High Pressure Heat Treatment

High Pressure Heat Treatment (HPHTᵀᴹ) is the term used by Quintus for heat treatment in combination with steered heating and HIP processing. The steered cooling capability in Quintus equipment allows heat treatment directly after the densification steps.

Uniform Rapid Cooling, URC®, is a Quintus invention which enables uniform cooling of the payload. Forced convection of high temperature and high pressure gas over a heat sink enables controllable cooling of the gas. URC® is used for metals as well as ceramic materials, to increase productivity and heat treat parts.

Uniform Rapid Quenching, URQ®, is a Quintus invention which enables high speed quenching of the payload, at similar cooling rates to gas quenching. Cold gas in the HIP is exchanged with the hot gas in the furnace at a very high rate, effectively quenching the payload in a uniform way with minimal induced stress.

Quintus has developed routines to ensure a clean atmosphere during the HIP cycle, leading to lower risk of oxidation during processing compared with traditional methods. This technology is new, and will revolutionise clean processing inside the HIP.

HPHTᵀᴹ utilises convection of the HIP pressure medium over cold surfaces inside the HIP vessel. These cold surfaces are made possible through cooling due to the design of the Quintus equipment. The flow of gas can be controlled and directed allowing you to steer cooling at a specific rate. Quintus URC® and URQ® technologies are key in making this possible.

All manner of materials can be heat treated with solutionizing steps in the HIP. Aging can also be performed on hardenable alloys to bring strength up with pore-free microstructures. Ceramic materials such as silicon nitride can also benefit from much higher cooling rates than previously possible. Both of these are helped by the pressure inside the vessel.