To give you some background to this story we can say that family owned Heat Treatment Australia is the largest commercial heat treater in Australia. Over the years the firm has grown tremendously by investing in the accredidations, approvals and equipment necessary to supply the aerospace and defense industries-obviously this stratedgly was a good one. A few years back we had the opportunity to visit the HTA facilities in Australia and consequently we have these photos. The one shows Norm Tucker, Director of the company standing in front of a brand new SECO vacuum furnace-this might have been the first SECO furnace the company purchased.

“SECO WARWICK will deliver the 7^th furnace system to the HTA Group. The leading Commercial Heat Treater from Australia ordered a vacuum aluminum brazing furnace that will operate with a tight temperature tolerance of +/- 3 degrees C to meet the precision quality requirements of the aerospace industry. The HTA Group serves an elite portfolio of tier 1 aerospace clients including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman Corporation, Goodrich Actuation Systems (UK), Collins Aerospace Landing Systems, BAE Systems and Space X . For over 15 years, the HTA Group has provided accredited heat treatment processing services to the global aerospace industry. Prime contractors, OEM’s and supply chain businesses look to HTA on a regular basis to process a huge variety of airplane and aerospace components, both commercial and military. HTA is NADCAP and AS9100 certified for multiple processes, meaning that these customers are assured of consistent quality outcomes. The HTA Group has 3 locations in Australia, and 1 on the West Coast of the United States.

“Our team of experienced heat treatment professionals appreciate working with SECO/WARWICK experts and technologies. We demand high quality, precision solutions due to the stringent requirements of the aerospace applications that we work with. SECO/WARWICK meets and exceeds these demands, hence we placed our 7^th order for their technology because of their experience with these clients. This expertise helps us to meet our promises. That’s a real partnership,”  says Norm Tucker, Director, HTA Group.  The HTA Group bought the first SECO/WARWICK furnace in 2007. Since then, there have been 4 furnaces in the Brisbane location, and 2 in the USA. plant. This order is the 3^rd vacuum furnace to be used for vacuum brazing aluminum parts.

The system has been designed with 6 temperature control zones in order to meet the tight temperature requirements of +/-3 degrees C as specified by the AMS2750F pyrometry specification. The powerful high vacuum system will be equipped with a large diffusion pump. The furnace can accommodate loads up to 800x800x1600mm (WxHxD).  The furnace will be equipped with an external gas cooling system which will accelerate the process and improve the part quality after brazing.

The VAB furnace allows the brazing of aluminum parts for applications where the use of brazing flux is not permitted due to corrosion. This process is typically used for the most critical applications. “SECO/WARWICK has for years been providing high-end solutions on the most demanding applications for the aerospace industry all over the world. We are experienced at meeting all the specifications and continuously exceed them to secure our clients with the best heat treatment solution available today and in the years to come,” says Maciej Korecki, VP, Vacuum Business Segment, SECO/WARWICK Group.

“Our core values of safety and stability are crucial especially in providing precision technologies for the aerospace industry. We keep human and machine error to a minimum, installing safety buffers and using mobile parameter monitoring, warning systems and a full range of advanced maintenance and diagnostics to keep systems in check. Our employment policies ensure work stability and encourages continuous improvement for employees as well as retaining corporate knowledge and experience gathered carefully for decades,” added Slawomir Woźniak, CEO SECO/WARWICK Group.

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