Vacuum furnace

Maximum furnace temperatures and vacuum levels depend on melting points and vapor pressures of heated materials.

Vacuum furnaces are used to carry out processes such as annealing, brazing, sintering and heat treatment with high consistency and low contamination.

Characteristics of a vacuum furnace are: Heating metals to high temperatures in open to atmosphere normally causes rapid oxidation, which is undesirable.

An inert gas, such as Argon, is often used to quickly cool the treated metals back to non-metallurgical levels (below 400 °F [200 °C]) after the desired process in the furnace.

Many general heat treating applications involve the hardening and tempering of a steel part to make it strong and tough through service.

Vacuum furnaces capable of temperatures above 1200 °C are used in various industry sectors such as electronics, medical, crystal growth, energy and artificial gems.