Controlling Atmospheres – Participating in the Future

Thursday, 10 April 2025

 

With the rapid development of new and robust materials that can tolerate higher temperatures, this has necessitated our industries to understand and develop new standards and tools to meet these challenges.

3D printing and the advancement of hypersonic flight have been some of the primary driving forces behind the accelerated push for new CMCs and alloys.  Although research and published papers on these high temperature materials have been reviewed and “proven”, most are theoretical.

New advancement in additive manufacturing (3D printing) has allowed for more complex geometry of materials that were typically expensive or impractical to fabricate.  The ability to develop such multifaceted designs with these materials has reached a “sci-fi” reality that is exciting to be part of.

Oxy-Gon’s furnaces are an essential cog in the machine for making these materials a reality.  A controlled atmosphere, whether it be argon, nitrogen, hydrogen, partial pressures, or vacuum at elevated temperatures (1800°C-3000°C/3270°F-5430°F) is the key to completing the process when using these novel materials.  Traditionally, furnaces utilizing “known” standard materials use air, or simple gas/vacuum atmosphere, at 425°C-760°C (800°F-1400°F).  The company has the advantage over the low-temperature manufacturers as these new materials advance in development.  The company has been applying our engineering and manufacturing expertise of high temperature, controlled atmosphere furnaces for over 35 years.  Working on projects with clients from the R&D phase and scaling to the production furnaces has proven to be a rewarding endeavor throughout the years.

Leading the charge, we have demonstrated our capabilities by furnishing the first commercially available controlled atmosphere tensile testing furnace operating over 2800°C (5070°F).  The new materials that are pushing the industry limits will require standards (NIST) of characterization of these new materials at elevated temperatures, of which there are currently none.  This innovative technology presents various challenges, such as >2000°C (3630°F) in air, however, Oxy-Gon is ready to meet and solve the ultra-high heat treatment dilemmas with its state-of-the-art custom furnaces.