Application of Industrial Vacuum Heat Treatment Furnace in Powder Metallurgy Industry

05-08-2025       Author: KJ technology

Industrial vacuum heat treatment furnaces have crucial applications in the powder metallurgy industry, mainly reflected in the following aspects:

sinter

Promoting densification: Powder metallurgy parts usually have certain pores. By sintering in a vacuum heat treatment furnace, atomic diffusion between powder particles can be promoted at high temperatures, gradually reducing the pores and improving the density of the parts. For example, in the manufacturing of high-performance mechanical parts, after vacuum sintering, the density of the parts can approach the theoretical density, thereby significantly improving their mechanical properties.

Improving organizational uniformity: Vacuum environment can effectively prevent the invasion of impurity gases, avoid harmful chemical reactions during sintering process, and help obtain uniform and consistent microstructure. Taking hard alloy cutting tools as an example, under vacuum sintering conditions, WC particles can be uniformly distributed in the bonding phase Co, improving the hardness, wear resistance, and toughness of the tool.

Accurate control of composition: During the vacuum sintering process, the atmosphere and temperature inside the furnace can be precisely controlled to avoid oxidation and volatilization of alloy elements, thereby accurately controlling the composition of powder metallurgy materials. For some high-temperature alloy powder metallurgy parts with strict composition requirements, such as aircraft engine turbine blades, vacuum sintering can ensure the accuracy of their composition, thereby meeting the requirements for use in high-temperature environments.

skim

Removing molding agents: In the molding process of powder metallurgy parts, some molding agents are usually added to improve the flowability and formability of the powder. These molding agents need to be removed during the subsequent heat treatment process, otherwise it will affect the performance and quality of the parts. The vacuum heat treatment furnace can achieve the degreasing process at a lower temperature, by decomposing and evaporating the molding agent, avoiding oxidation and contamination of the part surface during the degreasing process. For example, in the production of powder metallurgy gears, vacuum degreasing can effectively remove molding agents such as paraffin from the gears, creating favorable conditions for subsequent sintering processes.

Preventing part deformation: As the vacuum degreasing process is carried out under relatively mild conditions and the furnace atmosphere is uniform, it can effectively reduce the deformation of parts caused by degreasing. For some powder metallurgy parts with complex shapes and high dimensional accuracy requirements, such as precision parts in automotive engines, vacuum degreasing can better ensure the dimensional stability and accuracy requirements of the parts.

Heat treatment strengthening

Improving hardness and strength: By quenching and tempering powder metallurgy parts in a vacuum heat treatment furnace, the hardness and strength of the parts can be significantly improved. For example, for mold parts manufactured by powder metallurgy, after vacuum quenching and tempering treatment, their surface hardness can reach HRC60 or above, and their compressive strength can also be greatly improved, thereby improving the service life and work efficiency of the mold.

Improving toughness and fatigue performance: Suitable vacuum heat treatment processes can also improve the toughness and fatigue performance of powder metallurgy parts. For example, vacuum tempering treatment of powder metallurgy high-speed steel cutting tools can eliminate quenching stress, improve the toughness of the tools, make them less prone to edge breakage and fracture during cutting, and also improve the fatigue life of the tools, reducing usage costs.