Vacuum Smelting

Vacuum Smelting

 

the smelting of metals and alloys under reduced pressure, most often from 10-1 to 10-4 newtons per sq m (10-3 to 10-6 mm Hg). This process permits the efficient removal from the metal of gases (nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen), admixtures of nonferrous metals, and nonmetallic impurities; it is used successfully in the production of metals for particularly critical products. The smelting is performed in electric vacuum furnaces. Vacuum smelting of metals and alloys was adopted by the metallurgical industry in the early 1950’s. Hundreds of thousands of tons of high-grade steels, alloys, and pure metals are smelted annually in the USSR by means of this process.