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Vacuum Heat Treating

Solar Atmospheres specializes in vacuum heat treating , vacuum brazing and now offers vacuum carburizing and vacuum nitriding services. With processing expertise and responsive service,... Read More »

Contact

Sending work? Complete the Work Order Form to ensure proper handling! Solar offers around the clock, seven day availability to serve you. Answering questions and consultation are integral to... Read More »

About Solar Atmospheres, A Commercial Heat Treating Company

Unsurpassed quality and capacity for the vacuum heat treating and brazing of metal parts Solar Atmospheres, is a commercial heat treating company that, as an industry leader, delivers... Read More »

Vacuum Furnace Services

Vacuum furnace services, technical expertise, equipment, and quality assurance Whether you know the process you need or are looking for the right way to achieve specific qualities with your... Read More »

Furnace Capabilities

Our sister company, Solar Manufacturing knows vacuum heat treating inside and out. Our founder, engineers and metallurgists bring decades of processing expertise to the design side of the business... Read More »

Corporate Quality Policy

The Corporate Quality Policy of Solar Atmospheres is to provide vacuum thermal processing services of the highest possible quality. We continuously improve our processes and systems and operate in... Read More »

Plants

Solar Atmospheres, Inc. has three locations in the United States. Both sites in Pennsylvania offer large furnace capacity and advanced ten bar quenching. One is located in Souderton,... Read More »

Media

With decades of experience treating metals, Solar Atmospheres is a company full of knowledge and experience on vacuum heat treating. Solar prides itself on the value of providing our... Read More »

Search Solar Atmospheres

Vacuum Heat Treating Services

Solar’s extensive and flexible capabilities include over 40 furnaces for vacuum heat treating services Solar Atmospheres is the largest commercial vacuum heat treating services company... Read More »

Vacuum Brazing Services

Quality Vacuum Brazing & Responsive Service Vacuum brazing services consist of metal joining processes used to permanently join metal parts. The vacuum brazing services process... Read More »

Low Pressure Vacuum Carburizing Services (LPVC)

Vacuum Carburizing Processing Advantages The type of vacuum carburizing services Solar Atmospheres specializes in is Low Pressure Vacuum Carburizing, also known as LPVC, which is a heat treat... Read More »

Vacuum Nitriding Services

Excellent Vacuum Nitriding Surface Hardening Services & Improved Metallurgical Characteristics to Extend Part Wear Life Vacuum nitriding provides excellent surface hardening and improves... Read More »

Glossary

Heat Treating Glossary Age Hardening: The hardening of a material via precipitation from solid solution of coherent transitional phases which produce a strain in the atomic lattice. Alloy:... Read More »

Mission Statement

Adding significant value to our customer’s operations The mission of Solar Atmospheres is to add significant value to our customer’s operations by thermally treating parts,... Read More »

Experience

Quality heat treating and responsive service Through our foundational strengths—processing skills, furnace engineering knowledge, metallurgical consultation, and commitment to... Read More »

Corporate Leadership

William R. Jones - CEO is Solar Atmospheres’ founder and owner, and a pioneer in our industry. A graduate of Penn State with a degree in electrical technology, Bill has more than 40... Read More »

Technical Paper Downloads

Solar Atmospheres Inc. takes pride in being not only a well respected commercial heat treat company, but also an innovator in furnace design, process development, and research related to... Read More »

Quote

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Terms of Sale

1. General All QUOTATIONS are provided in accordance with these TERMS OF SALE. All ORDERS by BUYER are subject to acceptance by Solar Atmospheres, Inc. (SELLER). Acceptance... Read More »

Solar Manufacturing

About Solar Manufacturing Inc. Solar Manufacturing vacuum heat treating and brazing furnaces are designed to be the most energy efficient, cost effective, highest performing and... Read More »

Site Map

Company History

Solar Atmospheres was founded in 1983 by our Chief Executive Officer, William R. Jones. Having previously founded Vacuum Furnace Systems, a manufacturer of vacuum furnace equipment in 1978,... Read More »

Ask the Expert

Fill out this form and a vacuum services expert will get back to you as soon as possible. Read More »

GEAE

Rolls Royce

Pratt & Whitney

Lockheed Martin

Northrop Grumman

NADCAP - Heat Treating Services

AS9100/ISO9001

ISO 9001

NADCAP - NonDestructive Testing

NADCAP

Markets Served

Aerospace Castings Drawn Parts Fasteners Heat Exchangers Job Shop Medical OEM Stampings Tube & Pipe Automotive Defense... Read More »

Testimonials

“I would like to commend Mike Drakeley for his tremendous help in establishing our vacuum brazing process for the NASA / Lockheed Martin Orion Manned Space Flight program.”... Read More »

R&D Work

Universities Case Western Reserve University Drexel University Indiana University John Hopkins University Kansas State University Lehigh University... Read More »

California

California Plant Contact Information 8606 Live Oak Ave. Fontana, CA 92335 Toll Free: 866.559.5994 Fax: 909.854.0545 Email: info@solaratm-ca.com West Coast Vacuum Heat Treating Market... Read More »

Souderton, Eastern PA

Souderton Plant Contact Information 1969 Clearview Road Souderton, PA 18964 800.347.3236 Overview Solar Atmospheres, Inc. was built in Souderton, PA in 1984. This plant is the... Read More »

Hermitage, Western PA

Hermitage Plant Contact Information 30 Industrial Road Hermitage, PA 16148 866.982.0660 Overview In 2000, Solar Atmospheres Inc strategically decided to start a new facility... Read More »

Diffusion Bonding Services

Diffusion bonding services are joining processes that involves atomic movement between metal parts that are intimate contact, forming a strong metallurgical bond. Diffusion bonding services... Read More »

Metallurgical Testing Services

Solar Atmospheres operates a metallurgical testing services laboratory with highly capable analytical instrumentation. For example, Solar’s vacuum carburizing and vacuum nitriding... Read More »

Fluorescent Penetrant Inspection Services

Nondestructive testing (NDT) is a highly valuable technique that allows a qualified inspector to evaluate a part without causing damage to that component. Fluorescent Penetrant inspection... Read More »

R&D Metallurgical Engineering Services

Having a full-fledged R&D Metallurgical Engineering Services department is highly unusual for a commercial heat treating company, and is a great value-added asset for both Solar... Read More »

Customer Approvals

The following is a partial list of major aerospace customers for which Solar Atmospheres is an approved supplier: Plant Approvals Nadcap, Heat Treating Nadcap,... Read More »

Quality Management System

Solar Atmospheres serves a variety of markets, and our Quality System must comply with several Quality System Standards. Most of our customers rely on the basic Quality System components of... Read More »

Policies

Technical Videos

An Overview of Solar Atmospheres Watch this short video overview of Solar Atmospheres vacuum processing capabilities. 36 Foot Furnace Timelapse... Read More »

Spotlight

2011 Spotlights May 2011 Issue New Personnel Oxinitriding Hermitage Receives SHARP Accreditation... Read More »

News & Press Releases

Keep up-to-date with the latest progress and developments at Solar Atmospheres. Visit breaking news below and sign up for the Solar Spotlight Newsletter . Members of... Read More »

Technical Paper Downloads

Events

Request for Quote

Send your Feedback

Want to share your experience working with Solar Atmospheres? Fill out the form below, we would love to hear from you. Read More »

Associations

ASM International is Everything Material®. We are the society dedicated to serving the materials science and engineering profession. Through our network of 36,000 members worldwide,... Read More »

Metal Heat Treatment Services of Raw Materials

Metal Heat Treatment Services of Raw Materials Overivew Solar Atmospheres continues to branch out and find new metal processing innovations for our Metal Heat Treatment Services . This now... Read More »

Cryogenic Processing Services

In physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature (typically below −238°F) and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. In the thermal processing... Read More »

Annealing Services

Annealing services are heat treating processes where a material’s mechanical properties are changed, lowering its strength and hardness. Annealing is used to induce ductility, soften a... Read More »

Ion Nitriding Services

Overview of Ion Nitriding Services Ion nitriding is a form of case hardening that increases the surface hardness of materials to a pre-desired depth, measured from the exposed surface inward... Read More »

Gas Nitriding Services

Gas nitriding services is a surface treatment process whereby nascent nitrogen (N) is diffused into the surface of steel parts in a heat treating furnace. The effect is enriched nitrogen... Read More »

Steam Treating

Overview Steam treating is not a new process; it has been around for a very long time. It is a process that adds a protective oxide finish to alloy steels that would normally rust in... Read More »

Materials Testing

Hardness Testing

Hardness Testing is a measurement technique. It is performed to determine a material’s resistance to plastic (permanent) deformation, and is useful in realizing a material’s... Read More »

Helium Leak Testing Services

Helium Leak Testing Services As a vacuum heat treater, Solar Atmospheres is ever cognizant of the integrity of its vacuum chambers. As a routine, a “leak-up” is performed... Read More »

Metallurgical Analysis

HDH Processing Services

The Solar Atmospheres Research and Development Team successfully developed hydriding production cycles which provide a metal hydride from recyclable metal parts. A separate dehydriding process for... Read More »

Sintering Services

Sintering is a heating process that bonds adjacent particles in a powder mass to increase strength and density. High temperature vacuum sintering services are performed at elevated... Read More »

Degassing Services

Solar Atmospheres has been offering degassing servies for metals for over 25 years in our vacuum furnaces. The vacuum degassing servies process removes contaminant gasses, such as hydrogen,... Read More »

Metal Processing and Chemical Conversion Services

Solar Atmospheres continues to branch out and find new metal processing innovations for our Vacuum Heat Treating Services. This now includes metal processing basic raw materials such as metal... Read More »

Capabilities

Features and Capabilities Solar Atmospheres of California has a 24 foot vacuum furnace (SF 81), 2 bar quench, with a load capacity of 75,000 lbs. Another furnace will be a vacuum... Read More »

Personnel

Derek Dennis – President, Solar Atmospheres of California joined Solar Atmospheres in the summer of 2008 to develop the start-up of Solar’s newest vacuum heat treating facility in... Read More »

Certifications

Quality Certifications The company is currently working on their NADCAP, ISO9001 and AS9100 certifications. Read More »

Capabilities

Static Cooling Vacuum Furnaces Furnace # Hot Zone Dimensions Max Temperature Max Load (lbs) Location HT-32 6" dia. X 10" high... Read More »

Personnel

William R. Jones - CEO is Solar Atmospheres’ founder and owner, and a pioneer in our industry. A graduate of Penn State with a degree in electrical technology, Bill has more than 30 years... Read More »

Certifications

Capabilities

Static Cooling Vacuum Furnaces Furnace # Hot Zone Dimensions Max Temperature Max Load (lbs) Location HT-52 24" wide X 30" high X... Read More »

Personnel

Robert Hill - President, Solar Atmosphere s of Western PA has over 30 years of metallurgical experience involving a wide range of heat treating methodologies. During the past ten years Bob has... Read More »

Contest Rules

Solar Atmospheres Annual Survey Drawing Official Rules ELIGIBILITY: Open to individuals who are at least 18 years of age, and were customers of Solar Atmosphers in 2011. Employees of Solar... Read More »

Certifications

Personnel

Research & Development Department Personnel Virginia M. Osterman - PhD., Technical Consultant Dr. Osterman earned her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from Northeastern... Read More »

Events

News

Vacuum Brazing

Vacuum brazing, one of the strongest bonding methods available for metal joining, results in a bright, clean assembly. Solar Atmospheres | BRAZING combines one of the most effective bonding... Read More »

Vacuum Furnaces

Largest commercial vacuum furnaces in the world Solar Atmospheres is comprised of over 40 vacuum furnaces making it the largest independent commercial vacuum furnace heat treating company... Read More »

Research and Development

R&D at your fingertips For over the 25 years, Solar Atmospheres has acquired some of the most knowledgeable individuals in the industry. The technical expertise at Solar Atmospheres is... Read More »

State-of-the-Art Facilities

Clean, Lean and Environmentally Friendly Solar Atmospheres modern and environmentally friendly facilities include state of the art vacuum furnaces with advanced electronic data collection and... Read More »

Specialized Services

Vacuum Heat Treating Services

Vacuum Brazing

Vacuum Carburizing

Nitriding

Metal Stress Relieving Services

In the process of manufacturing metal parts, a certain amount of stress will inevitably be induced into the part. Stress can be caused by machining, welding, cold working, hot rolling, cutting,... Read More »

Sikorsky

Click here to download the Sikorsky approval document. Read More »

Williams International

Links

Geotechnical Engineering and Foundation Reports Our 27 years of geotechnical engineering experience helps our clients avoid cost overruns and a host of other problems. Tiltup.com - Tilt-up... Read More »

Titanium White Paper by Robert Hill, Jr.

Bob Hill, President, Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, presented his views on what he consideres the most revolutionary leaps in the history of aerospace manufacturing. By designing the 787... Read More »

map-test

Sending work? Complete the Work Order From to ensure proper handling! Solar offers around the clock, seven day availability to serve you. Answering questions and consultation are integral to... Read More »

Howmet Castings

Aircraft Braking Systems

GE Nuclear

Lord

AMS-2759/3 Heat Treatment Precipitation Hard Corr. AMS-2759/4 Heat Treatment Austentic Corr. AMS-H-6875 Heat Treatment Steel AMS-H-81200 Heat Treatment Titanium MIL-H-6875 Heat Treatment Steel... Read More »

Gear Solutions

Quality Gears...Start With Quality Heat Treating Low-pressure vacuum carburizing from Solar Atmospheres offers the following benefits for your gears: minimized... Read More »

Visitor's Guide

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Visitor's Guide

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Visitor's Guide

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Solar Honors Employees and Family who Serve

Careers

The mission of the Solar Atmosphere family of companies is to add significant value to our customer’s operations. We are proud to say that our employees are one of the main... Read More »

Gear Technology

Quality Gears...Start With Quality Heat Treating Low-pressure vacuum carburizing from Solar Atmospheres offers the following benefits for your gears: minimized... Read More »

Vacuum Furnace Brazing Large Segments of Heat Exchanger For Nuclear Fusion Reactor

Charles F. Burns Jr., Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , January 1990 Five large heat exchanger segments for an experimental power reactor (Tokamak) for Princeton Plasma Physics have... Read More »

Austempering at Conventional Sintering Temperatures

William R. Jones, Solar Atmospheres, Inc. Kenneth H. Moyer, Magna-Tech P/M Labs,... Read More »

High-Pressure Gas Cooling: the Case for Hydrogen

Hydrogen’s cooling power makes it an attractive higher performance alternative to nitrogen as a quenching gas, particularly in light of escalating price of helium. However, safety... Read More »

Vacuum Brazing: A Three in One Process that Provides Efficiency

Charles F. Burns Jr. and Robert Lacock, Solar Atmospheres October 1996 Different metal joining processes each have advantages and applications for which they are best suited. An often... Read More »

Brazing of Electric Power Interrupters in Vacuum Furnace Specially Designed for the Process

William R. Jones, David Rinz and Real Fradette, Vacuum Furnace Systems Corporation, August 1994 - Four vacuum furnaces, specially designed by engineers of Vacuum Furnace Systems Corp, Souderton PA... Read More »

Carburizing for Our Troops

Dr. Virginia M. Osterman and Trevor M. Jones, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , May 2006 - Supporting our troops in times of war requires sacrifice, perseverance and innovation. The... Read More »

Conserving Electric Power Part I

William R. Jones, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , November 2002 This article is in part on “An Engineer’s View on how to conserve $ and electric power”, presented at the... Read More »

Conserving Electric Power Part II

William R. Jones, Solar Atmospheres ; Industrial Heating , March 2003 Examining electric power consumption in a heat treatment facility can be a challenge, especially when it is undertaken in an... Read More »

Whether or Not to Use Cryogenic Treatment

Don Jordan, Solar Atmospheres - Claims for the benefits of cryogenic treatment abound. Research also abounds, but with differing conclusions. Yet, results have proven helpful, even... Read More »

Critical Melting Points and Reference Data for Vacuum Heat Treating

This work is an update of the original reference compilation by Charles F. Burns, Jr., Copyright 1997. The current booklet contains revisions to the original work as well as numerous additions.... Read More »

Development Experience in Low-Torr Range Vacuum Carburizing

Virginia M. Osterman, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , September 2005 Vacuum carburizing has become one of the hottest topics in the heat treat industry and the development of low-torr... Read More »

Energy Dominates in Job Costing

A. Bruce Craven, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , February 1996 Job costing can sometimes be a tedious task, however, it is a necessity if a business is to understand its true costs and... Read More »

Explosive Nature of Hydrogen in Partial-Pressure Vacuum

Trevor Jones, Solar Atmospheres; Heat Treating Progress , January 2009 Despite the widespread commercial use of hydrogen, not all of the flammability limits of the gas are known.... Read More »

Calculating the Gas Flow Rate for Vacuum Carburization

Harry W. Antes, Consultant-Solar Atmospheres; Heat Treating Progress , August 2005 A proposed technique of determining the actual required flow rate of the carburizing gas into a furnace to... Read More »

High-Velocity Gas Flow Seen as Key to Rapid Quench

William R. Jones, Vacuum Furnace Systems Corp; Heat treating September 1985 Both theoretical calculations and experience indicate that high-velocity gas flow resulting in gas turbulence within... Read More »

Adding High Velocity to High Pressure Gas Quenching

Robert Hill, Jr. Solar Atmospheres of Western PA; Gear Technology , March 2005 When gas quenching, the minimizing of heat treat distortion is gears may be a matter of high pressure and high... Read More »

Heat Transfer and Insulation in Vacuum Furnaces

Harry W. Antes, Consultant, Solar Atmospheres; Heat Treating Progress , November 2006 Heat transfer calculations are important in furnace design. Computers can make the work easy, but... Read More »

High Gas Velocity: A New Frontier of Cooling Performance in Vacuum Furnaces

Robert Hill Jr., Solar Atmospheres of Western PA; Industrial Heating , March 2004 Because there are diminishing returns in cooling capacity by simply increasing quench-gas pressure, increasing... Read More »

High Pressure Gas Quenching Typical Oil Hardening Grades of Steel

Robert Hill Jr., Phillip DeHennis, Solar Atmospheres - High pressure gas quenching has been identified as one of the most important advancements in recent developments of heat treating... Read More »

Hot Zone Contamination

William R. Jones, Vacuum Furnace Systems Corp.; Heat Treating January 1989 This sixth article in our series on vacuum heat treating examines contamination of the normally high-purity vacuum... Read More »

Vacuum Heat Treating for M2 High Speed and D2 Tool Steels

William R. Jones, Solar Atmospheres,; Proceeding of ASM Heat Treating Conference, Cincinnati Ohio, March 1996 - A series of large cross section D2 and M2 tool steels have been obtained and cross... Read More »

The Advantages of Ion Nitriding Gears

Robert Lamont, Jr., Atch-Mont Gear Inc & A. Bruce Craven, Solar Atmospheres; Gear Technology, November 1996 - Ion Nitriding gears has the potential to eliminate the need for expensive... Read More »

Ion Nitriding Principles and Applications

A. Bruce Craven, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating, May 1989 - Ion nitriding is a case hardening process that has been in existence in Europe for many years. In the U.S., no attempt was... Read More »

Operating Experience with a New Reactive Ion Plating Unit for TiN Coating

During 1986, a physical vapor deposition titanium nitride reactive ion plating unit, the first of its kind shipped to the U.S., was put in to operation. It was designed for electron beam... Read More »

No Hydrogen Embrittlement with Low Pressure Gas Carburizing

Donald Jordan and Trevor Jones, Solar Atmospheres; Heat TreatingProgress , March 2009 Results of study of steel carburized at low pressure using a vacuum furnace show no evidence of hydrogen... Read More »

Vacuum Pressure Quenching of Oil-Hardenable Materials

Bob Hill, Jr., Solar Atmospheres - High pressure gas quenching has been identified as an important advancement in heat treating technology. While an abundance of docume ntation... Read More »

Partial Pressure Vacuum Processing – Part I

William R. Jones, Solar Atmospheres ; Industrial Heating , September 1997 This article is based on a presentation at the Furnaces North America ’96 Conference, sponsored by Industrial... Read More »

Partial Pressure Vacuum Processing – Part II: Applications

Roger A. Jones, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , September 1997 This article is based on a presentation at the Furnaces North America ’96 Conference, held in Dearborn, MI, September... Read More »

Power Factor Costs: How are They Affecting the Bottom Line?

Bruce A. Ruhf and Matt Lydon, Magnetic Specialties; Industrial Heating , March 1999 This article discusses the concept of power factor and introduces a number of considerations for improving the... Read More »

Reconditioning Ceramic Insulators

Trevor Jones, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , November 2008 Furnace insulators are designed to electrically and thermally insulate. When they become coated with metals and carbon... Read More »

Utilization of Vacuum Technology in the Processing of Refractory Metal, Titanium and their Alloys for Powder Applications

Virginia M. Osterman, Solar Atmospheres; Industrial Heating , May 2008 Increased usage of refractory metals, titanium and their alloys in the aerospace and electronics industries has led to the... Read More »