vacuum metallurgy

vacuum metallurgy

Vacuum metallurgy

The making, shaping, and treating of metals, alloys, and intermetallic and refractory metal compounds in a gaseous environment where the composition and partial pressures of the various components of the gas phase are carefully controlled. In many instances, this environment is a vacuum ranging from subatmospheric to ultrahigh vacuum (less than 760 torr or 101 kilopascals to 10^-12 torr or 10^-10 pascal). In other cases, reactive gases are deliberately added to the environment to produce the desired reactions, such as in reactive evaporation and sputtering processes and chemical vapor depositon. The processes in vacuum metallurgy involve liquid/solid, vapor/solid, and vapor/liquid/solid transitions. In addition, they include testing of metals in controlled environments.

There are three basic reasons for vacuum processing of metals: elimination of contamination from the processing environment, reduction of the level of impurities in the product, and deposition with a minimum of impurities. Contamination from the processing environment includes the container for the metal and the gas phase surrounding the metal. In the vacuum process, impurities, particularly oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, and carbon, are released from the molten metal and pumped away; and metals, alloys, and compounds are deposited with a minimum of entrained impurities. There are numerous and varied application areas for vacuum metallurgy including special areas of extractive metallurgy, melting processes, casting of shaped products, degassing of molten steel, heat treatment, surface treatment, vapor deposition, space processing, and joining processes. See Arc welding, Steel manufacture