During the heating process, heat transfer is a complex phenomenon. There are three fundamental modes of heat transfer: conduction, convection, and radiation.
Conduction refers to the transfer of thermal energy within a body or between bodies in direct contact when there is no relative movement of material points. In liquids and non-conductive materials, heat transfer occurs through elastic waves; in metals, it relies on the movement of free electrons; in gases, it mainly occurs through diffusion and collisions of atoms or molecules.
Convection refers to heat transfer caused by the relative movement of fluid. Heat exchange that occurs when fluid flows over the surface of another object is called convective heat transfer. This includes conduction in the boundary layer near the surface and convection outside the layer. Convection caused by differences in temperature and density within the fluid is called “natural convection,” while the heat transfer between fluid and surface is called “natural convective heat transfer.” Convection caused by external mechanical forces is called “forced convection,” with heat transfer between fluid and surface referred to as “forced convective heat transfer.”
Radiation is the process of heat transfer through electromagnetic waves. Radiation not only transfers energy but also converts energy from thermal energy to radiative energy, which, when absorbed, is converted back into heat.
Box-type atmosphere furnaces are suitable for industrial enterprises, universities, research institutes, and laboratories for sintering various new material samples under vacuum or controlled atmospheres. They are used for chemical analysis, physical measurements, sintering and melting of metals and ceramics, as well as heating, baking, drying, and heat treatment of small steel parts.
Atmosphere furnaces are advanced experimental devices, suitable for diffusion welding of metals, nanomaterials, single-crystal and polycrystalline silicon, batteries, and heat treatment under vacuum or controlled atmospheres. They are mainly used for material experiments, synthesis, and sintering. The furnace body has excellent insulation and significant energy-saving performance. Atmosphere furnaces can also be used for vacuum hot-press sintering of composite materials, powder materials, structural ceramics, and alloys.