In industries such as aerospace, automotive, medical technology, and metallurgy, precise temperature control and documentation are indispensable during heat treatment 
processes.
The TUS (Temperature Uniformity Survey) test in accordance with AMS2750E and CQI-9 standards must often be fulfilled as part of the relevant quality standards. This is the only way to ensure that the parts achieve the desired material properties within narrow tolerances with homogeneous temperature distribution.
The temperature measuring points, so-called furnace trackers , are required to determine the temperature distribution and thus guarantee uniform process conditions in the heat treatment furnace. As they are exposed to high temperatures (often over 1,200 °C) and aggressive environmental conditions, the frames have to meet stringent requirements in terms of material, design and function.
Discover the smart, precise, and efficient solution our #GraphitePeople developed for employing a furnace tracker in various systems with changing volumes in this case study.
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A company specializing in thermal process technologies handles components of varying sizes and serves a range of industries. They employ diverse heat treatment processes across furnaces of different sizes, depending on the workpiece being processed.
To achieve a
Industry:
Procedure:
Thermal process engineering
Solution:
Services:
Consulting, design/engineering, technical documentation
Result:
Improved process stability, quality, reliability, simplified handling, cost reduction as well as 6-in-1 modular design
is often one of the last process steps in the value chain. Uniform temperature distribution in the furnace chamber is a critical prerequisite for quality and must be known for the heat treatment recipe. It is therefore a factor that is decisive for quality and the reject rate.
design could be adapted to different usable volumes. Our client, a provider of heat treatment services for a variety of industries, has a broad service portfolio and high-quality standards.
Previously, they relied on furnace trackers made of metal in various sizes. However, these trackers posed challenges: the metal deformed at high temperatures, making measurement positions inconsistent and unreliable. This resulted in an overall unsatisfactory measurement result: the metal warped at high temperatures and the measuring points were therefore not reproducible.
guarantee the necessary dimensional stability of the tracker to ensure the reproducibility of the measuring points from the first to the 100th oven run.
Moreover, the high specific strength allows a lightweight and slender rod design, achieving a weight reduction of approximately 80 %. This significantly eases handling. This modular furnace tracker allows for easy assembly and can be quickly adapted to six different system sizes (chamber volumes).
The material rigidity ensures a reproducible measurement position, resulting in consistent temperature readings.
The modular design of the frame saves an additional five measurement stands.
