Vacuum heat treatment and high pressure gas quenching - aspects in distortion control

This technical article reviews high pressure gas quenching technique using different quenching processes for improvement of part quality, cost and mechanical properties. Gas quenching represents an environmental friendly alternative to commonly used atmospheric oil quenching. ECM has developed innovative quenching processes for quality and performance improvement on finished parts in the automotive and gear industry. The goal is to reduce the level of distortion as well as the increase of mechanical properties. Industrial applications will be shown with detailed data. Explanations will be given on improvements and manufacturing process cost savings. These processes could be directly applied to existing processes for global cost reduction and quality improvement or for future products which need increased performance and higher levels of quality.