FURNACES

Understanding the properties of materials at very high temperatures is of vital concern to the power generation, aerospace, and automotive industries. Our standard range of furnaces covers temperatures up to +1600 °C in air, with engineered solutions available to cater for height and width variants.

A wide range of grips, pull rods and extensometers are available to provide the complete solution to your high temperature testing requirements.

Special furnace equipment related to particular applications such as ceramics is also shown in Section 2, Application-Specific Accessories.

These three zone resistance wire-wound furnaces are of split construction to facilitate fast and easy loading of a pre-assembled specimen train. The case is constructed from stainless steel with aluminium and hardened insulation board end plates. The optional front cutout allows the use of side entry high-temperature extensometry. Adjustable stainless steel latches keep the furnace halves locked together during use, but are then easily opened once testing is complete. The furnace is available with optional heavy duty brackets or mountings, which attach to a wide range of testing systems. An extensive range of standard controllers is available to suit most test regimes. Custom variants can be specified should the standard range not include a suitable unit.

Principle of Operation

The resistance wire is wound on to recrystallized alumina tube in three independent zones to form the furnace element. This three-zone format allows the user to tailor the furnace temperature gradient, creating a uniform central zone. High performance ceramic fiber insulation is used to reduce heat losses and provide fast heating rates. The specimen is heated through a combination of convection and radiation, dependent on the test temperature. The furnace bore has been optimized to suit a wide range of test fixturing without encouraging excessive thermal losses. Type K thermocouples are provided as standard, but any other configuration is available on request.

Application Range

• Types of loading: Creep, stress rupture, hot tensile, LCF, fracture mechanics

• Specimen material: High-temperature metal alloys

• Specimen types: Threaded or shoulder-end round and flat specimens

• Type of materials: Tissue, bones, ligaments, prosthetics, sutures