What are the applications of customized muffle furnace in powder sintering process?

In the powder sintering process, customized muffle furnaces have become the core equipment for achieving high-performance material preparation through precise temperature control, atmosphere adjustment, process optimization, and modular design. Their applications cover multiple fields such as metals, ceramics, and composite materials. The specific scenarios and technical advantages are as follows:

1. Metal Powder Metallurgy: Efficient Sintering and Densification
Manufacturing of stainless steel parts
Requirement: To prepare high-density stainless steel parts (such as valves, fittings, bearings), it is necessary to achieve diffusion, welding, and densification between powder particles at 1300 ℃~1400 ℃.
Customized solution:
High temperature stable furnace: made of alumina fiber or mullite fiber material, with low thermal conductivity, heating rate of 10-20 ℃/min, and shortened heating time by 30%~50%.
Atmosphere protection system: Integrated nitrogen/hydrogen gas mixture device to prevent stainless steel oxidation and ensure the corrosion resistance of parts.
Case: After customizing equipment, a certain enterprise increased the density of stainless steel parts to 99.5%, increased production efficiency by 40%, and reduced costs by 25%.
Manufacturing of titanium alloy parts
Requirement: The aerospace industry requires complex shaped titanium alloy parts (such as turbine blades, brackets) that need to be sintered at 1600 ℃ and controlled for grain growth.
Customized solution:
Secondary combustion technology: promoting grain growth in the 1600 ℃ high-temperature zone, combined with lithium compensation devices to reduce lithium volatilization and improve ion conductivity.
Vacuum environment: Mechanical pump+molecular pump combined vacuum pumping (≤ 10 ⁻⁴ Pa) to prevent oxidation of titanium alloy.
Case: After a certain aviation enterprise customized equipment, the tensile strength of titanium alloy parts was increased to 1200MPa, and the fatigue life was extended by 50%.
Hard alloy manufacturing
Requirement: Cutting tools and mining tools require high hardness (HRA ≥ 92) and wear-resistant materials, and tungsten carbide cobalt powder needs to be sintered at 1450 ℃~1550 ℃.
Customized solution:
Intelligent temperature control system: PID algorithm controls temperature fluctuations within ± 1 ℃ to avoid material cracking caused by local overheating.
Rapid cooling technology: Water cooling+nitrogen purging system achieves a cooling rate of 100 ℃/min to suppress excessive grain growth.
Case: After a certain cutting tool enterprise customized equipment, the service life of hard alloy cutting tools increased by three times, and the processing efficiency increased by 20%.

2. Ceramic Powder Sintering: Performance Optimization and Structural Control
Preparation of zirconia ceramics
Requirement: Dental implants and cutting tools require high strength (flexural strength ≥ 1000MPa) and toughness, and zirconia powder needs to be sintered at 1400 ℃~1500 ℃.
Customized solution:
Gradient heating curve: room temperature → 500 ℃ (degreasing) → 1400 ℃ (sintering) → room temperature (slow cooling), with independent temperature control at each stage to avoid cracking caused by thermal stress.
Atmosphere circulation system: argon environment prevents oxidation, and tail gas treatment system recovers lithium vapor.
Case: After a medical enterprise customized equipment, the success rate of zirconia implants increased to 99%, and the recovery period of patients was shortened by 30%.
Silicon nitride ceramic sintering
Requirement: Aerospace bearings require high heat resistance (operating temperature ≥ 1200 ℃) and low thermal expansion coefficient (α ≤ 3 × 10 ⁻⁶/℃), and silicon nitride powder needs to be sintered at 1700 ℃~1800 ℃.
Customized solution:
High temperature refractory material and sealing design: The furnace adopts high-purity alumina fiber modules, matched with double-layer water-cooled flange seals, to ensure nitrogen purity ≥ 99.9%.
Pressure loading system: Integrated hydraulic device (pressure range 0~10MPa) to promote the tight bonding of silicon nitride particles.
Case: After a certain research institute customized equipment, the heat resistance of silicon nitride bearings was improved by 200 ℃, and the service life was extended by three times.

3. Composite material sintering: interface optimization and performance improvement
Metal based composite materials (MMCs)
Requirement: Automotive lightweighting requires high-strength (tensile strength ≥ 800MPa) and low-density (ρ≤ 3g/cm ³) materials, and aluminum based/silicon carbide composite materials need to be sintered at 600 ℃~800 ℃.
Customized solution:
Programmable temperature control system: supports more than 30 temperature rise curves, achieves stable temperature control of ± 1 ℃, and avoids excessive interface reactions.
Vacuum environment integration: Mechanical pump+molecular pump composite vacuum pumping (≤ 10 ⁻⁴ Pa) to prevent aluminum oxidation.
Case: After customizing equipment, a certain car company reduced the weight of composite parts by 40% and improved fuel efficiency by 15%.
Ceramic based composite materials (CMCs)
Requirement: The hot end components of aircraft engines need to be resistant to high temperatures (operating temperature ≥ 1500 ℃) and have oxidation resistance. Silicon carbide fiber-reinforced silicon carbide matrix composites need to be sintered at 1600 ℃~1700 ℃.
Customized solution:
High temperature refractory material and sealing design: The furnace adopts silicon carbide fiber modules, matched with double-layer water-cooled flange seals, to ensure argon purity ≥ 99.9%.
Secondary combustion technology: promoting grain growth in the 1700 ℃ high-temperature zone, combined with lithium compensation devices to reduce lithium volatilization.
Case: After a certain aviation enterprise customized equipment, the temperature resistance of CMC components was improved by 300 ℃, and the service life was extended by 5 times.

4. Recycling of Waste Powder: Resource Recycling and Cost Optimization
Recycling of waste hard alloys
Requirement: Waste cutting tools need to be pyrolyzed at 1000 ℃~1200 ℃ to remove organic matter and recover valuable metals such as cobalt and tungsten.
Customized solution:
Modular furnace design: can quickly replace furnace linings of different materials to meet various waste disposal needs.
Exhaust gas treatment system: cyclone dust removal+wet desulfurization device, ensuring that the dioxin emission concentration is less than 0.1ng-TEQ/m ³.
Case: After a recycling enterprise customized equipment, the purity of waste treatment was increased to 99.5%, the valuable metal recovery rate was greater than 95%, and the annual profit increased by 18 million yuan.