ThermTech offers both a “Quick Quench” batch furnace and some pit furnaces for Solution Annealing both Cast and Wrought Aluminum Alloys to the T4 temper condition.
We can process parts sized up to 40” high x 43” wide x 67” long in our automated quench line that has the fastest quench speeds and parts even bigger than that in our other equipment.
The stress relieve step will help with machinability, but, primarily keep major distortion down to a minimum as opposed to machining a highly stressed as-forged component.
Normalizing is one of the simplest heat-treatments that can address refining (or normalizing) the microstructure and equalizing the effects of the range of temperatures the material has been subjected to during the forging operations.
ThermTech offers water quenching capabilities to achieve both the hardness and mechanical requirements needed on low alloy steel forgings.
ThermTech is a pioneer in the abilities to polymer quench large section sizes of forgings that require superior mid-radius hardness and mechanical properties for forgings needed by the fracking companies components.
ThermTech is very experienced in processing forgings for oil quench hardening. We are familiar with hardening 4140, 4142, 4145, 4150, and 4340 alloys.
We have come across several customers who perfer their forgings be marquenched in molten salt to minimize the risk of cracking during the quench operations and to minimize distortion on long, thin products.
ThermTech has the ability to austemper forgings when the mechanical properties of the product require greater toughness via tensile and yield mechanical properties.
ThermTech has 3 mechanical presses including a 200 ton unit that is capable of straightening hardened forgings in various shaft or long bar configurations.
ThermTech offers a large 36 cubic-foot tumbleblast machine for blasting most of our forgings that require that step.
Over the past several years the requirements for mechanical testing has greatly increased within the forging community based on more critical applications in both the fracking and mining industries.
ThermTech has run very large loads of stress relieving of castings on our car-bottom furnace that is 15' long x 7' wide x and 4' high.
The sub-critical annealing process typically produces a microstructure where existing pearlite dissolves into the ferritic matrix which lowers hardness and strength while improving machinability.
Gray iron and ductile iron castings are typically normalized to move the carbon from being locked in carbides or graphite into more of a pearlitic microstructure.
The full annealing process involves taking a casting to a temperature above the critical eutectoid temperature in the 1475F-1650F range for a length of time commiserate with the cross section size and then slow cooled to promote a ferritic microstructure.
Solution Annealing stainless steel castings is a process which takes the carbides that have precipitated in the grain boundaries and dissolves then into the surrounding matrix.
Many steel foundries cast low carbon or low alloy steels that require a severe water quench to adequately achieve the proper martensitic microstructure and hardness requirements.
Polymer quench hardening of steel castings like 4130, 15B41, 1045, and 5130 is the proper way to balance the necessity for rapid quench rates while minimizing the risk of quench cracking the castings.
Steel castings made from alloys in excess of 0.40% carbon content can typically be oil quench hardened to achieve their desired mechanical or hardness requirements.
In addition to austempering ductile iron we are also capable of austempering gray irons and several alloys of steel castings.
To insure that the steel castings are capable of achieving full surface hardness during subsequent hardening processing the castings may require a carbon restoration of their surfaces and we have several furnaces capable of doing this.
Most importantly to our customers we are able to run impellars and pump units where minimal oxidation occurs on internal surfaces making clean-up faster and cheaper for them.
Currently ThermTech blasts several thousand pounds of castings a day through our 96" diameter table blaster and our 36 cubic-foot tumbleblast unit.
Most austempered ductile iron castings have mechanical requirements due from either industry standards such as ASTM-897 or customer specifications.
A stress relief will help reduce the possibility of more abrupt changes in geometry after subsequent machining.
Sub-critical annealing is an ideal way to remove these stresses to allow subsequent forming operations. The temperature ranges for this process typically range from 1250F to 1400F.
Normalizing machined components helps create a homogenous microstructure which helps improve uniform machinability done post normalizing.
This process involves heating the parts above the critical temperature and slow cooling them in order to create a microstructure both more refined due to recrystallization and softer and more ductile regarding hardness and mechanical properties.
Stampings made from low carbon steels like 1035, 1040, 1045, & 1050 typically require water quenching for full hardness response, especially, if they are formed from heavy gauge thicknesses.
This furnace can quench pins and machined barstock that have large cross-sections that have a hard time achieving good core hardness properties when quenched in oil.
ThermTech has several internal quench atmosphere furnaces that are ideal for oil quench hardening a wide variety of sizes of 4140, 4150, & 4340 materials.
Many machined components have intricate details or section size changes that lend themselves to being crack-prone.We watch for problem jobs like this and we can run them through our neutral hardening salt furnace with molten salt quench to avoid cracking.
Between our neutral salt bath furnaces and our larger austempering furnaces we have the capabilities to austemper a wide variety of stamping and machined components.
Machined components made from such alloys as 4320, 8620, and 9310 are typically carburized to increase the surface hardness of the machined surfaces and to increase the core hardness.
Carbonitriding can be performed on both heavy gage stampings and low alloy machined components. Typically the case depths needed are in the 0.003" to 0.020" range due to the low hardenability of the steels involved.
Gas Nitriding is the process in which Nitrogen and Ammonia are diffused into a steel product at a low temperature to produce a hard case without the need for quenching from a higher temperature.
ThermTech flame hardens a wide variety of crane wheels and sheaves for the crane and mining industries. We have both polymer and oil quenching capabilities.
ThermTech offers low pressure vacuum carburizing for a wide variety of machined components for both the petrochemical, automotive, and medical fields.
Our newest furnace allows us to offer oil quenching after a low pressure carburizing process done in vacuum.
Many machined components whether they are through hardened or carburized require straightening after heat-treating. We have three mechanical presses with the largest having pressures up to 200 tons.
ThermTech has the capabilities to shot-blast very large machined components up to 96" in diameter and 5000 pounds.
We have two pieces of cryo-treat equipment which are both capable of temperatures of -300F below zero.
Several people in our Quality Department maintain the specification library, write part number specific processes and manage the sub-contracted mechanical testing to insure your parts are exceeding the mechanical requirements for your application.
Reasons for needing a vacuum anneal can range from a machined detail that was missed prior to hardening and weld repair of the tool.
Vacuum solution annealing insures the parts are in the correct condition for subsequent age hardening or being in the proper phase for optimum corrosion resistance.
One of our core competencies is vacuum hardening of tool & die jobs. We have 5 vacuum furnaces that are capable of hardening several grades of tool steels such as A-2, A-6, A-8, A-10, S-7, D-2, H-11, H-13, M-2, M-4, M-42, T-15, and DC-53.
Several tool steels require oil quenching to either fully transform their microstructure to a fully martensitic phase or to comply with an industry or company's technical specification.
A vacuum stress relief of molds allows a more uniform looking textured surface during subsequent usage. We can handle a die or mold up to 36" wide x 32" high x 72" long with a total piece weight of 10,000 pounds.
Several tool steels such as A-10, A-6, & S-5 may require liquid quenching for the parts to achieve full hardness.
Some Tool and Die materials like S-5, 52100, O-1, & O-6 require oil quench hardening. ThermTech has several furnaces capable of hardening these materials with the largest being 36" wide x 42" high x 72" long.
Some tool and die parts are made from low alloy tool steels like W-1 & L-6 materials. These tool steels require water quench hardening in order to achieve full hardness.
To transform the retained austenite found in these materials after hardening it is typically necessary to deep freeze or cryo-treat them to -300F below zero.
Gas Nitriding is low temperature diffusion heat-treatment process that can increase the lubricity, corrosion resistance, and surface hardness of certain tools and dies run with this process.
Often several tool steels supplied in the as-cast conditions definitely need a carbon restoration due to the high carbon content of those materials and the natural de-carburization environments of the casting processes.
To straighten out a material post-hardening when they are at their most brittle we employ a process involved fixturing the part during the tempering operation where the material has more ductility and takes a set to a straighter/flatter configuration.
Tool & Die products shaped in cylindrical form require straightening by mechanically pressing the parts with some localized heat put on an area to prevent gross cracking due to the brittleness of the material involved.
Should the tooling require blasting we typically employ a hand-blast operation to make sure care in handling is used to avoid damaging critical edges and over-blasting intricate details on the tool.
Stress Relieving gears is beneficial for gears that will undergo subsequent nitriding and have been subject to heavy grinding or machining stresses that may cause distortion in the nitride process.
Sometimes rough gears or gear-blanks require full annealing prior to any heavy machining or forming operations so the hobs are able to move the material to form the splines and teeth properly.
ThermTech offers several internal quench endothermic atmosphere carburizing batch furnaces for your gear needs.
Gears made from plain carbon steels like 1017, 1018, and 1020 materials and low alloys such as 1117 & 12L14 require ammonia additions at the end of the carburizing process to increase the surface hardness of splines and teeth.
ThermTech has the unique capability of Carburizing gears and quenching them into molten salt to help minimize distortion. We have two furnaces capable of marquenching gears in furnaces with load sizes of 36" wide x 48" high x 72" long.
ThermTech does have the ability to Vacuum Carburize gears using LPC (low pressure carburizing) with gas quenching in a furnace with the working dimensions of 36" wide x 32" high x 72" long.
The newest furnace in ThermTech's arsenal is a Seco/Warwick LPC Vacuum Carburizing furnace with integrated oil quench capabilities.
Gas Nitriding is the process in which Nitrogen and Ammonia are diffused into a steel product at a low temperature to produce a hard case without the need for quenching from a higher temperature.
ThermTech offers two deep freeze or cryogenic units that are both capable of cooling parts down to -300F below zero. The largest of these units is 50" square by 30" deep.
ThermTech has three flame hardening units including one that can handle gears up to a maximum size of 45" in diameter or 2500 pounds.
ThermTech has several employees skilled at straightening long, splined gear bars, racks, and pinions. We have three mechanical presses and several other straightening apparatus.
For large gears and pinions we offer blasting on our 96" diameter table blaster. For smaller gears we offer a small five cubic foot rubber belt tumble-blaster.
ThermTech can handle weldments up to 15' long x 7' wide x 4' tall. Our typically weight capacity is 6500 lbs, but, given a 24 hour warning we can handle parts weighing up to 12,000 lbs.
We can handle parts up to 96" in diameter and 40" high. We use 330 hardened shot which is aggressive and will remove all the scale formed by stress relieving.
ThermTech has an automated furnace that is excellent for the quick quenching of aluminum alloys that require a water quench solution anneal to the T-4 or T4 condition.
ThermTech can age harden several varieties of Aluminum to the T-6 or T6 condition. We've aged smaller diameter tubes up to 12' lengths and can handle many varieties of parts up to 60" in diameter to 80" tall.
We have the ability to cool parts from 32F to -300F and can work with you on purchasing dry ice if your parts are to be transported for several hours and require them to remain cool.
We have several experienced people on staff that can both mechanically and physically straighten a variety of Aluminum castings and wrought products.
Sometimes you need your Aluminum alloy as soft as possible for bending or forming reasons. ThermTech can provide you with full annealing of your material to the T0 condition.
Stress Relieving can help minimize the distortion seen by the part due to the machining stresses that can be built up by the manufacturing of the part. Contact us for a quote. We can handle a wide variety of sizes for this process.
Many times the end usage of Investment Castings don't require any hardening of the material for the parts to work, however, the parts may require a stress relieve to remove any stress caused by the casting process so the parts maintain their tolerances.
ThermTech offers Normalizing capabilities for Investment castings made of steel. We have the ability to run them in either Atmosphere or Vacuum furnaces.
Due to the Investment casting process several alloys of materials require a full anneal prior to any subsequent hardening process to minimize the risk of cracking.
Due to partial or total surface decarburization that stems from the investment casting process a procedure known as carbon restoration is used to restore the proper carbon content at the surface of the parts in question.
Several types of low alloy investment castings require water quench hardening in order to achieve the proper hardness or mechanical properties. These alloys usually are plain carbon steels such as 1018, 1020, 1030, 1035, 1040, & 1045 materials.
ThermTech has a atmosphere furnace measuring 36" wide x 36" high x 72" long that has an associated Polymer quench located with it.
Several alloys such as 4140, 4145, 4150, and 4340 that require oil quench hardening for increasing their hardness or mechanical strength are easily made by the investment casting process.
ThermTech offers a small batch marquenching system with two different molten salt quenches set at different temperatures for the marquenching of investment castings.
ThermTech offers both small and large batch capabilities for Austempering steel and iron investment castings.
ThermTech has four vacuum furnaces that are capable of running investment castings in both 300 series stainless steels and super-alloys for Vacuum Solution Annealing.
Tool Steels and martensitic stainless steels such as 410, 416, 420, and 440 are materials that are easily made via the investment cast process.
We also offer a Vacuum oil hardening furnace that can oil harden alloys requiring high temperature austenizing temperatures in excess of what is normally achievable in a normal atmosphere furnace.
Due to most of the investment castings we process being on the small size (less than 5 lbs each) we offer both hand-blast and a rubber belt tumble-blast options to properly and quickly turn around any cleaning requirements.
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