Execution of Firing Tests

Fraunhofer-Center HTL’s pilot plant facilities include various furnaces for the heat treatment of oxide and non-oxide ceramics as well as metals. The following processes can be carried out in different atmospheres and optimized in close cooperation with the customer: Debinding, pyrolysis, graphitization, melt infiltration particularly with silicon and sintering. Various furnaces are connected to a thermal afterburner, making it possible to carry out processes that produce large volumes of condensates. In addition to test-firing, quality assurance can be performed on all samples and components before and after firing using computerized tomography, mechanical characterization, density measurements etc. to document any possible changes or damages to the material (see Material testing).

• Carrying out the test and on-demand firing according to customer specifications up to a maximum temperature of 2400 °C in defined atmospheres, such as vacuum, inert gas, hydrogen, and air or in gas burner atmosphere or air up to 1800 °C:
• Furnace volumes up to 385 litres; suitable for manufacturing large individual components or small-scale series
• Maximum size of components: 800 x 800 x 600 mm³
• Optimization of heat treatment processes, such as debinding and sintering, graphitization and melt infiltration
• Process control and process reliability through PLC, visual monitoring and measurement of the composition of the furnace atmosphere
• Process documentation and final inspection of components according to the customer’s request