Application of a device used for observation of controlled thermal processes in a furnace

This paper describes an appliance that allows to visually observe phenomena occurring in the studied materials during heating, from room temperature to 600 °C. The design criteria and device construction are described in details. The device allows for visual observation of physical phenomena of various material types, e.g., organic matter, polymers, and even observation of sintering mechanisms. Analysis of lubricant evaporation from powder metals (an aluminum alloy) in different atmospheres is shown. The featured device can also be used for interpretation of material defects. This is presented on the example of heating the aluminum alloy in an atmosphere containing oxygen (to simulate a furnace leakage). In addition, the influence of experimental atmosphere on melting and sintering processes is demonstrated. Another application of the presented device can be the visual observation of differences between combustion and pyrolysis processes. Our results show that the presented device is complementary with an advanced thermoanalysis apparatus which, in turn, does not allow visual observation of samples.