More of a description of the equipment than a specific heat-treatment, vacuum processing is very versatile and solves several issues regarding the running of dissimilar materials of differing chemistries and by minimizing any oxidation or discoloration that would typically be found in both non-protective and protective atmosphere furnaces.
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.
One of our unique abilities is to perform solution annealing and homogenization of stainless steel castings in our Vacuum furnaces.
Stress relieving is a general term in heat treating describing a wide range of processes. Generally stress relieving involves heating a part to a temperature at which the yield strength is sufficiently low to the point which internal stresses can relieve themselves.