Solar Atmospheres begins installation of advanced titanium drop bottom furnace in Pennsylvania

Solar Atmospheres, Hermitage, Pennsylvania announced the start of installation for a new titanium drop bottom water quench furnace at its Western PA facility. The furnace is engineered for high-performance heat treatment of titanium components, with a maximum operating temperature of 1850°F ±10°F.

Designed to process loads up to 7,500 pounds, the furnace chamber measures 14 feet in length, 54 inches in width, and 48 inches in height. Workloads will be rapidly transferred into a 7,000-gallon recirculated water quench tank within seconds, ensuring uniform metallurgical properties critical to aerospace and industrial specifications.

The installation represents a strategic investment in expanding the company’s titanium solution treating capabilities. Solar Atmospheres stated that the project reinforces its commitment to delivering precision thermal processing solutions tailored to customer demands in high-performance sectors.

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One Minute Mentor : Phase Transformations in Numerical Simulation

Heat treatment of tool steels means several phase transformations. Every phase transformation must be described by start amount, end amount, and kinetics (change of phases depending on temperature and time). Start and end amount can be calculated with different thermodynamic software. For example, Thermocalc is well validated for tool steels. The most common method for determining the transformation kinetics of main phases (e.g. ferrite, austenite, martensite, bainite) is to use dilatometric investigations. TTT (time-temperature-transformation) diagrams obtained from dilatometer measurements can be easily implemented in HTS software. An example is shown in the figure. 

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 14. R Schneider; R. Mesquita; W Schützenhöfer, Distortion in Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014  https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005980

One Minute Mentor: Distortion of High-Speed Steels

High-speed steels show a typical distortion behavior depending on the heat treatment parameters. The figure shows the change in length of cylindrical bars (diameter = 20 mm, or 0.8 in.) and length = 140 mm, or5.5 in.), with rolling direction longitudinal to the sample) for various heat treatment conditions with austenitizing, salt bath quenching, and double tempering.

Quenching and tempering up to 500 °C (930 °F) results only in very small changes in length (either growth or shrinking). Higher tempering temperatures lead to a transformation of the retained austenite into martensite and a corresponding growth in length. For typical tempering temperature of 560 °C (1040 °F) changes in length of about 0.2% take place. Additional alloying with Co (5%) leads to slightly higher changes in length. The effect of an additional third tempering shifts the curve slightly to the left, whereas oil quenching leads to a slight reduction of the change in length.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 9. R Schneider; R. Mesquita; W Schützenhöfer, Distortion in Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014  https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005980

Beymetal Alüminyum rethinks innovation to improve Aluminum extrusion

Nitrex, Quebec, announced a collaboration with Beymetal Alüminyum, a leading player in the aluminum extrusion industry based in Türkiye, to modernize their nitriding capabilities.

In its commitment to excellence and pursuit of progress, Beymetal partnered with Nitrex to improve efficiency and scalability in their in-house nitriding operations. The installation of a Nitrex batch-type nitriding/nitrocarburizing furnace has unlocked new possibilities in process efficiency and production capacity for Beymetal.

The NX-1015 furnace model, with a 2,000 kg (4,400 lb.) capacity, is equipped with Nitreg® controlled nitriding and Nitreg®-C controlled nitrocarburizing technologies. These are specifically tailored for treating extrusion dies for aluminum profiles used in architectural applications. This advanced system ensures precise control over uniform case depths and nitride/nitrocarburizing layer formation, enhancing the mechanical properties of the extrusion dies. The result is a longer service life and increased output per die, ultimately lowering overall tooling costs for Beymetal. Additionally, the new installation contributes to more efficient use of production media and reduces electricity consumption.

“This Nitrex system is the first of its kind in Izmir and adds to our impressive record of over 30 installations across Türkiye. When discussing our partnership with Beymetal, it wasn’t solely about implementing a turnkey system but rather about fostering a relationship founded on trust and shared goals. Through a deep understanding of our customer’s needs, Nitrex delivered a solution tailored to their unique aspirations while also ensuring efficiency and sustainability,” noted Utku Inan, Nitrex sales representative in Türkiye.

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Harper Furnace Technology enables high performance silicon anodes

Harper Furnace Technology, Buffalo, NY, announced the development of high temperature thermal process solutions to enable production at several silicon anode battery material companies in 2024. Silicon anode material offers significantly higher specific capacity than traditional graphite anode materials enabling higher power density, faster charge times and smaller carbon footprint than current batteries. 

 

Harper has entered engineering design and equipment supply contracts for pilot and production scale equipment with its USA-based customers, many of whom are funded in part by grants from the U.S. Department of Energy. The Harper technology includes indirect electrically heated, continuous rotary, vertical and horizontal conveyor furnace systems for each customer’s unique thermochemical processes. The Harper furnaces include tight control of the process atmosphere enabling safe and reliable continuous operation, are rated for temperatures between 800˚C and 1,800˚C and will have capacity up to 1,000 metric tons per year. Beyond the pilot-scale equipment projects, Harper is actively engineering the next generation of equipment solutions for these customers whose commercial scale plants will require capacity of 20,000 – 40,000 metric tons per year for the electric vehicle (EV) market.

 

https://www.harperintl.com/app/uploads/2024/02/Silicon-Anodes-Press-Release-February-2024.pdf

Quintus Technologies supplies high pressure Flexform press to airframe manufacturer

Quintus Technologies, Vasteras, Sweden, announced that they will supply a high pressure fluid cell press to France’s LAUAK Group, a Tier 1 supplier to the aerospace industry. The press will be installed at the LAUAK Aerostructures factory in Grandola, Portugal, in September 2023. 

Reaffirming its continued commitment to productivity enhancement, LAUAK selected the Quintus model QFC 0.7×1.8-800 press with high pressure technology to bolster its manufacturing efficiency. “The forming press is undoubtedly at the heart of sheet metal production,” says Mikel Charritton, LAUAK Group Managing Director. “Especially in the context of the current aerospace ramp-up, in particular the A320, A350, and B737 programs, LAUAK’s capital equipment investments are strongly influenced by the imperatives of competitiveness. This press significantly increases and secures our production capacity.” Quintus’s proprietary hydroforming process requires only one rigid tool half, an innovation that not only generates significant tool cost savings but also eliminates several forming operations, intermediate heat treatments, and operator dependencies. 

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Constellium joins EPA’s Energy Star program as an industrial partner

Constellium, Paris,  announced that they are participating in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Energy Star program as an Industrial Partner.

The Energy Star program is a voluntary initiative that helps businesses protect the environment by promoting energy-efficient products, homes, buildings and manufacturing plants, as well as save on energy costs. As an Industrial Partner, Constellium will work closely with the EPA to identify and implement energy-saving strategies and technologies across its manufacturing operations in the United States.

Constellium has already taken significant steps to reduce its energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. The company has set a target to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 vs 2021, and reports its results annually in its sustainability report. 

https://www.constellium.com/news/constellium-joins-epas-energy-star-r-program-as-an-industrial-partner

One Minute Mentor: Salt Bath Nitrocarburizing

Salt bath nitrocarburizing is usually performed at temperatures between 560 and 580 °C (1040 to 1075 °F) in cyanate- and carbonate-containing salts with traces of cyanides and furnaces similar to those used for the nitrocarburizing of mechanical compounds. These conditions fit well with the usual tempering temperatures of hot-work tool steels, which form the main field of application of salt bath nitrocarburizing in tooling with treatment times of 15 min to 2 h.

 To guarantee a good reproducible nitriding performance, the cyanate content must be kept at approximately 35% to achieve a full ε-nitride compound layer, which today is usually done by adding a regenerator. The advantages of salt bath nitrocarburizing can be found in the very homogeneous temperature distribution, the fast formation of thick compound layers that give good tribological and corrosion properties, its high flexibility, and he fact that it does not require that any special attention be given to passivation effects. Extrusion dies are regularly treated several times during use to restore the nitride layer at areas of heavy wear.

More recently special salt compositions were developed for lower nitrocarburizing temperatures, which are essential for cold-work tool steels that do have lower tempering temperatures.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 21

R Schneider ; R. Mesquita ; H. Altena ; T. Müller ; P. Seemann,Processes and Furnace Equipment for Heat Treating of Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005958