Aerospace heat-treatment

Keywords: Aerospace industry, Heat treatment

SPS Aerostructures, one of the UKs leading manufacturers of components for the aerospace industry, has upgraded its main production facilities in Nottinghamshire with a high-capacity Carbolite heat-treatment oven (Plate 3).

Plate 3 Carbolite heat treatment oven with manual quenching arrangement at SPS Technologies

The equipment has been designed as a cost-effective means of meeting the latest standards applied by aerospace manufacturers, including a rapid quench facility required for aluminium alloy components.

The components produced by SPS Aerostructures are machined from solid and fabricated from sheet. The oven is used to anneal solid components which work-harden during machining and for solution treating and precipitation of sheet metal assemblies before and after forming.

Temperature uniformity within the operating temperature range claimed of 120°C to 550°C is stated to be better than the ±5°C required by BS2M54 and other UK and overseas standards such as AMS 2750 and MIL-STD-6088. This reportedly has been achieved by providing a controlled air re-circulation system and sophisticated digital temperature controllers linked to 12 calibrated thermocouples within the oven chamber. Digital over-temperature protection is also included.

The requirement to ensure rapid quenching at the end of heating cycles has been met by fitting a one-piece door which is lifted rapidly by an electric motor. This arrangement gives operators good access to the chamber for unloading and quenching charges quickly at the end of their heating programmes.

The chamber, which is 1400mm wide x 1400mm high x 2000mm deep, has a durable,non- flaking stainless steel interior. Power rating for the unit is 54kW.

Details available from: Carbolite. Tel: +44 (0) 1433 620011; Fax: +44 (0)1433 621198; E-mail: enquiry@corbolite.co.uk