Captive Heat Treater of Aerospace Components Invest in First Vacuum Furnace
“Tvornica plinskih turbina d.o.o., a Croatian manufacturer of advanced components for the aerospace and energy industries, has ordered a Vector single chamber vacuum with 6 bar abs. High pressure gas quenching from SECO/WARWICK.
This is the Partner’s first vacuum furnace and the beginning of building an in-house heat treatment department. The investment will increase production independence, improve quality control, and reduce the risks related to the timely delivery of external services.
The equipment will be used for the heat treatment of aerospace and gas turbine components that require high process cleanliness, parameter repeatability, and precise cooling control. For the customer, this is the first SECO/WARWICK vacuum furnace and, at the same time, the first vacuum furnace in their machine park. Until now, the company has relied on external commercial heat treatment service providers. Rising costs of these services, limited production capacity availability, and the risk of delays prompted the company to decide to build an in-house heat treatment department.”
Tvornica plinskih turbina d.o.o. operates in a sector where process quality has a direct impact on the quality of the final component. The company’s history dates back to 1975, when it began operations as a specialized plant manufacturing jet engine and gas turbine components. From the beginning, it developed competencies in advanced technologies, including those based on Rolls Royce licenses. In the years that followed, it implemented, among other capabilities, precision forging of turbine blades, production of components for tank and helicopter engines, turbine components for the power sector, and parts for engines used in civil aviation.
The equipment ordered has a working space of 600 x 600 x 900 mm (24 × 24 × 35 in.), while the round heating chamber also enables the processing of oversized components. The furnace has been designed to operate with two gases: argon and nitrogen, and is equipped with a high-performance cooling system with a blower enabling gas quenching up to 6 bar abs.
“In the aerospace and turbine industries, a vacuum furnace is a solution that provides process repeatability, cleanliness and safety. In this project, the customer chose the Vector furnace because it needed proven first choice technology that would allow a critical production stage to be moved in-house. This provides greater independence, better quality control, and a shorter path from component production to final heat treatment. Vector furnace lines operate for the largest manufacturers in the aerospace sector. They are present in more than 70 countries — there is probably no better recommendation,” says Maciej Korecki, Vice President of the Vacuum Furnace Segment at the SECO/WARWICK Group.
