Triple Chamber Vacuum Furnace Systems - The Low Pressure Carburizing Workhorse

Multi-chamber vacuum furnace systems have become the system of choice for high throughput, highly precise, low pressure carburizing (LPC) applications over the past two decades. Compared to traditional gas carburizing in continuous or batch integral quench atmosphere style furnaces, LPC conducted in modern vacuum furnaces reduces carburizing gas consumption while providing more consistent results when considering case depth, surface hardness, and core hardness. Multi-chamber furnaces provide this level of precision while also maintaining the high production level required in automotive or aerospace applications. Multi-chamber vacuum furnace systems come in a variety of different configurations ranging from manufacturing cells with separate heating and quench chambers to semi-continuous multi chamber systems. To understand the potential benefits of these systems, two sample applications are presented using a triple chamber semi-continuous vacuum carburizing system. Both oil and gas quenching capabilities are considered. The results of these two studies show that the semi-continuous, triple chamber design is capable of similar, if not, superior results while providing increased versatility and increased uptime when compared with other, more traditional multi – chamber systems.