Tip-Up Furnaces are often used for heat Treatment of large castings,  forgings, wrought bars, Ingots or billets for heavy industry. These furnaces are sometimes called Clam-shell Furnaces.

The Heat Treatment processes performed in these furnaces include:

• Hardening with Quench
• Ageing or Precipitation Hardening
• Annealing or Stress Relieving
• Forging Preheating

CEC has built Tip-Up Furnaces that handle loads of up to 50,000 lbs (22,727 Kg) and operate to 2150°F (1180°C). CEC has excellent refractory designs for the large peripheral seal and the piers which carry the heavy load.

These Furnaces can be proportionally heated or pulse fired with various fuel gases. Alternatively the furnace can be electrically heated.The top section of the furnace is Hydraulically raised by a full length torsion tube that ensures repeatable opening without lid distortion.

After heat treatment the load is automatically transferred from the furnace to the water, polymer or air quench; typically within 30-35 seconds. Alternatively the load can be transferred to a cool station or forge. The transfer of the load from the furnace is achieved with a highly complex and mechanical Manipulator which is seen in the picture above.The manipulator is hydraulically or mechanically driven. CEC manipulators are the state of the art for heavy industry and allow reliable and accurate processing of a broad array of part sizes and geometric conditions.

CEC is a world leader in quenching design for Tip-Up, Clam-Shell and similar furnaces. CEC has over 5000 in-house sponsored tests on castings, forgings and similar wrought or extruded materials. The tests measure heat treatment and quenching variations along with resultant Tensile, Yield and Hardness results for various alloys. CEC can perform actual Quench tests on some applications to support your quality goals. Our engineers can also create an array of CFD parameters that are often accurate at estimating heat transfer rates, cooling across a part and potential residual stress problems. On several alloys CEC developed air quenching machines that remove quench induced residual stress.

Please call today and learn why great companies like: Mercedes, Northrup Gruman, Brush Wellman and Boeing call CEC to design a custom or standardized Tip-Up or Quenching system for their stringent demands. Related pages include: Foundry Systems & Automotive.