The Flat Bed Infrared Furnace

The flat bed furnace is an 88kW furnace that uses a planar array of 36 tungsten-halogen quartz lamps. The main body of the flat bed is made from polished, water-cooled stainless steel plate (a self-cleaning ceramic reflector version is also available). This construction maximizes the amount of infrared light radiating downward, normal to the lamp array, while minimizing the amount of heat absorbed by the furnace body. In the case of the ceramic reflector, it is highly reflective and the absorbed energy is reradiated at longer wavelengths. In the case of a drop bottom batch arrangement, a second half of the furnace is under the lamp array which is essentially a stainless steel box, lined with fire brick. The box is used to load specimens into the furnace. The work piece size is not limited to the dimensions of the specimen box, as Figure 1 demonstrates. The shown tempering run was accomplished in an effort to eliminate the utilization of slat baths to temper out the back three inches of material; this is where the shank is machined in.

Figure 1. Photograph of the Flat Bed Infrared Furnace unidirectionally tempering, a 682-kg die block.

Back