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World’s largest commercially available vacuum furnace installed at Solar Atmospheres in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, manufacturedby VFS. The furnace is 24′ long x 84" in diameter and has load capacity of up to 50,000 lbs. Solar Atmospheres does vacuum heat treating for the aerospace, nuclear, medical, and automotive industries. The newly opened Hermitage plant is the company’s second facility. The furnace boasts cooling rates exceeding anything ever achieved by a vacuum furnace. The size and precise temperature processing capabilities of the new furnace offer new possibilitiesfor design and manufacture in the titanium industry.
Articles
Review and Analysis of Emerging Extrusion Processes Part II: The Evolving Role of Friction in Hot Extrusion
By Joseph C. Benedyk
Page 6
Evaluating Melting Furnace Combustion Systems
By Hugh Barnard
Page 16
Recent Technological Trends in Aluminum Alloy Trains: Japan’s Next Generation Train System—the Hitachi A-Train
By Seijiro Totori, Hitachi
Page 18
The Friction Stir Welding Process
By R. Fenn and W.M. Thomas, The Welding Institute
Page 28
Improving the Corrosion Resistance of Low Cement Aluminum Silicate Refractory Castable in Contact with Molten Aluminum
By A.P.F. Albers and J.B. Baldo, The Federal University of San Carlos, Materials Engineering Department
Page 34
How to Avoid Overheating Extrusion Dies in Single Cell Ovens
By Paul Robbins, Castool
Page 42
Best Practice: Tools of the Trade for Primary Aluminum Smelters
By Rod Zabreznik, RDZ Services, and David Moison, Metal Strategies Int’l LLC
Page 50