Racking system for use in continuous sintering furnaces
An assembly for carrying parts to be sintered through a sintering furnace includes a boat formed of a refractory metal or metal alloy and including a base and, sidewalls, and a plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles disposed within the boat, each of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles sized to carry a plurality of the parts to be sintered through the sintering furnace.
1. An assembly for carrying parts to be sintered through a sintering furnace comprising:
a boat formed of a refractory metal or metal alloy and including a base and sidewalls; and
a plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles disposed within the boat, each of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles sized to carry a plurality of the parts to be sintered through the sintering furnace, a lowermost of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles having a greater mechanical strength than an uppermost of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
2. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles are foamed ceramic tiles.
3. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles are fiberboard ceramic tiles.
4. The assembly of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles have a density of less than 3.5 g/cm 3 .
5. The assembly of claim 4 , wherein the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles have a density of less than 2.0 g/cm 3 .
6. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising standoffs disposed between and maintaining vertical separation between adjacent ones of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
7. The assembly of claim 6 , wherein the standoffs comprise ceramic.
8. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a boat lid formed of one of a refractory metal or refractory metal alloy.
9. The assembly of claim 8 , wherein the boat lid includes a plurality of apertures.
10. The assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a top cap formed of one of a refractory metal, a metal alloy, or of a ceramic material.
11. The assembly of claim 10 , wherein the top cap is configured to be supported by standoffs disposed on an uppermost ceramic tile disposed within the boat.
12. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the refractory metal is molybdenum.
13. The assembly of claim 12 , wherein the refractory metal is lanthanated molybdenum (MoLa).
14. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sidewalls include a plurality of apertures.
15. The assembly of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of apertures are uniformly spaced on the sidewalls.
16. The assembly of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of apertures are distributed non-uniformly on the sidewalls to adjust the radiant energy and gas flow to the parts.
17. The assembly of claim 14 , further comprising one or more slots defined in lower portions of the sidewalls.
18. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles each include a plurality of recesses configured to retain the plurality of parts to be sintered.
19. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sidewalls include slots through which the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles may be accessed for loading and removal from the boat.
20. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the lowermost of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles has one of a greater thickness or a greater density than the uppermost of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
21. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein a lowermost of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles has a same thickness as an uppermost of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
22. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles includes at least three vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
23. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles carry a same number of the plurality of the parts to be sintered.
24. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles carries a different number of the plurality of the parts to be sintered than another of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
25. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the number of the plurality of parts to be sintered are oriented in a same position on each of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
26. The assembly of claim 1 , wherein the number of the plurality of parts to be sintered are oriented in a different position on one of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles than on another of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles.
27. A method of sintering parts, the method comprising:
mounting a plurality of the parts within a carrier including:
a boat formed of a refractory metal or metal alloy and including a base and sidewalls, the sidewalls include a plurality of apertures distributed non-uniformly on the sidewalls to adjust the radiant energy and gas flow to the parts; and
a plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles disposed within the boat, each of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles sized to carry a plurality of parts to be sintered through the sintering furnace; and
passing the carrier through a sintering furnace heated to a temperature sufficient to sinter the parts.
28. The method of claim 27 , further comprising forming the plurality of parts to be sintered by compactifying one or more powdered materials.
29. The method of claim 27 , further comprising forming the plurality of parts to be sintered by metal injection molding.
30. The method of claim 27 , further comprising forming the plurality of parts to be sintered by additive manufacturing.
31. A method of retrofitting a sintering system, the method comprising:
replacing carriers used to transport parts to be sintered through the sintering furnace with carriers including:
a boat formed of a refractory metal or metal alloy and including a base and sidewalls;
a plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles disposed within the boat, each of the plurality of vertically stacked ceramic tiles sized to carry a plurality of parts to be sintered through the sintering furnace; and
a top cap formed of one of a refractory metal or a metal alloy, the top cap configured to be supported by standoffs disposed on an uppermost ceramic tile disposed within the boat.