PMF Industries, Williamsport, Pa., has expanded its flowforming capabilities with the addition of a new vacuum furnace that allows vertical heat treating of flowformed and machined shafts up to 80 in. long. The vertical-loading vacuum furnace also processes combustor cases, diffusers, seals, and bearing sets for aerospace engines; parts for ground-based turbine systems used in the energy sector; and cylinders for the commercial food and beverage industry.
Flowformed and machined shafts must be heat-treated vertically rather than horizontally to ensure that they remain straight throughout the thermal process. Although PMF’s capabilities have long included the heat treatment of flowformed parts and products produced through other metal processing techniques, all of the company’s previously existing furnaces feature horizontal loading and are able to accommodate heat treating of shafts only up to 34 inches in a vertical condition.
PMF’s new vacuum heat treatment system provides a clean manufacturing environment that offers uniform cooling and features a 46 x 80 inches all-graphite hot zone with a 6000-lb. load capacity. It provides gas cooling to 2 bar absolute pressure, and operates at temperatures of 1000 to 2400°F.
Flowforming is a cold-extrusion, metal-forming process that produces seamless, high-precision, rotationally symmetrical cylindrical, conical, or contoured shapes. The process offers design flexibility and has the ability to produce complex, near-net-shaped components from preforms or blanks, resulting in significant material savings and dramatically lower costs than other metal-forming techniques. Many flowformed parts subsequently undergo heat treating to provide them with additional material properties or physical features required of the finished component.
