Furnace Lab

The equipment and accessories for sample preparation includes balances, an MBraun glove box for handling sensitive materials, a 25 ton press and press dies of various sizes, an LPG burner and H2/O2 torch, a TIG welder for ampoule sealing and several mills for mixing and milling powders with various containers.

The gas distribution system supplies Ar, N2, H2 and O2 and gas cylinders with CO2, CO, D2 and H2/Ar are available. Rotary vane, scroll and turbomolecular pumps offer the possibilities for heat treatments from UHV to low vacuum up to 1000°C using quartz tubes. Tube furnaces can be used with flowing gases up to 1500°C and the various chamber or crucible furnaces can be used in air atmosphere up to 1750°C. Heat treatments in Ar or N2 can be performed up to 2300°C in the graphite furnace.

Induction and arc furnaces are used to melt samples weighing from 2 to 20 grams. Two 25 kW induction furnaces are available for high (500 kHz) and medium (80 kHz) frequency ranges that are rated up to 1500°C. The arc furnaces can be used for melting alloys with higher melting points and also offer the possibility of splat quenching to form amorphous alloys.

The preparation of samples for microstructural characterizations is done using a mounting press (Pneumet II, Buehler), automated precision cutter (IsoMet High Speed Pro, Buehler) equipped with different blades and an automated grinding and polishing equipment (Tegramin 20, Struers). Electrochemical etching can be performed (LectroPol-5, Struers) for reproducible etching of polished surfaces.

For more information, contact Pedro Berastegui

List of selected equipment in the furnace lab

Crucible and Chamber Furnaces

  • 5 x MTI VBF-1200X
  • 3 x WATLOW
  • Thermal Technology 1000-3560-FP20
  • Entech Vecstar MRF2
  • Entech MF 4/16
  • Entech ECF 20/18
  • Carbolite CWF13/5
  • Heraeus MRF2
  • Kanthat RHT2
  • Binder E28

Tube Furnaces

  • Entech ETF 40/15-S
  • 3 x Heraeus RE1.1
  • Thermolyne F79330-33-70
  • Carbolite GHA 12/750
  • 4 x WATLOW

Induction Furnace

  • Phillips MC250AP
  • MTI SP25-A

Arc Furnaces

  • Centorr BJ
  • UU
Last modified: 2021-06-02
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