Vacuum Furnaces

Every day we use products which have been processed in vacuum furnaces. Whether it is gears in your vehicle or special hardened drills, vacuum furnaces play a major role. There are different kinds of vacuum furnaces that exist. No matter if it is for brazing, sintering, hardening, nitriding, crystal growing or melting and casting furnaces, vacuum is required.

Application brochure: Vacuum Furnaces

Application requirements

  • Sintering

    • Robustness

    • Dust resistance

    • Working pressure of 0,1 to 0,01 mbar

  • Brazing

    • Robustness

    • High suction speed

    • Low end pressure of 10-5 to 10-6 mbar

  • Hardening

    • High reliability

    • Fast pump down

    • Working pressure of 1 mbar

How does it work?
In a vacuum furnace the parts are heated up and vacuum pumps generate an atmosphere which is low in oxygen. This prevents an oxidation of the part. Depending on the kind of vacuum furnace, the effects of the vacuum can be different. For vacuum sintering, the vacuum is improving the surface quality of the part and enables the debinding process. At vacuum brazing, the vacuum is causing a degassing effect and therefore improves the hardness and quality of the soldered seam. With vacuum hardening, distortion is prevented which improves the surface quality as well. Another advantage of this process is the possibility of a direct nitriding after the hardening process. For each process it is mandatory to reach a process pressure in a defined time. Short pump down times help to be economical. Next to this, the evacuation is important to remove unwanted substances such as hydrogen.

Product portfolio

Pfeiffer Vacuum offers a wide product portfolio for vacuum furnaces. This includes high and fine vacuum pumps as well as complete pumping systems, pressure gauges from atmospheric pressure to high vacuum pressure as well as calibration systems, valves and flanges for the connection of vacuum components, mass spectrometer for residual gas analysis and leak detectors for the localization of leaks.