Solar Atmospheres, Souderton, Pa., announces that it has been selected by Honeybee Robotics to provide heat treating for the robotic Venus explorer on drive train components comprised of a specialized alloy, Ferrium C61. The alloy is designed as a high strength, high fracture-toughness carburizing grade steel capable of high-temperature applications in corrosive environments.
Solar Atmospheres developed the difficult processing conditions required to optimize the properties for the specialty alloy and satisfy the demanding heat treat requirements. The drive train components are vacuum carburized at 1825°F, high-pressure nitrogen-gas quenched, cooled to −150°F, and tempered in a vacuum at 900°F.
Honeybee Robotics, Brooklyn, N.Y., received NASA funding to contribute to developing future planetary exploration, space mining, and in-situ resource utilization. One of the projects is the High Temperature Venus Drill and Sample Delivery System to provide drilling and sampling operations in the challenging environmental conditions of the planet Venus.
Romans named the planet after Venus, their goddess of love and beauty, but conditions on the planet are anything but lovely and beautiful. Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system at a constant 895°F with an atmospheric pressure 90 times higher than the air pressure on Earth.
