A thermal distortion arrestor includes a body having a base and a plurality of positioning lugs that extend from a first face of the base. A related door assembly and method of installing a thermal distortion arrestor in a door assembly are also disclosed.

A system for supporting castings during thermal treatments, such as solution heat treatment, quenching and aging, that includes a tray defining a horizontal base plane and having a plurality of tray openings therethrough, and a fixture extending over one or more of the tray openings. The fixture is formed by a plurality of support plates oriented vertically with lower portions extending across the tray opening and top edges extending above the tray opening with shaped profiles along the lengths thereof. The plurality of support plates form an open lattice having a plurality of top edges that together define an open support surface that is substantially complementary with an underside surface of a casting and configured to loosely support the casting atop the lattice and align the casting in space above the tray opening.

A method and apparatus for treating a workpiece such as a mold grid includes moving the workpiece laterally along a conveyor assembly into a furnace for heating in a carbon-rich atmosphere to form a heated workpiece. The heated workpiece is then received from the furnace onto the conveyor assembly in an enclosed vestibule whereupon it is clamped under pressure between an overhead mechanical press and the conveyor assembly to form a clamped assembly. The clamped assembly, including a portion of the conveyor, is then lowered into a quenching bath via an elevator assembly until the heated workpiece is quenched, whereupon the clamped assembly is raised out of the bath and the clamping force released. This clamping during quenching acts to maintain the workpiece in a planar orientation while reducing warpage during the quenching process.

According to certain aspects, a wrapped green body carrier for a green body includes side supports and moveable supports mounted to the side supports. Each of the moveable supports includes an inner end configured to move relative to the side supports. The green body carrier includes a flexible sheet attached to and suspended from each inner end of the moveable supports. The inner ends of the moveable supports are configured to move inward to wrap the flexible sheet around at least a portion of the green body (e.g., more than 180). Accordingly, the wrapped green body carrier supports a large circumference of the green body and accommodates large deviations in shape and/or diameter. In certain embodiments, the flexible sheet includes radiation coupling material or radiation blocking material so that wrapping the flexible sheet around the green body improves uniformity during microwave drying.