heat treatment
Aalberts surface technologies Kalisz
surface technology and heat treatment in Kalisz
Aalberts surface technologies in Kalisz, Poland, is your expert in advanced thermal and thermo-chemical vacuum heat treatments, specializing in vacuum brazing and case hardening. Using modern plant technology and specially developed processes, we enhance the surface and mechanical properties of your components for long-lasting performance.
about our location in Kalisz
The Kalisz plant was established in 2017. Our target markets are power, aerospace as well as the mechanical engineering industry. We are located in the central of Poland, at Industrial Park and are very proud that we’ve created a successful, well-known and profitable business.
We are committed to delivering the highest quality of services, not only in the field of heat treatment of your components but also to the way we engage our customers. By working in close collaboration we are able to tailor our processes to the specific requirements, ensuring personalized and effective solutions.
With our procedures finely tuned to the aerospace industry, combined with in-depth heat treatment expertise, improved efficiency and disciplined capital allocation in new equipment, we are developing this long-term production program with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe.
overview of our heat treatment services in Kalisz
Precipitation hardening
The precipitation hardening process is used for mainly non-ferrous steels and austenitic steels that do not show allotropic transformations. This process consists of solution heat treatment and aging.
Hardening
The process of thorough hardening consists of a combination of hardening and high tempering.
We have the following technologies:
– in a vacuum atmosphere with gas quenching (max 25 bar abs)
High tempering processes are carried out in an air or nitrogen atmosphere.
We can distinguish typical, gradual, isothermal, surface finish hardening. Depending on the type of hardening, the steel microstructure is martensite or bainite.
Annealing
The annealing process involves heating the material to a predetermined temperature, soaking at this temperature and slow cooling under a protective atmosphere or in air. Depending on the process parameters, we can distinguish between homogenizing, complete, normalizing, spheroidizing, recrystallizing and stress relieving annealing.
In the scope of annealing, we offer annealing with:
– slow cool in air atmosphere
– slow cool under vacuum
– slow or forced cool under nitrogen or argon
Tempering
Tempering is a heat treatment process consisting in heating the previously hardened steel to a certain temperature, withstanding and slow air cooling. The purpose of tempering is to remove the stresses created during hardening, to change the physical properties and, above all, to increase impact resistance at the expense of reduced hardness.
We can distinguish three types of tempering:
– Low tempering at 150-250 °C,applied in order to reduce hardening stresses. It does not significantly influence hardness reduction.
– Average tempering at 250-450 °C, applied in order to provide significant strength and elasticity while maintaining sufficient resilience and ductility.
– High tempering at 450-Ac1, applied in order to significantly reduce hardness and obtain good flexural properties.
Vacuum (low pressure) carburizing or also called LPC – (derived from English words “Low Pressure Carburizing”), is an alternative technology to traditional gas (atmospheric) carburizing. Thus, it is a thermo-chemical treatment consisting in heating steel parts to temperatures usually in the range of 900 – 1000 °C and heating them in a carburizing atmosphere. The purpose of carburizing is to enrich the surface layer with carbon and, consequently, increase its hardness and abrasion resistance while maintaining malleable core. Immediately after carburizing, hardening and tempering are most often performed, however, unlike traditional carburizing, this process offers several advantages due to the use of specific carrier gases—such as acetylene (C₂H₂)—and the environment in which it is conducted—a vacuum furnace.
We can include:
– No oxidation at the grain boundaries (No IGO)
– Narrower range of CHD carburizing layer tolerance – smaller scatter of results
– Stability and repeatability of results
– Accurate carburizing of narrow holes, including blind holes
– Minimization of quenching deformations – resulting from the use of gas as a quenching agent
– Increasing the production efficiency by enabling processes to be conducted at temperatures exceeding traditional levels, specifically at 980 °C and higher.
– Clean surface of details (silver metallic finish), with no scale
– Environmentally friendly – no CO2 emissions
We offer vacuum carburizing with gas quenching (N2) with a maximum overpressure of 25 bar abs and tempering.
The process involves combining elements using a brazing material. The prepared components, coated with the brazing material, are placed in a vacuum furnace and heated to the brazing temperature (ranging from 900 to 1200 °C), exceeding the liquidus temperature. They are held at this temperature for a short duration (approximately 10 minutes) before undergoing slow cooling to the solidus temperature. Throughout the process, it is essential to maintain the appropriate level of vacuum. Brazing in a vacuum furnace can also occur in a protective atmosphere, most commonly using argon.
Additionally, we perform the following:
- Vacuum brazing of nickel and cobalt alloys
- Vacuum brazing of honeycombs
One of the most important elements in the heat treatment process is washing before and after the process. At Aalberts Surface Technologies, we understand this importance. That’s why we have two high-performance chamber units dedicated to parts cleaning.
Castor is our high-performance hydrocarbon cleaner designed for cleaning components after heat treatment. It is characterized by excellent degreasing and washing features, which play a crucial role in the subsequent production steps, affecting the quality of the finished product surface.
This process is used to ensure wettability of surfaces during the brazing process of materials containing aluminum and titanium particles:
- The sandblasting method, using a sandblast machine with a suitable nickel powder.
- The “nickel flashing” method as per AMS 2451, which involves applying a layer of nickel to the selected surface of the component.
This process involves assessing the visual continuity of brazing using the naked eye or devices such as borescopes and endoscopes. Additionally, the surface of the brazing cover can be inspected using X-ray and ultrasonic techniques.
The process that ensures proper assembly of elements before brazing. Methods used for assembly:
- Spot welding
- Tack welding
- Ball tack welding
We have modern laboratory equipment enabling the implementation of:
– Sample preparation, including mounting and polishing
– Hardness measurement by the methods of Vickers, Rockwell, Brinell
– Measurement of microhardness with measurement of the hardened layer CHD and NHT
– Microstructure analysis
– Analysis of the chemical composition of the material using a spectrometer
We offer laboratory services as part of the heat treatment technology services and on individual orders.
our commitment to quality
As a leading commercial heat treatment company, we place a strong emphasis on quality and advanced process technology. Thus, we work closely with our customers to ensure that our production is always tailored to their specific needs. Existing processes and applications are optimized, and new possibilities are continuously developed to meet evolving demands.
Leveraging the experience of our specialists and the capabilities our own in-house material analysis laboratory, we develop optimal solutions for each customer.
Our state-of-the-art plant technologies enable us to implement such solutions, whether for individual components or large-scale production runs.
We avail of many years of experience in dealing with the high demands of the automotive, power aerospace and mechanical industries, consistently delivering exceptional results.
our quality system
We are a company open to new IT solutions, to streamlining all processes within the organization. Planning and control of production are managed using the latest ERP system technology, which allows us to ensure Just-in-Time deliveries to our customers.
The continuously developed a fully Integrated Management System for Quality in compliance with:
- EN 9100 (technically equivalent to AS9100D)
- NADCAP accreditation for heat treatment and brazing allows effective management across areas of the company and accelerates our constant improvement process.
We are fully engaged in delivering safe products and services that minimize environmental impact while maintaining high energy efficiency, all in full compliance with our customers’ requirements.
Our management strategy is based on three fundamentals:
- Customer Orientation: Understanding customer needs and continuously assessing their satisfaction.
- Process and Resource Management: Ensuring optimal utilization of our resources and processes.
- Continuous Improvement: Regular analysis of production results and performance indicators to drive ongoing enhancements.
We leverage numerous tools within the Lean Manufacturing philosophy, such as the 5S standard, the Kaizen system, TPM, work standardization and the Six Sigma methodology. These tools are applied both during the design phase (DFSS) and in process optimization (DMAIC).
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our inhouse processes
“Being “best in class” is not about our core technologies, but about our flexibility with which we service our customers and the way we are able to integrate our processes in their supply chain.”
industries we serve
contact & directions
Aalberts Surface Technologies Heat Sp. z o.o.
ul. Inwestorska 7
