Vacuum Carburizing Furnace for Gear Manufacturing
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Project Overview

Empowering European Gear Manufacturing through Vacuum Carburizing

Lakshmi Vacuum Technologies delivered a fully integrated Low Pressure Vacuum Carburizing Furnace (LPCF series) with 15-bar gas quenching to a leading Bulgarian gear manufacturer, enabling cleaner, distortion-free heat treatment for high-performance gears.

Client Background

Based in Bulgaria, the client supplies critical transmission gears to Tier-1 automotive and industrial OEMs in the EU. They needed to replace atmosphere carburizing and oil quenching with a modern, green, distortion-controlled heat treatment process.

58–62

Surface HRC

35–45

Core HRC

0.8–1.2

Case Depth (mm)

Minimal

Distortion

Technical Challenge

Deep Case Uniformity

Uniform deep case depth with precise carbon control across complex gear geometries

Zero Oxidation / IGO-Free

Eliminating intergranular oxidation and surface contamination completely

Low Distortion

Achieving dimensional stability without traditional oil quenching methods

EU Compliance

Full compliance with EU safety, environmental, and CE certification norms

Solution Delivered

Lakshmi Vacuum delivered a custom LPCF furnace system with 15-bar High Pressure Gas Quenching (HPGQ), SCADA automation, and full process flexibility for medium alloy steels like 16MnCr5 and 20MnCr5.

Chamber Horizontal, Cold-Wall, Double-Shell SS
Heating Graphite Elements, Multizone
Vacuum Level Up to 10⁻⁵ mbar
Carburizing Acetylene/Propane Pulse ~10–13 mbar
Quenching 15 bar N₂/He, Internal Blower
Cooling Internal Exchanger + Centrifugal Fan
Control PLC-SCADA + Recipe Management
Case Depth Up to 1.5 mm Programmable

Metallurgical Results

Joint validation trials on 20MnCr5 gear blanks (120 mm dia × 30 mm):

60±1
Surface HRC
38–42
Core HRC
1.0
Case Depth (mm)
<0.1
Ovality (mm)
Zero
Oxidation
We were impressed by the consistency of hardness and the absence of oxidation — even in blind bores. The gas quenching delivered distortion control far superior to oil. It has transformed our approach to gear hardening.
Production Head, Gear Facility, Bulgaria

Customer Impact

  • <±0.05 mm case depth variation across batches
  • No need for shot blasting or cleaning post-process
  • Energy savings with electric heating + N₂ quenching
  • CE compliant and EU certified furnace system
  • Remote diagnostics + SCADA logging built-in

Long-Term Benefits

Clean ProcessNo oil, no smoke — fully eco-friendly operation

FlexibilityTreats various steel grades with programmable recipes

Cost SavingsLower rework, reduced scrap, lower energy consumption

AutonomyClient runs 3 LPC recipes independently

Reliability>97% uptime maintained over 3 years

Why Lakshmi Vacuum?

  • One of India's few 15-bar HPGQ furnace OEMs
  • Integrated LPC + HPGQ with full SCADA
  • In-house process metallurgy and hands-on training
  • CE-certified for global deployment

Conclusion

Lakshmi Vacuum's advanced LPCF platform empowered the client to transition from conventional oil quenching to modern gas quenching with complete process control. The result: cleaner, safer, and more precise gear heat treatment meeting European OEM standards.

Vacuum Carburizing 15-Bar Gas Quench LPCF Series 10⁻⁵ mbar Vacuum 20MnCr5 CE Certified IGO-Free >97% Uptime Vacuum Carburizing 15-Bar Gas Quench LPCF Series 10⁻⁵ mbar Vacuum 20MnCr5 CE Certified IGO-Free >97% Uptime

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