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Solar Atmospheres presents vacuum furnace to ASM teaching facility

Solar Atmospheres Inc., Souderton, Pa., has donated a new vacuum furnace to ASM Intl. for its teaching lab. The $250,000 lab-sized furnace, dedicated in an official ribbon-cutting ceremony at ASM headquarters in Materials Park, Ohio, is a gift to commemorate ASM's 100th anniversary.

Roger Jones, corporate president of Solar Atmospheres, and several other company representatives attended the celebration, which was a part of ASM's Annual Chapter Leadership Days and the ASM Materials Education Foundation’s Eisenman Materials Camp.

As part of the 2013 Materials Camp, attending students were the first to work with the vacuum furnace, which they used to learn about failure analysis.

The horizontal, internal quenching furnace has a hot zone that measures 12 by 12 by 18 in. and can operate to 2,400 degrees F. The hearth accepts a load of 250 lbs. Students will use it to perform a variety of tests and experiments relating to vacuum heat treating, brazing, and sintering processes.