I first encountered the Nadca 207 specification in 1999. At that time, a large die weighing 400 kg, hardened by our heat treatment plant, cracked in the die casting foundry, and the tool shop wanted to compensate us for the damage caused. We did not believe that the fault was on our side. But then we learned about the Nadca 207 specification, and because we had good contacts, we invited Mr. Corwyn Berger, one of the co-authors of the specification, to a lecture in the Czech Republic. His presentation "Extended tool life on die casting" permanently changed our views and the way we work in the heat treatment shop.

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In the first part of the article, we discussed how different designs impact the efficiency of vacuum furnaces in respect to their heating energy requirements.
Even though the energy used for heating undoubtedly represents the main energy consumption during vacuum heat treatments, several auxiliary systems can be present on vacuum furnaces (or in the plant housing the furnace); just think of the water-cooling system, the gas quenching system and, clearly, vacuum pumps.
Those auxiliary systems are essential to ensure proper functioning of a vacuum furnace, however, they can generate altogether a significant energy consumption source, especially when continuous operation is required.

Vacuum Pumps

Vacuum pumps are the components that allow a sealed, leak tight furnace to reach the desired vacuum level before starting the heat treatment.

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Effect of pre and post heat treatments on microstructure and adhesion of AlTiN films deposited on additive manufactured Ti-6Al-4V alloy.

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