco/Warwick is the
market leader most frequently chosen by
reports record ries and companies on three continents,
but above all, stable revenues and a record
companies conducting fire resistance tests
of their products.
order portfolio order portfolio for end-to-end solutions in
five product categories.
Another product segment of the Group
that recorded spectacular sales results is
The Seco/Warwick Group, one of the five One category of note is atmosphere vacuum metallurgy. A significant increase
largest manufacturers of equipment for the heat-treatment technology and equipment, in sales of vacuum induction melting sys-
heat treatment of metals and vacuum met- the Seco/Warwick product segment that tems (VIM) in 2018 has already become the
10 APRIL 2019
success story of the segment. At Purdue SECO/PREDICTIVE, based on predictive tion line, is constantly growing. Seco/
University in the United States, the Group analytics, together with the SECO/LENS® Warwick, as a production company, under-
installed and commissioned a VIM type based on augmented reality technology, are stands these needs, offering innovations
furnace with a unique oil cooling system the latest solutions of the Group supporting that increase the resilience of companies
— a furnace for infiltrating samples with production and service processes. and their business performance. This was
a zirconium alloy. VIM also was delivered Awareness of the need to implement reflected in the results in 2018, where the
among other vacuum metallurgy projects advanced and intelligent solutions, often company recorded an increase in the num-
to an American company serving the avia- called “the brains” of an entire produc- ber of electrical projects by 20 percent com-
tion industry.
It was the aerospace industry that built
a strong order portfolio, 70 percent of sales,
for the Group in 2018, because equipment
from the three segments of the Group is Conrad Kacsik SCADA
devoted to this sector. Particularly notewor-
thy are furnaces for vacuum heat treatment,
Powerful, Economical, and Adaptable
which Seco/Warwick sent to customers at
Let Conrad Kacsik show you how a customized SCADA system can positively impact the
least once a week in 2018; 65 percent of the
performance at your company. Our process starts with an engineering evaluation of your
total volume was designed as customized
current controls and data acquisition system, then we’ll make recommendations that will
projects. In addition to numerous realiza-
enable you to achieve your goals and optimize performance.
tions for the aviation market, the Seco/
Warwick vacuum solutions segment has
proudly entered the demanding and dif-
ficult Japanese market for tool steel com- POWERFUL
• Supervisory Control
ponents.
• Precision Batching and Recipe Management
The last but equally attractive product • Control multiple furnace lines from a centralized location
group is equipment for the heat treatment • Bulletproof Data Acquisition and Documentation
of aluminum and controlled atmosphere (Nadcap / AMS2750E / CQI-9/ CFR-21)
brazing (CAB). As shown by Seco/Warwick • Store and Retrieve Data
in numerous installations around the • Reporting, Trending, Date & Time Stamping with
Operator Signature capability
world, technical experience and an inno-
vative approach make the CAB solution the ADAPTABLE
preferred joining technology for battery • System is easily customized to meet your requirements
cooling plates within the hybrid electric • Spectrum of service from simple Data Acquisition to Full
Blown Automation and Control
vehicle (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV)
• Touch Screen Capability
market. Interestingly, Seco/Warwick is the
only company in Europe supplying lines
dedicated to brazing the aluminum electric ECONOMICAL
car battery coolers. Our SCADA solution can be implemented in phases in order to fit your budget. For example, begin
with the data acquisition component, later add the supervisory control functionality to complete
Seco/Warwick is an award-winning com-
your SCADA System.
pany that has been interested in unconven-
tional and innovative solutions since its • Open Architecture
inception. The company has developed • Non-Proprietary System – customers are not bound to a single OEM
many intelligent tools to support produc- • Unlimited software “Tags” allow for maximum value when programming our system
tion processes using artificial intelligence, (minimizes software investment as compared to other HMI software packages)
• System will often work with existing instrumentation, via communication cards - minimizing
the Internet of Things (IoT), and the latest
investment in new equipment
concept of Industry 4.0.
Observing the global market trends relat-
ed to Industry 4.0, Seco/Warwick launched a Contact us today to help you
research and development project aimed at
creating a comprehensive management sys- with your SCADA system solution.
tem for predicting maintenance issues for
both metal heat treatment and vacuum met-
allurgy systems, equipped with a unique
failure detection system. The effect of this
1-800-666-1165
project is the SECO/PREDICTIVE system for [Link]
monitoring furnaces for heat treatment.
[Link] 11
UPDATE /// HEAT TREATING INDUSTRY NEWS
pared to the same period in 2017.
Financial data for the full year 2018
will be available in the consolidated peri-
odic report in April this year, which will be
posted on the company website.

MORE INFO [Link]

Messer brings
gases expertise
to Americas
Messer Group and CVC Capital Partners
Fund VII recently announced the comple-
tion of the planned acquisition of certain
businesses in North and South America
from Linde plc, launching a new name in Messer gases storage tank. (Courtesy: Messer Group)
the Americas market. Messer Americas
offers largely the same products, services
and people customers have come to know delivery of industrial, medical, and spe- vice president of sales, Ipsen USA. “Matt has
and trust. Together with Messer Group, cialty gases. excelled because of his work ethic and deter-
the company represents a $3 billion global mination to solve problems for customers.”
enterprise that includes presence in the MORE INFO [Link] Ipsen’s customer service team is respon-
Americas, Europe, and Asia. [Link] sible for providing customers with com-
“I am proud to serve as CEO of Messer in prehensive aftermarket support and ser-
the Americas, a continuation of my prior
role,” said Jens Luehring, president and CEO Ipsen USA names vices. Clinite has experience and a proven
approach to customer service, combined
of Messer Americas.
“While we have a
customer service with technical ability.

new name, we draw

on a rich heritage of
manager MORE INFO [Link]

safely and reliably

supply ing gases,
Ipsen USA announced the promotion of Matt
Clinite from Midwest regional sales owner to Aluminum
in novat ive tec h-
nologies, and appli-
Ipsen customer service sales manager, effec-
tive immediately.
manufacturer adds
cation expertise to
meet our customer
The position is new to Ipsen, and in it,
Clinite will be responsible for building the
Seco technology
Jens Luehring,
president and CEO of needs. We are a Ipsen customer service sales team to provide According to the Aluminum Association,
Messer Americas te c h nolog y a nd the best in the industry aftermarket support the official U.S. trade group, the aluminum
applications leader for parts, engineered solutions and service. industry generates nearly $71 billion a year
with the industry knowledge and applica- Clinite joined in direct economic impact in the United
tions expertise to meet customer needs the company in States. When all suppliers and related busi-
across industrial, food, medical, chemical, June 2014 as a sales ness functions are taken into account, the
and electronics industries, and our mission engineer and for the industry drives $174 billion in economic
is to become the premier supplier of choice past four years has impact — almost 1 percent of the country’s
in the Americas, with excellent speed to served as the region- GDP.
market and an entrepreneurial spirit.” al sales owner for An American manufacturer of flat rolled
With more than 70 production facilities the Midwest region. aluminum sheet recently added a new Seco/
in five countries across North and South Clinite earned his Warwick sow and T-bar preheat furnace sys-
America, Messer Americas is one of the larg- Matt Clinite bachelor’s degree tem to achieve maximum product quality,
est industrial gas companies in this region. in business adminis- energy savings, and melt safety. The instal-
As part of The Messer Group, the company tration from Illinois State University in 2011. lation puts an exclamation point on Seco/
offers more than 120 years of proven exper- “Since day one, Matt has influenced Ipsen Warwick’s support of the growing alumi-
tise in the safe and reliable production and in a positive direction,” said Pete Kerbel, num sector. Optimum air flow management
12 APRIL 2019
and a heating system that promotes efficient The rotary retort furnace can be built as a systems, for Seco/Warwick, 2018 was a suc-
heat transfer throughout the work and helps standalone quench hardening or annealing cessful year. “We’re very pleased with our
them manage production demands were furnace with its metering loader and inte- results in 2018; these results reflect continu-
unique features and benefits of the Seco/ gral quench system, or as part of a full hard- ing momentum in our business and consti-
Warwick system highlighted by the cus- en-quench and draw line with tempering tute another record year as a highlight in
tomer. furnace, washer(s), atmosphere generator(s), our journey to maintain a leading market
“Seco/Warwick has always recognized analyzers, etc. position. More importantly this allows us to
the importance of designing systems that When it comes to sales of atmosphere keep investing in product development and
achieve superior performance to provide
customers with maximum product quality,
energy savings, and safe operations. Our
partnership with this customer enabled

GET CONNECTED
us to quickly recognize areas for process
improvement and allowed us to collaborate
on value solutions for their manufacturing
process,” said Keith Boeckenhauer, manag-
ing director, Seco/Warwick USA.
The furnace includes the patented mov-
able baffle system and fixed base airflow
spacers for maximum heat transfer to [Link] is your
varying height loads. The system is PLC con-
trolled with remote I/O and dual operator trusted online source for information
interface control stations.
“For this customer, as well as other alu- and technical knowledge about
minum businesses, Seco/Warwick provides
innovative solutions to support primary alu- the heat treating industry.
minum production, aluminum sheet, plate
and foil, aluminum extruded products, and
aluminum rolling and drawing mills,” said You’ll find topical articles,
Piotr Skarbiński VP, Aluminum Process and
CAB at Seco/Warwick. company profiles and interviews
MORE INFO [Link] with industry insiders, and timely
heat treat industry news.
Seco/Warwick rotary
retort furnace proves
a success in 2018
The rotary retort technology is designed
to produce consistently superior quench
hardening performance that is required
for fast, economical, uniform heat treating
of small parts. It provides the process flex-
ibility to be used for either single or multi-
application production. Ideal applications
for the Seco/Warwick rotary retort furnace
include quench hardening, tempering, and
annealing — in 2018, the atmosphere heat-
treatment furnace star.
Rotary retort furnaces are used to process Get your FREE subscription, plus our online content, at
an exceptionally wide variety of small parts [Link]
including screws, nuts, bolts, nails, washers,
and coins so they are particularly popular
among tooling industry or mints.
[Link] 13
UPDATE /// HEAT TREATING INDUSTRY NEWS
400°F to meet BAC 5621 Class 1 Furnaces and
Instrumentation Type D specifications; veri-
fied through a 50-point profile (with center
door raised), and a 25-point profile (with
center door closed) performed separately. All
three tests were conducted in an empty oven
chamber under static operating conditions.
This industrial oven has sufficient capa-
bility to heat 2,000 pounds of material from
70°F to 350°F at an average rate of 10°F per
minute. This oven features three total verti-
cal lift, electrically operated doors; the center
door (when in the closed/lowered position)
separates each zone into individual cham-
bers. When in the raised position, this cen-
ter door allows the customer to use one main
large heating chamber. Each zone’s exhaust
Rotary retort technology is designed to produce consistently superior quench hardening performance that blowers included both VFDs and modulat-
is required for fast, economical, uniform heat treating of small parts. (Courtesy: Seco/Warwick) ing dampers to allow a lowered exhaust rate
during heating, and capability for accelerated
expansion into new markets,” said Jarosław and svt Brandschutz Vertriebsgesellschaft cooling of product during the cooling stage.
Talerzak, thermal heat-treatment furnace GmbH International, a German supplier of The vacuum system included two 2 HP rotary
systems VP at Seco/Warwick. fireproof materials and systems. vane vacuum pumps, one for each zone, and a
Constant process technology improve- Seco/Warwick is a leader in innovative Eurotherm controller for controlling the pres-
ments coupled with expertise and decades of heat-treatment furnaces. In the production sure of each vacuum header. This composite
experience allows Seco/Warwick to accom- of atmosphere heat-treatment solutions, curing oven also featured access doors within
modate the increasing demands of world- the company uses extended experience and both end vertical lift doors, personnel safety
wide customers. It is the equipment quality state-of-the-art technology to simplify instal- interior pull cords (to automatically open
and high level of services that resulted in lations, reduce investment costs, and reduce both end doors), and interior lighting.
attracting new and returning customers. process utilities consumption. “Curing is crucial in the manufacturing
One of the latter ones, in 2018, was the main process for composite materials. This com-
producer of forgings in Central Europe for MORE INFO [Link] posite curing oven was designed with 2
strategic markets, who invested in single- zones to give our customer the flexibility to
chamber furnace type PEK. Its special design
reduces the consumption of process factors Wisconsin Oven process composite parts of different sizes. It
also features an advanced vacuum and con-
and investment costs while maintaining the
high quality of thermally processed parts.
ships curing oven to trol system,” said Doug Christiansen, appli-

Another project was the manufacturer

of high-quality matrix forgings, construc-
global manufacturer
tion connectors, and manual tools, who pur- Wisconsin Oven Corporation announced
chased a CaseMaster AFS ­— a multipurpose the shipment of a 2-Zone indirect gas-fired
sealed quench chamber furnace, intended for heavy-duty walk-in oven to a global manufac-
thermal and thermo-chemical treatment in a turer in the composite industry. Wisconsin
controlled endothermic atmosphere. Oven announced that this project passed the
Extensive experience and modern tech- stringent temperature uniformity require-
nologies are what make Seco/Warwick an ments to meet BAC 5621 Class 1 Furnaces
iconic brand in the production of laboratory and Instrumentation Type D specifications.
furnaces for fire resistance testing. Among The composite curing oven has a maxi-
customers noticing the significance of reli- mum operating temperature of 450°F and
able fire resistance testing in 2018 were overall chamber dimensions of 12’0” wide
KNAUF SAS, a French leader of the construc- x 35’0” long (with center door raised) x 9’0”
tion material industry; Roxtec, a Swedish high. It uses a horizontal air flow configura-
leader within sealing solutions for cable tion to maximize heating rates and unifor-
The composite curing oven has a maximum
and pipe transits, both purchasing a fire mity. Three total guaranteed temperature operating temperature of 450°F and overall
resistance test furnace for vertical and hori- uniformity tests were performed to ±5°F, chamber dimensions of 12’0” wide x 35’0” long
zontal components of building structures; each at set points of 150°F, 250°F, 350°F, and (with center door raised) x 9’0” high.

14 APRIL 2019
cation engineer.
Unique features of this composite curing
reputation. He will remain as chief financial
officer until his planned retirement at the Seco/Warwick
oven include:
› ›Guaranteed temperature uniformity
end of 2020.
As a result, Gasbarre has announced that
upgrades supplier’s
of ±5°F at setpoints of 150° F through 400°F.
› ›High efficiency tongue and groove
Tom Gasbarre’s son, Alex Gasbarre, has been
appointed chief executive officer and is now
key equipment
panel assemblies. leading the development and execution of Seco/Warwick comprehensively updated
› ›Interior panel skins, ductwork, and the company’s short- and long-term strate- and simultaneously extended a box fur-
oven floor constructed of 304 stainless steel. gies. nace’s productive longevity, which is a
› ›Two indirect industrial air heat burners. Alex Gasbarre has been working at the pivotal piece of manufacturing equipment
› ›Programmable logic controller and company in several roles for the last 14 years. for a leading international participant in
human-machine interface. His most recent role the field of precious metals and advanced
› ›Programmable recipe temperature con- as president of press materials.
troller with auto-tune function. & technologies and The unit was originally manufactured
› ›Thermocouple jack panels for load tem- chief operating offi- and delivered by Seco/Warwick in 1989 and,
perature monitoring with guaranteed soak cer has given him thanks to routine maintenance specified
feature of leading/lagging part temperatures t he opportunit y by Seco/Warwick, the furnace has operated
(to trigger the start of the soak segments). to hone his skills reliably and productively for three decades.
› ›Access doors in both end vertical lift regarding strategic It was used primarily for annealing in the
doors. planning, informa- manufacturing of precious metals and
› ›Interior lighting. Thomas G. Gasbarre tion technolog y, advanced materials.
› ›Chamber divider door to separate zones. marketing, human The furnace is a key piece of equipment
› ›Turn-key installation service completed resources, and inter- in the production process and the customer
at the customer’s facility. national sales. has been happy with the reliability of this
› ›Final temperature uniformity surveys Ga sba r re ha s equipment. To keep quality standards high,
and calibration services performed at the promoted Heat h the customer scheduled the furnace to be
customer’s facility by an accredited third- Jenkins to succeed rebuilt. Seco/Warwick was the first company
party testing company (once completed sys- Alex Gasbarre as asked and was also the company selected
tem is qualified for production). president, press to do the actual rebuild. The customer is
This composite curing oven was fully fac- & automat ion, hopeful the furnace will last another three
tory tested and adjusted prior to shipment and manufactur- decades with only minor maintenance after
from our facility. All safety interlocks are Alex Gasbarre ing technologies. the current rebuild.
checked for proper operation and the equip- Jenkins has been “Rebuilds of this type are high on our pri-
ment is operated at the normal and maxi- with Gasbarre for ority list. Because of our team’s broad pro-
mum operating temperatures. An extensive more than three fessional services capabilities, we’re able to
quality assurance check list was completed yea r s, a nd ha s provide good customers with prompt, profes-
to ensure the equipment met all Wisconsin proven himself a sional, and timely rebuild and upgrade ser-
Oven quality standards. leader with a strong vices that meet their demanding schedule,”
ability to develop said Keith Boeckenhauer, managing director
MORE INFO [Link] an organization. In at Seco/Warwick USA.
his earlier role as The unit was gutted. New insulation, baf-

Third generation Heath Jenkins vice president, sales

& marketing for
fles, and door seals were installed as well as
a significant upgrade to the control system
takes helm Gasbarre press division, Jenkins has brought
attention to the Gasbarre name and promot-
including an ultra-modern HMI.
Unique heat treatment equipment mod-
at Gasbarre ed sales growth and customer satisfaction
for the organization.
ernizations save money. Seco/Warwick
offers modernizations and comprehensive
Thomas G. Gasbarre has stepped down as “The next generation of leaders at refurbishments of its own equipment as
chief executive officer of Gasbarre Products, Gasbarre has proven themselves to be very well as any solution or equipment for heat
Inc. He has held the position since 1990 capable, dedicated, and committed to carry- treatment of metals and metallurgical vac-
when his father, George Gasbarre, the ing on the 46-year tradition of the company,” uum of other manufacturer. Seco/Warwick
founder of the company, retired. said Tom Gasbarre. “I believe these changes also offers SECONOMY — a mix of economi-
During his tenure as CEO, Tom Gasbarre will position Gasbarre Products, Inc. for con- cal and ecological solutions that enable
steered the company in a forward direction tinued success for many years to come.” waste heat recovery, reduction of heat loss
and completed a series of key acquisitions up to 50 percent, natural gas consumption
that earned Gasbarre Products a worldwide MORE INFO [Link] up to 40 percent, production costs savings
[Link] 15
UPDATE /// HEAT TREATING INDUSTRY NEWS
up to 50 percent, and optimization of work
performance.

MORE INFO [Link]

Solar Manufacturing
site for new facility
inspected
Solar Manufacturing’s new facility is begin-
ning to take shape. With the exterior of the
building now fully enclosed, the project is
closer to completion.
The nearly 20,000-square-foot two-sto-
ry office building situated in the front of
the manufacturing area is fully enclosed,
enabling the next phase of building can begin.
Bill and Myrtle Jones, owners of the Solar Atmospheres family of companies, in the center of the
“This plant will be one of the most
40,000-square-foot manufacturing area during the most recent site inspection. (Courtesy: Solar
advanced facilities in the United States for Atmospheres)
the assembly of vacuum furnaces,” Jones
said. The new facility is built on the 44-acre sisting of a mixture of aluminum and steel ally take up less total floorspace than some
Brownfield redevelopment site on the to 1,000°F operating temperature, provide a drop-bottom systems of the same chamber
Sellersville Business Campus in Sellersville, soak at temperature, and then quickly move volume,” said Gary Hanson, senior applica-
Pennsylvania. the load into a quench tank. A powered push- tion engineer.
The $8 million project is approximate- er/extractor is used to load and unload the Unique features of this solution treat sys-
ly 85 percent complete and the company oven. A pneumatically operated lift system tem include:
expects to be operational by late summer or lowers and raises the load for quenching. This › ›Quench time that will not exceed 10 sec-
early fall 2019. system achieved a quench time from the time onds from the time the door starts to open
the oven door starts to open until the load is until the load is fully submerged.
MORE INFO [Link] fully submerged of less than 9 seconds. › ›Motorized pusher/extractor to charge
“The horizontal quench system is a cost- and discharge the load.

Wisconsin Oven saving alternative to drop bottom systems

and results in a quicker ROI. It may actu-
› ›Pneumatically operated quench tank
lift system to lower/raise the load.
ships aerospace › ›Chiller system to lower quench tank
temperature back to 80°F after a load has
industry supplier been quenched.
› ›Sequence control performed by an
Wisconsin Oven Corporation announced the Allen-Bradley CompactLogix processor (pro-
shipment of one electrically heated horizon- grammed with Studio 5000 software) with
tal quench solution treat system to a supplier a PanelView Plus 7 standard 10” HMI.
of the aerospace industry. › ›Eurotherm programmable digital con-
The horizontal quench solution treat sys- troller with 2 loops of control, one for the
tem has a maximum oven operating temper- oven and one for the quench tank.
ature of 1,200°F and work zone dimensions This horizontal quench system was fully
of 5’4” wide x 5’6” long x 5’4” high (above factory tested and adjusted prior to ship-
the rollers). Guaranteed temperature uni- ment. All safety interlocks were checked
formity of ±5° F at set points of 250°F and for proper operation and the equipment
550°F and ±10° F at set points of 980°F and was operated at the normal and maximum
1,100°F was documented with a nine-point operating temperatures. An extensive qual-
temperature uniformity survey in an empty ity assurance check list was completed to
oven chamber under static operating condi- ensure the equipment met all Wisconsin
tions in accordance with AMS 2750E. The horizontal quench solution treat system has a Oven quality standards.
This horizontal quench system was maximum oven operating temperature of 1,200°F.
designed to heat a 565-pound gross load con- (Courtesy: Wisconsin Oven) MOER INFO [Link]
16 APRIL 2019
TWICE
THE
HEAT
Thermal Processing is
now monthly. That’s 12
issues each year.
And that means double
the news, technical
articles and features
that keep you abreast of
the latest developments
in the heat-treating
industry.

For your FREE subscription, go to [Link]

[Link] 17
 INDUSTRIAL HEATING
EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATION

IHEA events are in full swing this spring

S
pring has sprung and the Industrial Heating Equipment NFPA 86 UPDATES SEMINAR
Association calendar is filled with events for everyone. If you
May 14
are involved in the industrial thermprocess industry, join peers
and training experts at one of IHEA’s events to enhance your skills, Fabricators & Manufacturers Association | Elgin, Illinois
increase your knowledge, and stay on top of the most current trends. Join IHEA for this new, one-day seminar that will highlight the recent
Complete details and registration information for all IHEA’s upcom- changes to NFPA 86. If you already have a good knowledge of NFPA
ing events are at: [Link]/events. 86, this seminar will be a great overview and review of an in-depth
summary of the recent changes to the standard and how they affect
FUNDAMENTALS OF INDUSTRIAL PROCESS HEATING you. If you are not familiar with NFPA 86, IHEA will conduct the com-
ONLINE COURSE plete 2-day Safety Standards & Codes Seminar this fall in Cleveland
April 15 – May 26 | 6-week course (details coming soon).
Noteworthy updates to the following areas:
The online course offers the opportunity to keep current with › ›Furnace heating systems.
industrial process heating in the comfort
and convenience of your own workplace or
home. The course is designed to give flex-
ibility as well as interaction with an instruc-
tor and forums to communicate with other
students.
This course provides an overview of the
fundamentals of heat transfer, fuels and
combustion, energy use, furnace design,
refractories, automatic control, and atmo-
spheres as applied to industrial process
heating.
Students will gain a basic understand-
ing of heat transfer principles, fuels and
combustion equipment, electric heating
and instrumentation and control for effi-
cient operation of furnaces and ovens in
process heating.
Comments from students who have com-
pleted the course:
› ›“Excellent knowledge of the course,
instructor with an excellent and quick
response.”
› ›“I enjoyed participating in the discus-
sion forums and found them to be a useful IHEA speakers provide recent changes and updates to NFPA 86. (Courtesy: IHEA)
addition to the course material.”
Industry expert and registered professional engineer Jack Marino › ›Safety equipment and application.
will lead students in this 6-week online course. Jack has more than › ›Programmable logic controller systems.
40 years’ experience in the heat-processing business. Marino’s knowl- › ›Safety shutoff valves.
edge and experience offers invaluable resources that online students › ›Safety controls and devices.
can access throughout the course. › ›Commissioning, operations, maintenance, inspection, testing,
Students earn PDHs for passing the course. For a com- and auditing.
plete listing of the course topics, go to [Link]/event/ Instructors for this course are industry experts and committee
FundamentalsSpring19. members involved in the discussions and changes to NFPA 86.
18 APRIL 2019
 Engineering Technology and earned his MBA from Anderson
University. He started his career with Dresser-Rand Co. then worked
at Maxon Corp. for 12 years before he founded S-afe, Inc. in 2002.
Switzer serves as a committee member on NFPA 54 (National
Fuel Gas Code), NFPA 85 (Boiler and Combustion Systems Hazards
Code), NFPA 86 (Ovens & Furnaces), NFPA 87 (Recommended Practice
for Fluid Heaters), and ASME CSD-1 (Controls and Safety Devices
for Automatically Fired Boilers). In addition, Switzer is serving as
chairman of the newly developed and released NFPA 56 (Standard
for Fire and Explosion Prevention During Cleaning and Purging of
Flammable Gas Piping Systems).

Aaron Zoeller, Siemens Combustion Controls, Inc (SCC)

Zoeller is the director of Sales for SCC in the Americas. SCC holds
seats on the NFPA 85 and NFPA 86 standard committees, and Zoeller
is an active member of IHEA’s Safety Standards & Codes committee.
For nearly 20 years, he has focused on burner, fuel train, and com-
bustion controls system design and support in industrial combus-
tion applications. Prior to joining Siemens in 2010, Zoeller worked in
engineering and sales for a major burner OEM. He earned a Bachelor
of Science degree in Industrial Technology from Ball State University
Bryan Baesel presents important information on safety equipment to in Muncie, Indiana.
attendees in industrial manufacturing. (Courtesy: IHEA) For complete details and registration information, go to www.
[Link]/event/NFPAUpdate
Veteran speaker Aaron Zoeller with SCC said, “NFPA 86 has been
the standard in the U.S. for industrial combustion applications since IHEA CELEBRATES 90 YEARS AT THE 2019 ANNUAL
the mid-1900s. It is updated every three to four years to remain MEETING
relevant with current technologies. While some guidelines have If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time. Don’t miss what prom-
remained consistent for years, new technology in burner controls, ises to be one of our most memorable annual meetings ever as IHEA
PLCs, radiant tubes, etc., has brought important changes in the 2019 celebrates 90 years of giving back to the industrial heating industry!
edition. Anyone working in the industry should educate themselves For complete program and registration details, go to: [Link].
on the changes each time a new edition is released.” org/event/AM19.

Kevin Carlisle, Karl Dungs

Kevin Carlisle is the quality manager at Karl Dungs, Inc, a manu-
facturer of combustion controls such as safety shutoff valves, limit
controls, valve proving systems, primary safety controls, and pres-
sure reducing regulators. For the past 20 years, he has been involved
IHEA 2019 CALENDAR OF EVENTS
in codes and standards such as NFPA 86 “Ovens and Dyers,” CSD-1 APRIL 15–MAY 26
“Controls and Safety Devices for Automatically Fired Boilers,” and Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating I On-Line Distance
CSA B149.3 “Field Approval of Fuel-Related Components on Appliances Learning Course (six weeks)
and Equipment,” and he is IHEA’s voting representative on the NPFA
86 technical committee and the Safety Standards and Codes com- APRIL 29–MAY 1
mittee chairman. In addition, he is the company’s representative IHEA 2019 Annual Meeting
for site investigations. Carlisle holds a BS in Chemistry with ACS The Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) will celebrate its
Certification from the University of Madison-Wisconsin. 90th anniversary at the 2019 Annual Meeting. Complete meeting details
and registration information can be found at [Link].
Bryan Baesel, Honeywell Combustion Safety (formerly CEC) Lido Beach Resort I Sarasota, Florida
Baesel is a mechanical engineer who specializes in the design and
field inspection of combustion equipment. He is a member of NFPA For details on IHEA events, go to [Link]/events
85 and NFPA 86 along with several Fortune 100 combustion program
teams. Prior to joining CEC, Baesel worked at a foundry and for a
natural gas utility. INDUSTRIAL HEATING EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATION
Franklin Switzer, S-afe, Inc. P.O. Box 679 I Independence, KY 41051
Switzer is the owner/president of S-afe, Inc., an independent consult-
859-356-1575 I [Link]
ing firm specializing in design, safety and code training, and audit-
ing and testing of industrial combustion systems. Switzer graduated
from Rochester Institute of Technology with a BS in Mechanical

[Link] 19
METAL URGENCY /// TRIRATNA SHRESTHA
MANAGER OF METALLOGRAPHIC LABORATORY AND CENTRAL
COATINGS LABORATORY /// METCUT RESEARCH INC.

The steels are critical in addressing energy demand, mitigating greenhouse

gas emissions, reducing SOx and NOx emissions, and increasing efficiency.

Heat-treatment of modified 9CrMo steel

he modified 9CrMo steels, such as Grade 91, Grade 92, and
T HT9, are materials of choice for fossil-fuel-fired power plants
and Next Generation Nuclear Plants (NGNP). Both of them
are critical in addressing energy demand, mitigating greenhouse gas
emission, reducing SOx and NOx emissions, and increasing efficiency.
NGNPs and supercritical power plants are designed to operate at high-
er temperature and pressure. Furthermore, these plants are expected
to run for longer service periods and designed to have thinner com-
ponent thickness. Operating temperature of reactor pressure vessels
(RPV) in some variant of NGNPs can vary between 300 and 650°C
and the vessels will be double the size of typical light water reactors.
Efficiency of fossil-fuel-fired power plants strongly depends on tem-
perature and pressure of steam being generated. One percent increase
in net efficiency reduces emission of CO2, NOx, SOX, and particulates by
2.4 metric tons, 1.8 metric tons, 1.8 metric tons, and 0.45 metric tons,
respectively, while also reducing fuel costs by 2.4 percent [1].
Figure 1: Optical micrograph of sample normalized at 1,040oC for 2 hours.
The modified 9CrMo, a ferritic-martensitic (F-M) steel, has tem-
pered martensitic microstructure with a lot of precipitates. These
steels have superior elevated temperature creep strength [2,3];
however, their mechanical property is dependent on their ability
to maintain tempered microstructure and precipitate distribution
and are prone to cracking. Precipitation hardening is one of the
main strengthening mechanisms in highly alloyed steels like these.
Addition of strong carbide and carbonitride formers such as vana-
dium (V), niobium (Nb), and titanium (Ti) lead to the precipitation of
various precipitates, such as coarser M23C6-type, and finer, thermal-
ly stable MX-type precipitates: (Ti,Nb)(N,C), (Nb,V)(C,N), and (V,Nb)
(N,C). Coarser precipitates are located at the grain boundaries while
finer precipitates are predominantly located in the grain. Smaller
interparticle spacing and increased volume fraction of the fine MX
carbides enhance the alloy strength. These precipitates obstruct the
movement of dislocations, refine grain during normalizing, and
delay plastic deformation. However, precipitates such as Z-phase and
Laves phase lead to decrease in strength of the alloy by weakening Figure 2: Optical micrograph of sample normalized at 1,040°C for 8 hours.
solid solution [4]. Evolution of thermally-induced microstructure can
be understood from heat-treatment studies. tensite lath structure as shown in Figure 3. However, with increasing
Heat-treatment study of the steel helps in understanding its tempering time, martensite-free coarse structure was observed, as
microstructural evolution and mechanical properties as these mate- seen in Figure 4. During normalizing and tempering of the steel, sev-
rials, whether being used for a pressure vessel or boiler component, eral carbides, such as M23C6, Ti/Nb/V rich MX-type carbide/carboni-
go through a series of heating and cooling cycles. In this study, mod. trides precipitate and coarsen resulting in changes in creep strength,
9Cr1Mo steel samples were normalized at 1,040°C for 2 hours, 8 ductility, hardness, and microstructure [5-9]. M23C6-type precipitates
hours, and 20 hours. With longer normalizing time, coarsening of coarsens at an accelerated rate compared to MX-type precipitates
untampered microstructure was observed as shown in Figure 1 and due to higher solubility of iron and chromium and ferritic structure.
2. With increased normalizing time, prior austenite grain size and A decrease in hardness was observed in samples normalized for
martensite lath size increased. Samples normalized at 1,040°C for a longer period, and a similar trend was observed in samples tem-
2 hours were tempered at 790°C for 2 hours, 8 hours, and 20 hours pered for longer periods, as shown in Figure 5. Samples normalized
to examine the tempered microstructure. The sample tempered at for 2 hours, 8 hours, and 20 hours had a hardness of 397, 372, and
790°C for 2 hours had tempered microstructure with elongated mar- 336 HVN300g, respectively. Samples tempered for 2 hours, 8 hours,
20 APRIL 2019
 civity for a sample tempered at 780°C for 100 hours [10]. Coarsening
of microstructure and precipitates, subgrain recovery and its dis-
solution, and decreased dislocation density have been attributed to
lowering hardness [5,11,12]. Distribution of M23C6-type and MX-type
precipitates in the matrix plays a significant role in hardness and
elevated temperature creep properties. Coarsening of M23C6-type pre-
cipitates, which are primarily distributed across grain boundaries,
weakens solid solution strengthening and introduces defects in the
matrix, while coarsening of MX-type precipitates are not effective in
disrupting the flow of dislocations and pinning subgrains.

REFERENCES
[ 1 ] Rojas, D. 9%–12% Cr Heat Resistant Steels: Alloy Design, Tem Characterization
of Microstructure Evolution and Creep Response at 650 °C. Ph.D. Thesis, Ruhr-
University Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 2011.

Figure 3: Optical micrograph of sample normalized at 1,040oC for 2 hours and [ 2 ] Shrestha, T.; Basirat, M; Charit, I.; Potirniche, G.P.; Rink, K.K. Creep deforma-
tempered at 790°C for 2 hours. tion mechanisms in modified 9Cr-1Mo steel. J. Nucl. Mater. 2012, 423, 110–119.

[ 3 ] Basirat, M.; Shrestha, T.; Potirniche, G.P.; Charit, I.; Rink, K. A study of the creep
behavior of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel using continuum damage modeling. Int. J.
Plast. 2012, 37, 95–107.

[ 4 ] Li, Meimei; Natesan, K.; Chen, W. Report on understanding and predicting

effects of thermal aging on microstructure and tensile properties of grade 91
steel for structural components. Argonne Natl. Lab., [Link]
gov/anlpubs/2017/10/[Link].

[ 5 ] Yoshino, M.; Mishima, Y.; Toda, Y.; Kushima, H.; Sawada, K.; Kimura, K. Influence
of normalizing heat treatment on precipitation behavior in modified 9Cr-1Mo
steel. Mater. High Temp. 2008, 25, 149–158.

[ 6 ] Totemeier, T.C.; Tian, H.; Simpson, J.A. Effect of normalization temperature

on the creep strength of modified 9Cr-1Mo steel. Metall. Mater. Trans. 2005,
37, 1519–1525.

[ 7 ] Dudko, V.; Delyakov, A.; Kaibyshev, R. Effect of tempering on mechanical prop-

erties and microstructure of a 9% Cr heat resistant steel. Mater. Sci. Forum
2012, 706, 841–846.
Figure 4: Optical micrograph of sample normalized at 1,040°C for 8 hours and
tempered at 790°C for 20 hours. [ 8 ] Sawada, K.; Suzuki, K.; Kushima, H.; Tabuchi, M.; Kimura, K. Effect of temper-
ing temperature on Z-phase formation and creep strength in 9Cr-1Mo-V-Nb-N
steel. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 2008, 480, 558–563.

[ 9 ] Masuyama, F.; Nishimura, N. Experience with creep-strength enhanced fer-

ritic steels and new emerging computational methods In Proceedings of the
2004 ASME/JSME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, San Diego, CA, USA,
25–29 July 2004; Volume 476, pp. 85–92.

[ 10 ] Wilson, J.W.; Liu, J.; Karimian, N.; Davis, C.; Peyton, [Link] of micro-
structural changes in Grade 91 power station tubes through permeability and
magnetic Barkhausen noise measurements. 11th European Conf. on Non-Dest.
Test, Oct. 6 -10, 2014, Prague, Czech Republic.

[ 11 ] Peng, N.G.; Ahmad, B.; Muhamad, M.R.; Ahadlin, M. Phase transformation of

P91 steels upon cooling after short term overheating above Ac1 & Ac3 tem-
perature. Adv. Mater. Res. Volume 634 – 638, 1759 – 1765.

[ 12 ] Li, H; Mitchell D. Microstructural characterization of P91 steel in the virgin,

service exposed and post-service re-normalized conditions. Steel Res. Intl, 84
(12), 1302 – 1308.

Figure 5: Effect of heat treatment on hardness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
and 20 hours had hardness of 206, 200, and 194 HVN300g. A drop in
Triratna Shrestha is the manager of Metallographic Laboratory and Central
hardness was observed in tempered samples compared to normalized
Coatings Laboratory at Metcut Research Inc. He has worked with coatings
ones. Significant reduction in hardness was observed for normalized
for aerospace, petrochemical, and power-generation applications and has
samples compared to tempered samples with respect to test duration. expertise in heat-treatment and creep studies of steel. He manages Central
Li et al. have reported hardness change of over 80 HV between as- Coatings Laboratory for GE Aviation and is involved in failure analysis
received and in-service steel. A non-destructive technique using elec- and continuous improvements. He received his B.S and Ph.D. in Materials
tromagnetic measurement has shown decrease in hardness of over Science and Engineering from the University of Idaho. He can be reached at
40 HVN300g with increased initial permeability and decrease in coer- tshrestha@[Link].
[Link] 21
HOT SEAT /// JACK TITUS
DIRECTOR OF PROCESS AND
DEVELOPMENT ENGINEER /// AFC-HOLCROFT

The metallurgical outcome is just one objective

of the auto industry’s CQI-9 standard.

Process control is vital to heat-treating

he definition of process control can only be defined by the › ›Conductivity of the TC protection cover, usually ceramic or

T experience of the per-son to whom the query is presented.

Everyone involved in heat-treating who works with the auto
refractory metal, draws heat away from the TC bead toward and
through the refractory wall.
industry knows of the CQI-9 standard that covers a multitude of In theory, we want the load to provide greatest influence on the
parameters considered critical by the Big Three automakers. Process TC, and we assume this is so because of the proximity of the TC to
control of heat treat, or the metallurgical outcome, is but one of the parts. But this condition depends on the furnace type and the
these objectives and is merely a result of what has already been pre- interior design.
ordained by the success of the previous equipment-manufacturing When a load of parts is charged into a batch furnace, we see
procedures. the zone TC immediately drop, undoubtedly due to the black parts
One might ask why a standard such as CQI-9 is required in the first influencing the TC — again be-cause of its proximity to the load —
place. The obvious answer is to try and find a manufacturing com- but also because the refractory and heating source is losing heat to
pliance method that will assure when a case-depth specification of the cold parts. We know that heat energy is transmitted by radia-
0.030”, +/- 0.005” (0.72 mm, +/- 0.127 mm) is required, it can actually be tion faster than gas convection, but that’s primarily because the
met by any previously approved supplier in an approved facility. That emitting source of the radiation, such as radiate tubes, has much
compliance procedure to the specification is called the Production more surface area than the gas atmosphere. However, each electron
Part Approval Process (PPAP). How the procedure is carried out can of every atom of gas also has mass and emits radiation, and the
vary according to the specific quality requirements of the product mass or quantity of gas that passes over the TC bead contributes
being manufactured — gears, shafts, torsion bars, fasteners, etc. to the temperature increase. Thus, the higher the gas velocity, the
Generally, a typical part load is agreed upon with a specific num- greater the transfer of heat via convection. It’s true, gas and con-
ber of parts per location in a tray with the process running continu- vection have a negative component called a boundary layer, where
ously, or for whatever time period is appropriate. If a nonconforming radiant energy does not — in a true vacuum, that is. So, when a
part is detected during a run, a previously agreed-upon procedure cold load is placed into a hot chamber, the radiant energy from the
will commence. That can be many things, but usually the equipment heating tubes or elements must first heat the gas, and then the gas
supplier will be given the opportunity to correct the suspected rea- transports that energy to the parts. Of course, the emissivity of the
son for noncompliance and either continue the production run from receiver and emitter has a significant influence on the quantity of
there, if possible, or start from the beginning. energy transmitted.
Obviously, before a PPAP, the equipment supplier will be allowed Granted, as the heat penetrates the parts on the exterior of the
to prepare, debug, or otherwise duplicate a production cycle with load, that heat via conduction will flow through to the colder por-
a few dummy and real parts to ensure the equipment is as produc- tions of the parts on the interior of the load. It is radiation by con-
tion-ready as possible. Everyone knowledgeable with the equipment vection that provides the energy to heat the interior of the load,
knows it’s a complex machine and unexpected mechanical issues can all while the TC is measuring the environment in its proximity
occur. However, as long as the event is considered fixable on the fly of the load.
without affecting a critical outcome, compromises can sometimes be The dilemma for the heat treater is the accuracy of the sensors
made. After all, all parties concerned want the equipment to perform used to measure those parameters. TCs, gas analysis equipment, and
to expectations within the mandated schedule. oxygen probes can be certified to traceable standards. But where
In heat-treating where the parts are processed in furnaces out of chemistry and thermal dynamics are involved, reproducibility is not
sight, sensors are relied on to measure the temperature of the parts so easy. Why? No two heat-treating furnaces manufactured in the
as compared to the set point. TCs (thermocouples) are inserted either same facility side-by-side will respond the same way while process-
through the roof, rear, or side wall as close as possible to the parts ing the same recipe. There will be minor variations due to all of the
and are expected to reflect an accurate representation of the part tolerances involved with every manufacturing process.
temperature. That small bead that joins the two different metals Every possible precaution is taken along the manufacturing
forming the hot junction will produce a millivoltage depending on supply chain with all of the ISO standards guiding the procedures.
the metals corresponding to the temperature. However, when furnaces are constructed, humans, not robots, per-
The heat energy reaching the TC bead is produced by four ele- form the functions. As talented as they are to approve procedures,
ments: it’s unlikely two brick masons will apply the “mud” refractory mor-
› ›Radiation from the parts in the load. tar in the identical manner with the exact content of water on every
› ›Radiation from the heating source, tubes, or electric elements. one of the thousands of bricks required in a furnace. The chemi-
› ›Radiation from the heated atmosphere gas passing over the bead. cal content of the refractory also plays a role. Welding is another
22 APRIL 2019
critical function that I’ve discussed in earlier columns that can the previous processes and procedures in the manufacturing chain.
affect atmosphere quality, but likely much later in the furnace’s Concerning the atmosphere, endo is used in this case.
operating life. Endothermic gas — with its ideal mix of 20 percent CO, 40 percent
Another aspect of process control is mechanical function. H2 and nitrogen, plus critical fractions of CO2 and H2O, and nascent
Furnaces, being self-destructive machines, operate best when in a oxygen with the proper proportions — produces a specific case
steady state, i.e. operating at the same temperature continuously 24/7. depth of carbon at the appropriate temperature. Although minor
But that’s never the case. Every item or material that makes up the variations of CO will have little effect on an expected outcome, very
furnace — metal case, rubber, plastic, ceramic, mortar, and refrac- minor changes in the CO2 and H2O can have a monumental impact.
tory — expands and contracts with the heat-treating process. The And since those oxidizing components are so paramount to the
most susceptible of the mechanical items are the doors, since they result, their accuracy is critical. The extent to which heat treaters
are constantly opening and closing thousands of times a month. Most attempt to control the critical gas compositions is as complex as
critical are doors that separate the ambient environment from the the heat-treating furnace itself.
furnace atmosphere. Second is the inner heat-sealing door; it receives Some may argue with my comments here, but my overall goal is
the most wear and tear. In atmosphere furnaces, inner doors are not to illustrate how over-the-top complex the heat-treating furnace has
meant to be gas tight, but rather heat shields to prevent overheating become since the batch furnace was introduced before World War II.
of other components. Atmosphere gas is designed to leak through a I believe wholeheartedly that since WWII, millions of components
designated location, usually at the bottom or a small orifice in the requiring heat-treating manufactured for every possible device are
door center. Either way, the leaked atmosphere should pressurize still functioning to acceptable standards.
the vestibule that further allows a predetermined leak rate to keep
the furnace pressure within proper limits. EPILOGUE
The gas sensors, whether they be oxygen probes to measure “oxy- We’ve got to reinvent the heat-treating furnace, get back to the “if it
gen” ppm, infrared analyzers for percent of CO and CO2, or TCs, all ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy, and simplify, simplify, simplify.
must be accurate within empirical limits known to be acceptable. History has repeatedly illustrated that what starts out complex
As with the devices mentioned above, limit switches, valves, doors, and large eventually becomes simpler and smaller.
seals, and fans constantly perform their functions all while the mate-
rials degrade, shrink, and eventually leak — allowing contamination
of the unseen process occurring inside the furnace. This is where the ABOUT THE AUTHOR
typical understanding of process control really hits home, and we all Jack Titus can be reached at (248) 668-4040 or jtitus@[Link]. Go
expect the sensors to measure and correct and compensate for all of to [Link].
HALF PAGE AD v2 V6:Layout 1 8/17/18 8:49 AM Page 1

When you need reproducibility

and precision, choose Praxair
We offer a full range of industrial gases
and services including:
• Heat treating atmosphere gases
• Purging, inerting, welding, & cutting gases
• Oxy-fuel combustion applications
• Gas quenching
• Furnace audits
• On-site evaluation, testing, & installation
• Start-up and process support

For more information on how we can help your

business, call 1-800-PRAXAIR or visit
[Link]

[Link] 23
QUALITY COUNTS ///
JASON SCHULZE
METALLURGICAL ENGINEER /// CONRAD KACSIK

Successful thermal processing means ensuring the final product

conforms to the requirements specified by the purchaser.

Process quality control in heat treatment

n thermal processing, process quality control is imperative requirements and/or requirements that apply to all hardware pro-
I to produce and control conforming product and overall con-
formance. In this article we will be examining some aspects
cessed in the equipment. An example of this is vacuum level. You
may perform many processes within your vacuum furnace, although
of this: achieving repeatable results using specific inputs which, in regardless of the process, you always require the chamber vacuum
turn, will allow us to validate the process to control outputs. be less than 1 micron before applying heat. Another example is load
thermocouples. You may require that, no matter what is being pro-
PRODUCING AND CONTROLLING cessed, a specific minimum number of load thermocouples be used
Great ideas, whether profitable business deals, products, or personal each cycle. These are some examples of what would be inserted into
endeavors, start as good ideas and gradually build into something a procedure to maintain control of a thermal process.
controlled, compared to the raw idea we first imagined. The ideal An example of requirements to be documented in a work
New Year’s resolution starts this way; commit to losing a specific instruction could be specific braze preparation steps. These could
amount of mass (hopefully fat), and in doing so, you end up research- include braze joint gap requirements, alloy used, and nickel plating
ing (that is, if you mean it) how to keep it off. Each idea starts with a requirements. It could also include loading requirements such as
premise that, in our readers’ terms, will produce conforming product using a composite graphite fixture with ceramic spacers or specific
post-thermal processing per customer requirements. fixturing requirements.
An example of router documentation would
PRODUCT REALIZATION include reference to a work instruction (as men-
The initial step is product realization. In the con- tioned above) or a sequence of operations that
text of heat-treat quality control, this will include a ensures requirements are met. It may also include
thorough understanding of your customer require- documentation of any post-thermal process test
ments. A heat treater may receive a batch of widgets results, specific equipment limitations, etc.
with a purchase order stating, “heat treat AMS2770.”
In order to maintain quality control through the PROCESS QUALITY CONTROL
process and deliver a conforming finished product, Internal auditing is a check and balance to ensure
additional information will be needed. This would quality control. This is a requirement of ISO/AS
include material type as well as the desired final condition (temper, including Nadcap. A procedure should be established that will cap-
in this case). This initial step can be accomplished by ensuring the ture the critical variables of the process from contract review to
contract review process includes steps taken to obtain information final inspection. If your process is Nadcap-approved, the procedure
from the customer when it is necessary. If your organization is Nadcap- should include all elements of Nadcap scope of approval(s). This can
approved, it’s important to keep in mind that the AC7102 checklist has be accomplished by requiring the applicable Nadcap checklists be
specific requirements regarding contract review and what must be used during the internal audit. If this is not implemented, it can be
included in the applicable procedure. easy to omit specific requirements.

PROCESS DEVELOPMENT SUMMARY

In this article, I will not be addressing the development process Quality control in any thermal process is critical to ensure the final
since, in basic heat-treatment, development is not normally per- product conforms to the requirements flowed down from the pur-
formed as the customer/industry specifications are typically fol- chaser. Using an outside subject matter expert can help in this pro-
lowed. Development may be needed for, as an example, braze joints cess, including training for your staff.
(whether diffusion or standard braze), diffusion aluminide coatings,
or bond cycles post-thermal spray.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION AND FLOW DOWN
Jason Schulze is the director of technical services at Conrad Kacsik
The next step is to document the process established, which will
Instrument Systems, Inc. As a metallurgical engineer with 20-plus
enable you to conform to the customer requirements. This is after years in aerospace, he assists potential and existing Nadcap suppliers
any necessary development. These requirements are typically doc- in conformance as well as metallurgical consulting. He is contracted by
umented in three ways: 1) procedure, 2) work instruction, and 3) eQualearn to teach multiple PRI courses, including pyrometry, RCCA,
traveler (or router). and Checklists Review for heat treat. Contact him at jschulze@kacsik.
Instructions documented in a procedure are those that are default com.
24 APRIL 2019
 YOUR INDUSTRY NEWS SOURCE
Thermal Processing magazine is a JOIN THE THERMAL PROCESSING
trusted source for the heat treating COMMUNITY
industry, offering both technical and FOR ONLY

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Best of all, it’s free to you. All you need to do is
subscribe. On [Link], we have paired
our vast technical archives with the latest web
ials
technologies to develop the most efficient,
for the Advancement of Mater
Technologies and Processes
streamlined, user-friendly web experience in the
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Materials

/ INDUSTR IAL GASES

ISSUE FOCUS /// THE RMOCOUPLES
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[Link] 25
ISSUE FOCUS ///
PYROMETRY / PROCESS CONTROL / AISTECH PREVIEW

PRINCIPLES
OF PYROMETRY

26 APRIL 2019
AMS2750E covers a lot of pyrometric territory regarding equipment
used for thermal processing. Look closely, and it gets a little tricky.
By JASON SCHULZE

R
egarding comprehension, on a scale of 1 to 10, AMS2750E It may seem that a single requirement is being put forward — but
is about a 12. Practically speaking, when an engineer, there are actually seven contained within this one paragraph.
quality person, or operator picks up a specification, they They are:
select that specification because they know what to › ›The displayed temperature indication …
expect. In other words, if they are heat-treating martensitic corrosion- › ›and/or recording of the sensor being tested …
resistant steel parts, they will choose AMS2759 and AMS2759/5 › ›as used in production …
because they are already aware of the applicable specification that › ›with appropriate offsets or correction factors [option for either]
describes details on operations and how to heat-treat. › ›at any operating temperature …
AMS2750E isn’t quite that straightforward. This specification › ›shall be compared with the corrected temperature indication
broadly covers pyrometric requirements for equipment used for of the test sensor …
thermal processing, including temperature sensors, instrumentation, › ›on a test instrument.
thermal processing equipment, system accuracy tests, and As a metallurgical engineer, I have performed this task on both
temperature uniformity surveys. AMS2750E is selected when a AMS2750D and AMS2750E. Revision E ended with 513 characteristic
specification, such as AMS2759, refers to it. It is not a specification requirements, including tables and figures. Once bubbled, each
that states specific heat-treat temperatures,
quench temperatures, and material-testing
requirements. AMS2750 is flowed down via
other specifications, making it less direct,
and therefore, less familiar to some suppliers.

A WAY TO ACCOUNT FOR AND

UNDERSTAND REQUIREMENTS
Specification accountability is a process that
benefits from a closer look. A breakdown
of this process will help account for and
understand the requirements within not
Table 1: Take each requirement out of the specification and assign it a sequential number.
just AMS2750E, but any specification.
Most quality engineers are familiar with
the term “bubbling” as it relates to blueprints.
Bubbling a print is a practice in which each
requirement is assigned a sequential number.
Once this is done on the print, it is logged onto
a form that contains the designated number,
its associated requirements, the subsequent Table 2
result and an accept/reject notice. Typically,
this is done on machined parts that may have an intermediate process requirement must be accounted for as it applies to the operations.
(such as heat-treat) involved in their manufacture. For example, any requirement regarding a retort furnace would be
When an intermediate process is performed, the specification is designated “N/A” if that operation employed only vacuum furnaces.
simply listed as the requirement and an accept designation is applied. Of course, the continuing issue of comprehension arises at each step
The specification itself is not bubbled, but read by an engineer, and of this process. If someone has a poor understanding of pyrometry,
the applicable requirements flowed down. One method is to bubble it will be difficult to bubble AMS2750E and nearly impossible to
the specification itself. Take each requirement out of the specifica- successfully complete the process of showing conformance.
tion and assign it a sequential number. Let’s call them “Characteristic Let’s look at an example of this in Table 1.
Requirements.” Some paragraphs may have several requirements In taking this approach, AMS2750E has 513 characteristics of
within a single paragraph; each would be separated and assigned conformance; 43 pages, 11 tables, 41 related notes, and six figures
its own sequential number. that exist as both examples, guidance, and requirements. The
Let’s look at an example using: AMS2750E PG 19, PARA [Link]: challenge is how these requirements are set forth in the Nadcap
“The displayed temperature indication and/or recording of checklist AC7102/8(NC). These requirements are fitted into an eight-
the sensor being tested as used in production, with appropriate page checklist, as shown in Table 2.
offsets or correction factors, at any operating temperature, shall This is no fault of PRI. They are auditing to a checklist that, they
be compared with the corrected temperature indication of the test rightfully assume, the suppliers have prepared for and understand
sensor on a test instrument.” fully. PRI offers training in AMS2750E (via eQuaLearn), including
[Link] 27
their interpretations in the pyrometry guide, to accredited suppliers Questions that begin with “Where in AMS2750E does it talk
and non-accredited suppliers alike, to ensure companies applying for about…?” are not unusual. Some examples are vacuum calibration,
their initial audit are prepared. This is where an additional challenge quench delay for aluminum heat-treating, leak-rate testing, dew-
resides — comprehension via training and continuous improvement. point measurement, and others. None of those four examples is
included within the scope of AMS2750E. These specific requirements
SPECIFIC CHALLENGES: THE ALTERNATE can be found both in industry specifications (such as SAE/AMS) as
SAT PROCESS well as prime specifications that are flowed down via purchase
My experience throughout revision E of AMS2750 indicates the order and/or print.
introduction of the Alternate Systems Accuracy Test (ALT SAT)
process seems to have been the most challenging. It is a system FURNACE INSTRUMENTATION/
put in place that will account for the system variance containing CONTROL PER AMS2750E
thermocouples replaced each use or more frequently than the Quickly after the release of revision E of AMS2750, I was asked if
standard SAT frequency identified in Table 6 or 7 in AMS2750E. revision E required suppliers to begin replacing their analog (paper)
I’ve written extensively regarding the specific requirements of recorders with electronic recorders or data acquisition systems. I can
the Alternate SAT process. To fully describe
it, this entire article would need to be
dedicated to its description and reasoning.
Following is a general treatment, so other
challenges can be addressed:
AMS2750E requires an Alternate SAT on
furnace systems containing a thermocouple,
which is replaced each use or more often
than the Standard SAT requires. As an
example, you have a parts (Table 6) furnace Figure 1: One option for an appropriate offset or correction factor needed to fulfill an AMS2750E
designated a Type C, Class 2 furnace that requirement.
contains a thermocouple in both the high
and low locations based on the most recent
TUS. Per Table 6, this would then require
biweekly SATs (normal frequency). If you
used nonexpendable thermocouples and
replaced them every 30 days, you would be
able to perform a standard SAT and would not
be required to conform with the Alternate
SAT requirements. If you used expendable
thermocouples and replaced them each cycle,
you would then be required to conform to
the Alternate SAT requirements.
A MS2750E set s for t h fa irly
straightforward requirements. The non-
optional requirements are having a
furnace preventative maintenance plan in
place per AMS2750E and calibrating that
specific system where the thermocouple
is connected. Then, AMS2750E gives two
options to suppliers:
› ›A: Combine (add) the error of the
thermocouple wire used with the error of Figure 2: There are many combinations that can be used within a particular instrumentation type.
the instrument within the system that the
thermocouple is connected to. This calculation should be performed see why this rumor made the rounds, but no, electronic recorders are
at the points which the instrument is calibrated. That error cannot not specifically required by AMS2750E. It seems the misunderstanding
exceed the SAT tolerance identified in AMS2750E Table 6 or 7 (as is coming from a) misinterpretation of the specification, and b)
applicable). (Figure 1) the statement made in paragraph [Link] of AMS2750E stripping
› ›B: Or, use the correction factors from the wire in question during the grandfather clause put forth in revision D regarding furnace
each production cycle to the temperature displayed and recorded as instrumentation resolution for analog instruments.
the corrected temperature. It’s worth mentioning the technological innovations that have
Most companies do not want to add correction factors from wire appeared in the last 10 years. Several control systems — such as the
to their systems. So, option A is typically used. HC900 paired with SpecView — if programmed correctly, are almost
limitless in their flexibility. New electronic automated systems are
THE SCOPE OF AMS2750E worth the investment for most suppliers.
The scope of AMS2750E may seem straightforward at times, but it
can be challenging for some suppliers to understand what AMS2750E INSTRUMENTATION TYPE DESIGNATION
actually governs and what it does not govern. Determining instrumentation type can also be challenging. Questions
28 APRIL 2019
AMS2750E sets forth fairly straightforward Here’s what
requirements. The non-optional requirements
are having a furnace preventative our customers
maintenance plan in place per AMS2750E and
calibrating that specific system where the are saying...
thermocouple is connected.

range from “How do I determine what type of instrumentation I

should designate?” to “Can I use extra sensors in an instrumentation “Our goal has been to outfit all equipment with
configuration and keep the same designation type?” The following the latest technological controls to assure
will address some of the more common questions. complete accountability...This was the main
First, let’s address the minimum requirements from AMS2750E. reason we teamed up with Super Systems.”
Instrumentation Type E is an option in AMS2750E but is not
permitted when documentation of the thermal cycle is required. In
these examples in Figure 2, we will assume Type E is not permitted.
An example: If a supplier has a Type D configuration, they will
have the following in each control zone: an overtemperature control,
“SSi has been great to work with ...Our focus is
a furnace controller, and a recording device recording the control delivering quality and repeatability...and
process variable (actual furnace temperature). A furnace that is maintaining the latest controls and
designated Type D instrument may still contain a load thermocouple data acquisition technology provides
for periodic or all cycles performed. In this case, the furnace could
remain a Type D with the addition of a load thermocouple.
the foundation for making that happen.”
AMS2750E (page 17, paragraph 3.3.4) allows the additional thermo-
couples to be added to the minimum systems of any instrumentation
type. In this case, it would be important to keep in mind that, if add-
ing additional thermocouples that are used for product acceptance,
they then require calibration as well as a system accuracy test for
the additional system.
Another example is a supplier who designates their furnace a Type
B system. This would require the same systems as Type D with the
addition of a load thermocouple. A supplier could very well designate Atmosphere Vacuum Nitriding
Type B instrumentation and place the load thermocouples (say they
use two in each cycle) in the hot and cold areas.
There are many combinations that can be used within a partic-
ular instrumentation type. As long as the supplier has the mini-
mum systems indicated by the instrumentation type and performs
AMS270E testing on those specific systems, as well as additional
systems used for product acceptance, this would conform to both
AMS2750E and Nadcap.

SUMMARY
AMS2750E can be a confusing and complex specification to under-
stand and apply. As with anything else, training and hands-on prac-
tice are the best way to master the interpretation and execution of
the requirements. Don’t be shy — get a second opinion whenever
possible. Having open conversations regarding the interpretation
is a great way to expand your understanding of the specification.
For more information regarding the Alternate SAT, please feel
free to contact me.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jason Schulze is the director of technical services at Conrad Kacsik Instrument
Systems, Inc. As a metallurgical engineer with 20-plus years in aerospace,
Learn more at
he assists potential and existing Nadcap suppliers in conformance as well
as metallurgical consulting. He is contracted by eQualearn to teach multiple [Link]
PRI courses, including pyrometry, RCCA, and Checklists Review for heat treat.
Contact him at jschulze@[Link].

[Link] 29
 THE
VERSATILITY
OF THE
PIT FURNACE

30 APRIL 2019
Pit furnaces provide a wide range of thermal processes
for typically far less cost than other types of furnaces.
By BILL ST. THOMAS

T
op-loading furnaces, commonly referred to as pit
furnaces, have played a major role in the heating
treating landscape for the last century or longer. They
also perform the widest range of thermal processes
compared to other heat-treating furnace designs and configurations.
The following overview presents the various processes and reasons
why a pit-type furnace would be selected over other designs.
Most commercial and captive heat-treaters use or have used a
pit-type furnace for one or more of these applications: tempering,
aluminum-solution treating, nitriding, steam treating, annealing,
hardening, carburizing, and vacuum heat-treating. Pit furnaces can
provide the user with temperature ranges from 250° F to 2,200° F.
They can be designed as either gas-fired and electrically heated for
most of these applications. They are fitted with retorts for several
applications, can cool products in place, and provide the best design
for long parts or heavy loads than typically supported with an
overhead loading device. They also use the least amount of valuable
floor space, which is a key consideration today.

PIT FURNACES
Pit furnaces have been used for tempering (250° F to 1,400° F) and
aluminum heat treating (250° F to 1,100° F) for many years due to the
easy loading and unloading of parts, which is done by lifting the lid
away and hooking the parts out of the furnace. Parts are often forced-
air cooled or quenched in water as is the case for aluminum castings.
The cutaway view in Figure 1 illustrates the use of convection
heating by a fan and the tunnel effect of the air flow and cylindrical
heating chamber. The round heating chamber provides the best
natural temperature uniformity and is preferred for densely loaded
parts. There are other variations of this method with the elements
surrounding the workspace and the fan position on the bottom of the
furnace. Again, the pit furnace can be used for long parts where they
would be hung from a center-post fixture. Heavy loads are another
feature of the pit-temper furnace, since the base of the furnace is
solid, and the brickwork can support heavy loads up to 50,000 pounds
or more in some cases.

STEAM TREATING
Steam treating (600° F to 1,100° F) is a process used for powered metal
parts that require a thin protective or decorative coating such as gun
barrels or twist drills. A pit-type furnace designed for steam treating
uses an inner liner or retort to contain the steam atmosphere while
it is being circulated throughout the load.
These furnaces (Figure 2) are almost always electrically heated
and are provided with cooling fans to reduce the part temperature
prior to removal. The steam pit furnace uses its lid or cover and a
simple sealing device for this application.
In recent years, the steam furnace has been widely used as a clean
tempering furnace where only nitrogen gas has been used to purge
and keep oxygen out of the chamber for the entire cycle. Cooling
fans are also used since the parts are contained inside the retort
with nitrogen, and the cooling is accomplished on the outside of Figure 1 (A&B): Tempering furnace with cutaway view.

[Link] 31
the retort by ambient air.
Controlling the temperature and inert gases if used in the above
pit type are quite easy with common indicating and controlling
instruments, recording devices, and flowmeters. The following pit-
type furnaces typically use a variety of atmospheres and one or more
devices to control not only temperature but other functions such as
time, gas flow, purge, safety, cooling rates, etc.

GAS NITRIDING
Gas nitriding (700° F to 1,100° F) is the most popular heat-treating
process in today’s heat-treating market. This process provides a thin
coating on the steel parts used for high wear or corrosion in the
gear market. The lower temperature of about 1,000° F has a very low
distortion level on the part compared to gas carburizing in atmo-
sphere with oil or vacuum carburizing with 20 bar quenching where
straightening is often required or press quenching is needed.
The nitriding process is done in a retort where ammonia-based
gases are used, depending on single or two-stage nitriding. The pit
furnace, again, is widely used for long shafts or dense loads. Since
the nitriding cycle time can be up to 50-plus hours long, the pit fur-
nace again is often the best choice base on floor space and the use of
multiple units. (Figure 3).

HARDENING AND ANNEALING

The hardening (1,500° F to 2,000° F) and annealing (1,300° F to 1,800°
F) processes are typically performed in radiant-heat-type furnaces
where the heating method is no longer convection. The radiant heat
is provided by gas-fired tubes or metallic-rod-type elements. A typical
radiant heating element design (Figure 4) shows the furnace heating
chamber with the wall-mounted element attached.
These furnaces typically require a protective atmosphere to keep
the components free from scale or from de-carburizing when hard- Figure 2: Steam treating with cooling blower.
ening. Both endothermic and nitrogen-methanol blends are used in
this type of furnace. Often times, a top-mounted fan is used for better
temperature uniformity or mixing of the protective atmospheres.
The gas-tight shell and lid provides a perfect seal against any oxygen
penetrating the heating chamber. Overhead lifting devices are com-
monly used to remove loads into a quench tank or companion washer
and tempering furnace. Special fixtures, baskets, and center-post
devices are common for large loads when hardening. The pit furnace
offers a large work capacity for large, long, or heavy loads that other
furnace types cannot.

CARBURIZING
The carburizing process (1,600° F to 1,800° F) in pit furnaces is widely
used by companies in the power-transmission, movable-machinery,
marine, mining, wind-power, and gear markets along with a few
commercial heat-treaters. These companies typically have very large Figure 3: Gas-nitriding furnace cell.
capacity units from 16 feet in diameter to 20 feet deep for loads up to
50,000 pounds which makes the pit furnace the only choice. where smaller furnace diameters up to 50 inches and lengths to 72
These furnaces are mostly electrically heated with fully automat- inches deep are required. This design (Figure 6) has a retort built into
ed temperature controls, carbon probes, ramp and cooling features, the heating chamber and is surrounded by heating elements and a
etc. Slightly smaller carburizing furnaces also are used since case bottom mounted fan for atmosphere circulation. The lid design uses
depths can be up to 0.250 inches deep for carburizing followed by a a sand seal for a gas-tight operation. This homocarb furnace also can
slow cool required for some specifications prior to further harden- be used for hardening and annealing applications.
ing. The enclosed (Figure 5) shows a typical carburize load, special Pit-type vacuum furnaces are used primarily for annealing or
fixture, and stop-off paint prior to loading. These furnace cells typi- hardening (1,600° F to 2,200° F) of wound or dense loads of tool or
cally have a companion re-heating or hardening furnace, oil quench specialty products such as saw blades are required. A typical top-
tank, washer, and temper furnaces with an atmosphere generator. loading vacuum furnace in Figure 7 shows a vacuum furnace for
By using an overhead crane or gantry device, these cells can provide products or coils up to 48 inches in diameter and depths to 84 inches
a very high output and require very little maintenance. of coiled stock loaded in fixtures. The benefit of the vacuum furnace
Another design for carburizing is the sealed retort pit furnace is to remove any oxygen that could cause scale on the nearly finished
32 APRIL 2019
Figure 4: Hardening furnace interior.

Figure 6: Homocarb furnace (cutaway view).

Figure 5: Typical pit carburizing load.

products and the best temperature uniformity at the same time.

SUMMARY
To summarize, pit furnaces provide a wide range of thermal pro- Figure 7: Vacuum annealing furnace.
cesses for typically far less cost than other types of furnaces. They
are favored when dense loads or a wide range of parts need to be pro-
cessed. These furnaces also provide a smaller footprint than a batch ABOUT THE AUTHOR
or mechanized box-type furnace and require much less service time. Bill St. Thomas is business development manager of LindbergMPH Division of
Often times, they have the unique ability to provide more than just Thermal Product Solutions (TPS) based in Riverside, Michigan. He has more
one thermal process. Lastly, pit furnaces are the only choice when than 50 years of experience in the heat-heating market and is a life member
very large, long, or heavy loads require heat-treating. of ASM Detroit Chapter.

[Link] 33
COMPANY PROFILE ///
DALTON ELECTRIC HEATING COMPANY

CONSISTENTLY
PERFORMING
AT THE
HIGHEST LEVELS
Watt-Flex® split-sheath cartridge
heaters. (Courtesy: Dalton Electric
Heater Company)

34 APRIL 2019
Dalton Electric Heating Company offers its customers
uniquely patented heater options with a commitment
to first-class service to back it up.
By KENNETH CARTER, Thermal Processing editor

hen a company has been around for almost a century,

W just the sheer number of years of business means it must

be doing something right.
But for Dalton Electric Heating Company, getting it
right means more than just the history behind the products.
Dalton’s patented Watt-Flex® Cartridge Heaters and Diff-Therm®
Platen Heaters are used globally in manufacturing industries that
include aerospace, automotive, composites, plastics, and more. But
it only begins there.

FAMILY-FOCUSED BUSINESS
“Dalton’s core philosophy is really built around a new slogan that we
just launched last year, which is ‘Trust the Dalton Difference,’” said
Dalton President Chris Stevens. “What that means is several different
aspects. The first aspect is, when you call Dalton, you get a person; you
get a live body who you talk to. We’re probably one of the few places
that you still call today and get a human who knows what you need
and can handle the question almost immediately with almost every The Diff-Therm Heater® (Courtesy: Dalton Electric Heater Company)
single person here. Typically, they know you. We have a very long,
established relationship with our customers, with our distributors,
with our OEM tool suppliers, our suppliers, and also every aspect of
our business. We’re a small family-focused business.”
The other aspect of that Dalton philosophy is doing the impossible,
according to Stevens.
“When somebody calls up on a Friday afternoon and says, ‘My
customer is down, and they need X,Y, and Z. Can you help us out?’
That’s when you really see Dalton step up and launch into action and
take care of customers,” he said. “We’ve done that numerous times in
the short time that I’ve been here. We have consistent quality. Every
single one of our heaters is made to order, made to specification for
that particular job, for that particular customer. We have the ability
to consistently make a product over and over and over again with the
highest craftsmanship and level of care, consistency, and reliability.”

DIFF-THERM® HEATER
Dalton’s history of heating focused on the diffusion pump heating
element, according to Stevens, where the diffusion pump heats the The bottom of an Agilent HS-20 diffusion pump with six Dalton Diff-Therm®
silicone oil that then creates a vacuum. That creates the atmosphere 2448-10R Platen Heaters. (Courtesy: Agilent Technologies – Vacuum Products
used to heat-treat or to apply a coating onto metal or plastic. Division, Lexington, Massachussetts)
The Diff-Therm® Heater, which recently celebrated its 50th year
since its patent, has a unique design, he said. With Dalton’s casting, first it’s formed and then it’s pressed into
“A traditional diffusion pump heater is a three-piece design where the casting. Dalton punches the tubular heater into the recesses of
you just have a heating element, a crush plate, and a follower plate,” the casting, giving it an improved contact area and compresses the
Stevens said. “You bolt all three of those things together with the MgO, which also improves the heat transfer into the casting, accord-
hopes of transmitting as much heat as you can into the bottom of ing to Stevens. The result is a higher heat transfer that dramatically
the pump. We’ve revolutionized that whole concept of how to get improves the life of the heater.
the maximum heat transfer into where you need it. You really want “That’s what makes our heaters last anywhere from two to five
to be able to transfer the heat into the oil, which is what’s doing the times longer than our competitors,” Stevens said.
evaporation and what’s creating the vacuum, and that’s basically And those statistics translate to high confidence among Dalton’s
what you’re shooting for and what you’re trying to achieve.” customers.
[Link] 35
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
“What we get for feedback from our users is, ‘I can start up my equip-
ment much faster. I get a much better, consistent, reliable vacuum
generated from using your heaters,’” he said. “Of course, the ultimate
compliment is, ‘They last forever.’ Whereas these other heating ele-
ments, because they’re exposed to air —the worst kind of environ-
ment — they’re not able to transfer heat away, and it creates a lot of
problems for them.”
Dalton sells to many of the OEMs that are either on the market
today or their equipment is still in use today, according to Stevens.
Some of those companies include Alcate, Agilent, Balzers, CVC,
Edwards, and Varian.
“They have various size diffusion pumps, so we have configura-
tions that fit onto their unique diffusion pumps,” he said. “Basically,
all of our parts match up to the standard OEM ones where you can
drop out the existing OEM part, and put in our Diff-Therm Platen
Heater.”

DEDICATED CRAFTSMEN
Dalton’s process when working with customers is batch; it’s not auto-
mated, according to Stevens.
“I think our greatest achievement is our ability to consistently per-
form at the very highest levels,” he said. “We have dedicated crafts-
men who really know their craft well, and basically they’re doing
the same job every day, and they’re doing it with the highest levels
of expertise. It’s almost an artistry that they build — and consistently
build — our products to. From a sales achievement standpoint, we
are selling into 55 different countries, most of which are countries
that are either using a diffusion pump or are in one of our larger
markets. It’s really been an astounding business from our ability to
reach so many different parts of the globe.”

GIVING 110 PERCENT

And that ability to go the extra mile does not go unnoticed by Dalton’s
customers, according to Stevens. An Agilent HS-20 diffusion pump. (Courtesy: Agilent Technologies – Vacuum
“We had a customer, Siemens, come to us, and they said, ‘We have Products Division, Lexington, Massachussetts)
a couple of pumps, and for some reason, I’m not exactly sure why
we have this, or why it’s there, or what it’s doing, but we have some
wires that are coming out and basically, the casting is interfering Inc. Eli Whitney, who started as the lone sales person, became the
with those wires,’” he said. “We talked to them, and looked at it, president of the company and the driving force behind Dalton,
and said, ‘How about if we just cut out a notch for your wires, right according to Stevens.
into our casting.’ They were like, ‘You can do that?’ And we said, ‘Oh, “Since Eli started in 1985, he’s generated a 6.6 percent compound
yeah.’ This is a conversation that took place in the morning, and by annual growth rate over that entire time up until this last year when
the end of the week, it was done and shipped out. That’s the kind of he retired,” he said.
service level that most people are not accustomed to, and that’s the In 1989, Dalton moved to its current location in Ipswich,
refreshing thing from my standpoint of coming here into Dalton is, Massachusetts.
our ability to respond is tremendous.”
FACING CHALLENGES
GOING BACK 98 YEARS As Dalton enters its 100th year and beyond, Stevens expects to see
Dalton has a number of achievements with its products, but it all changes in the heat-treat arena, but he added Dalton will meet those
began nearly a century ago in 1921 in Salem, Massachusetts, with changes head on.
William H. Dalton. The company soon changed hands around the “The thing that I see disrupting what’s happening now is obvi-
Great Depression when Walter Churchill took over. ously additive manufacturing,” he said. “But there’s still going to be
Churchill was instrumental in creating the Diff-Therm Platen a place for both heat treatment and vacuum coating onto parts that
Heater, and he received a patent for his creation in 1966. have been additive manufactured. I see that the level of sophistica-
Beyond his business history, Churchill has a storied past in and tion that’s going on in heat treatment will continue to evolve and
of itself. He was born in 1889 and was a World War I bombardier. continue to grow. This is an industry that’s not going to go away any
He passed Dalton Electric on to his 26-year-old son, John Churchill, time soon. Additive manufacturing is a part, and it’s an important
in 1972. part, but it’s not going to displace everything.”
In 1978, John Churchill patented a split sheath heater design that
became Dalton’s Watt-Flex.
In the 1980s, the company was acquired by current owners YSA, MORE INFO [Link]

36 APRIL 2019
ARE YOU MAXIMIZING
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[Link] 37
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ADVERTISER INDEX ///
PYROMETRY SERVICES
COMPANY NAME PAGE NO.
PYROMETRY TRAINING
Across International...........................................................................IBC
NADCAP & HEAT TREAT CONSULTING
Aerospace Testing & Pyrometry......................................................... 39
METROLOGY LABORATORY CALIBRATIONS
Conrad Kacsik Instrument Systems, Inc............................................. 11 REGIONAL OFFICES
CryoPlus Inc......................................................................................... 38 Easton, PA • Hartford, CT • Tulsa, OK • Cleveland, OH • Muskegon, MI
Los Angeles, CA • Bedford, OH – Calibration Laboratory
DMP CryoSystems................................................................................. 9
Heavy Carbon Company...................................................................... 38 844-828-7225 EMAIL: sales@[Link]
WEBSITE: [Link]

Hi-Temp Products................................................................................ 38
Profit from Our Knowledge because
Quality is Our Standard
Ipsen.................................................................................................... IFC
McLaughlin Services............................................................................. 9
Metal Powder Industries Federation.................................................... 3 Aerospace Testing & Pyrometry, Inc. is an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited
company specializing in the onsite calibration of temperature processing
instrumentation, calibration of vacuum measuring systems and temperature
Praxair Inc............................................................................................ 23 uniformity surveys for thermal processing equipment. We specialize in value
added services such as: Laboratory calibrations for field test & secondary
Solar Atmospheres..............................................................................BC test instruments, consulting and training in Pyrometry specifications,
Heat Treat Consulting & Procedure Writing and Consulting for Nadcap
Super Systems Inc............................................................................... 29 Accreditations in Heat Treating, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT), Welding,
Brazing & Materials Test Laboratories
Surface Combustion...............................................................................1
Vacuum Pump Services Corp.............................................................. 39 CORPORATE OFFICE: 4371 SARATOGA DRIVE BETHLEHEM, PA 18020

VACUUM PUMP REPAIR,

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[Link] 39
Q&A /// INTERVIEW WITH AN INDUSTRY INSIDER
MATTHIAS PASCHER /// HARDNESS PRODUCT MANAGER /// BUEHLER

“Buehler has launched its new Universal Hardness tester, the UH4000,
built for production environments where hardness tests need to be
performed fast and accurately.”
What is your role at Buehler? usage. It has a large steel casting frame.
I am the product manager for our hardness test- The measurement system of the machine
ing equipment within Buehler. is projected underneath with aluminum
Buehler is a global supplier of apparatus casting, so it’s a really rigid machine.
for microstructural analysis. Our customers
are manufacturing components, for a variety What is significant about the Wilson
of industries, with a focus on automotive and UH4000 series?
aerospace. We supply our customers with lab The overall concept of this kind of
equipment used for sample preparation to ana- machine is that it’s manufactured robust-
lyze the components, the materials, and also to ly. When you think about a machine that
do quantifiable testing regarding the hardness. stands next to an induction heat-treat-
ment oven, workers are often working in
Why is hardening important in the heat-treat industry? a three-shift environment. They have components to test, which can
Hardening processes on steels and alloys are mainly used for high-fric- be very large. Customers need a machine large enough to hold these
tion applications, like gear wheels, engine components, and steering parts. That’s why the machine itself needs to be very robust. We now
rods. Hardening makes a material suitable for its application. There have a product that addresses this kind of need from our customers.
is a vast amount of materials available that needs to undergo a hard- The innovative hardness tester also features very fast testing cycles
ening or heat-treatment process to make the material work for its and a newly developed turret to hold several indenters and objectives.
desired application. To check that a material or the final processed The operator can test to a variety of methods without the need for
component is suitable, hardness checks need to be performed. Buehler manual indenter/objective changes. The frame is made from a solid
is a premium supplier of hardness testers to support our customers. casting, along with a sturdy turret cover to protect the turret assem-
bly and the hardness measurement system against outer influences
What kind of hardness-testing equipment does Buehler offer the and collisions. The large 300mm (11.8 in.) x 400mm (15.7 in.) T-slot
heat-treat industry? stage and the weight capacity enable testing of large heavy parts.
We have a portfolio of different kinds of hardness testers, and we have We have also added some really nice features like an innovative
a really long history of manufacturing Wilson hardness machines. clamping device that clamps the parts prior to testing and during
We have launched our new Universal Hardness tester, the UH4000, testing, so the part itself is secured and reduces error in testing or
which fits into production environments where hardness tests need potential damage to the indenter.
to be performed fast and accurately. Overall, the complete machine is controlled by our DiaMet™ soft-
ware, which has been on the market for a couple of years. It’s known
What brought about the development of an updated universal for its easy-to-use interface and intuitiveness. When you think about
hardness tester? having this machine sitting in a three-shift environment, you want
Throughout our complete unit portfolio, we really want to develop software that is intuitive and does not require extensive training.
products that are based on customer needs, so we reached out to
customers. We wanted to understand the customer and the main What’s been the industry reaction to the series so far? And has
points they have. We started thinking about how we can improve that versatility been a major attraction?
and simplify this with our new product developments, in this case Everybody’s excited about it, especially our global sales teams. They
an improved Universal Hardness machine. have had a lot of interest from our customers because they see it as
The machine itself has been designed for production floors the best solution in the market.
where you have a multi-shift environment and have big parts and The first couple of machines were sold within a short amount of
rough conditions — dirty environments. But it can also be used in time, and requests are increasing from week to week, confirming
a university where you have one machine, because in universities Buehler is again capturing the need of our global customer in quality
you have varied materials to test where you need to have different control environments. It’s a really great start for us.
scales. It depends really on the application, and you can configure
the machine as you wish.
It’s ultimately a universal machine but was designed for heavy MORE INFO [Link]

40 APRIL 2019
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