Sunday 18 December 2011

Holiday Wishes from AVS Inc.

At this joyous time of year, the entire AVS family extends our warmest holiday wishes to all of our past, present and future customers. Enjoy sharing this special time with your families and friends and may you have a New Year of health, happiness and prosperity.

Thursday 15 December 2011

Toll Furnace Capabilities

AVS offers toll furnace runs or R&D test services to our customers developing new materials or new process development using one of three on-site furnaces. AVS customers often use AVS toll furnaces to prove out a new process or product before purchasing a furnace. Other AVS customers purchase furnace toll runs to supplement small capacity overruns or to maintain some production capacity while their furnace is down for service or maintenance.

• The HIP furnace has a 6? diameter x 12? tall graphite hot zone for temperatures up to 2300°C, vacuum in the millitorr range and/or HIP pressure up to 1500 psig (100 bar). This furnace can be run with many gas types, including nitrogen below 1900°C, or with argon, helium or hydrogen at various pressures.

• The Lab furnace has a 12? diameter x 24? tall graphite hot zone for temperatures up to 1600°C, vacuum in the 10-5 torr range, and flowing or static nitrogen or argon atmospheres up to 760 torr.

• AVS has a Bell-Style (Hetherington) furnace with a 10? diameter x 20? tall molybdenum hot zone for temperatures up to 1600°C, vacuum to the low millitorr range, and flowing or static gases, nitrogen, argon, wet hydrogen or dry hydrogen atmospheres up to 760 torr.

Monday 21 November 2011

Industries and Applications

AVS furnaces are used for numerous industries and applications. Our customers may be in the medical, aerospace, body and vehicle armor, metallurgical, machine tools, mining and electronics industries. AVS furnaces are used in the production of ceramics, graphite and purified graphite, tungsten carbide, quartz, metal matrix and fiber composites. AVS furnaces have been used for vapor deposition, diffusion bonding, crystal growing, metal casting, directional solidification, densification and vacuum brazing.

Thursday 17 November 2011

Lifetime Support for ACE™

With customer-provided high speed broadband internet access and a fixed IP address, remote access to the ACE™ Control System is available to the customer for anytime access from a desktop, laptop, or smart media device to check the status of the furnace. In addition to data recording, the ACE™ Control System monitors all PLC signals to provide alarms or alerts for safety interlock controls or for scheduled preventative maintenance alerts. The same internet access along with a licensed copy of Microsoft Outlook, enables the ACE™ Control System to also send remote alerts, alarms and notifications via TEXT or E-Mail. Also where electricity consumption is tightly regulated, the ACE™ “SMART” Energy Management System has the ability to limit furnace power consumption using either a static, recipe programmable maximum kW draw, or with customer-provided signal, a dynamic maximum kW draw based on power / demand values.

Monday 31 October 2011

AVS at Termotech 2011 wrap-up


AVS, Inc. recently participatedin the TERMOTECH 2011 exhibition in Sao Paulo, Brazil.The event, hosted in the Sao Paulo Exposition Center,was focused on Tubing, Piping, Valves, Steel, Wire & Cable, as well as relevant Manufacturing Equipment. AVS exhibited as part of the Industrial Heating pavilion, along with other furnace manufacturers from the USA and China.

Being the only American manufacturer of Vacuum and Pressure Furnaces at the event, AVS received plenty of attention. A highlight of the exhibition was the 60 persons who signed up attend the AVS presentation on De-bind / Sinter / Hip furnace technology for hard metal manufacture. Overall, AVS generated numerous promising leads and contacts among attendees of this high profile Brazilian exhibition.

Monday 24 October 2011

ACE™ Data Acquisition and Control System

Customer specifications drive the performance of every AVS furnace. The AVS ACE™ Data Acquisition and Control System allows easy, understandable recipe creation and management. Using Wonderware as the Graphic User Interface, each ACE™ Control System has a custom-configured graphic display, unique to each furnace, and is custom programmed to allow the customer complete recipe control of their most critical process parameters. Continuous data recording of all digital signals allows an AVS customer to chart and record the most important data together in custom combinations for meaningful review of key parameter correlations. Continuous data recording also enables quick access to the run history of the furnace for reference or even live side-by-side comparison of the current run to a benchmark run.

Friday 14 October 2011

AVS Support

AVS not only supplies furnaces throughout the world, but also offers ongoing technical support to our many customers. An AVS furnace with the ACE™ Data Acquisition and Control System includes lifetime technical support via telephone and internet access via a customer-provided fixed IP address for remote control diagnostics and furnace troubleshooting. AVS also offers on-site furnace inspection, furnace repair, furnace rebuilds, furnace refurbishment, and furnace upgrade installation services. All AVS furnace customers have access to aftermarket replacement parts, spare parts and maintenance services to keep their furnaces up and running. On-site controls upgrades and on-site training are also available.

Sunday 9 October 2011

AVS Code Compliance

To provide custom furnaces throughout the world, AVS maintains code certifications to manufacture pressure vessels to ASME Section VIII div I, PED (European pressure equipment directive), Japanese code, Chinese code, Russian code, and will qualify for others if necessary. AVS adherence to ASME codes allows AVS the confidence to offer the only standard 5 year chamber warranty in the industry. Our furnaces are built for complete safety during operation to meet OSHA, UL, CSA or European CE standards. Every furnace is fully tested and customer-approved at AVS prior to shipment. After installation at the customer site, each furnace is fully tested a second time on-site for final customer approval and commissioning.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

What AVS Provides

The variety of AVS furnace equipment includes front-loading horizontal furnaces, top-loading, bottom-loading or bell-style vertical furnaces, vacuum furnaces, vacuum drying ovens, hot press furnaces, autoclaves, sinter HIP furnaces, CVD furnaces, CVI furnaces, Hetherington furnaces, vacuum brazing furnaces, zinc reclaim furnaces and semi-continuous furnace systems. AVS will often customize the arrangement of furnace components to accommodate customers who have limited floor space or overhead clearance in their facilities. AVS also fabricates and provides support equipment to be used in conjunction with furnace systems, including load cart systems, work racks, muffle boxes, retorts, work boxes, hydrogen burn-off systems, scrubber systems, gas control cabinets and gas controls, vacuum pump systems, gas recovery systems, overhead cranes, automatic material transfer, automatic loading and part handling systems.

Thursday 29 September 2011

AVS Capabilities

AVS fabrication capabilities can accommodate furnaces ranging in size from 4” diameter mini furnaces to hot zones 12 feet across and larger. AVS has in-house capabilities to fabricate graphite hot zones or metal hot zones including stainless steel, nichrome, inconel, molybdenum or tungsten. AVS manufactures furnaces for applications involving combinations of high temperatures to 3000°C, high vacuum to 10-6 torr, and gas pressures up to 3000 psig (200 bar). AVS hot presses have ranged from 5 tons to more than 2000 tons of hydraulic force. AVS furnaces are used for processes such as debind, MIM, vacuum sinter, pressure sinter, HIP, CIP, vacuum brazing, diffusion bonding, hydrogen burn-off, reducing, nitriding, induction melting, annealing, gas quench, hot press and vapor deposition. AVS stands alone, willing to build custom furnaces that enable customers to combine several processes for the most advanced, customer confidential applications.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

AVS

For over 40 years, AVS has been a vertically integrated manufacturer of custom vacuum furnaces and pressure furnaces. In-house capabilities include furnace design, engineering, ASME certified welding, controls engineering, design, and complete integration of complex fully customized furnace systems. AVS supplies total furnace solutions. Whether heated by resistance or induction, AVS furnace specifications originate with the customer. To build the right custom furnace, AVS uses the customer’s intimate process knowledge to determine the ideal performance criteria. The customer specifies all size, weight, temperature, uniformity, vacuum, pressure, and gas atmosphere requirements.

Friday 26 August 2011

Welcome to AVS Inc.



AVS, Inc.

60 Fitchburg Road
Ayer, Massachusetts 01432 USA

Tel: (978) 772-0710 or
(800) 272-0710 USA & Canada

Fax: (978) 772-6462

E-mail: sales@avsinc.com

Inquiries
For MapQuest directions to our facility please click below.