Thin Film, an operational unit of Sulzer Metco, Germany, has opened its new diamondlike carbon (DLC) Coating Center in Germany. The 3000 m2 production area includes six coating systems that provide state-of-the-art DLC coatings. They offer low friction, wear and corrosion protection, and hardness, as well as optimal starved-lubrication conditions that meet the growing demands for CO2 reduction and reduced fuel consumption.

Picodeon Ltd., Finland, has developed ColdAb (cold ablation) ultra-short pulsed laser deposition technology (US PLD) for the application of gold and platinum thin films, enabling thinner films and thereby reducing precious metal costs. The new process produces thin films down to the nanoscale, with excellent quality at production rates exceeding technologies such as sputtering.

ASB Industries, Barberton, Ohio, reports that its 2000-2 Portable High Pressure Cold Spray system is being used by GE Aerospace for 3D printing of aerospace components. GE chose this system because it is capable of producing contamination-free and oxide-free dense coatings with high bond strength, processing a wide range of high purity materials, and controlling process parameters to build reproducible and homogenous coatings.

Ruukki Metals, Helsinki, has signed a contract to deliver 9000 metric tons of steel coated with Galfan zinc-aluminum alloy to the Spanish company CIE Egana. The material will be used to manufacture the support arms for the parabolic reflectors in a new thermosolar plant to be built in Morocco. The plant will have an output of 125 megawatts, making it one of the largest in the world, and the first to be built in Morocco.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, Germany, announces that it has collaborated with several partners to develop a laser metal deposition process that builds up local layers on forming dies, increasing lifetime by over 150%. Researchers rebuilt a conventional five-axis milling machine so that it could be used to alloy forming dies automatically via laser.

Seco-Warwick Corp., Meadville, Pa., has commissioned an advanced furnace design that provides improved durability for stainless steel heat treating. This vacuum furnace is equipped with a 15-bar gas quenching system and a full HMI data retrieval control package. Its Super Expanite process improves the hardness and corrosion resistance of stainless steel.

Element Materials Technology, Huntington Beach, Calif., reports that it plans to substantially increase its aerospace testing capacity by expanding laboratory facilities by 70% and adding a third shift. The new facility will enable the laboratory to further grow its stress rupture and creep testing departments, and will house over 300 test frames, more than double its current number. The new building is to have its own dedicated machine shop to improve efficiency.

With demand from the Aerospace Primes and their supply chain partners continuing to increase, Element Huntington Beach has leased a 20,000 sq ft property adjacent to its existing 30,000 sq ft site. It has also launched a third shift on weekdays and now offers services 24 hours a day, five days a week, with an additional shift on both Saturday and Sunday.

According to Colin Speedie, VP U.S. Operations, “The aerospace market is extremely buoyant at the moment, and we are anticipating it will strengthen yet further in 2014. In response to this, we have moved quickly to offer a 24-hour laboratory service. We are already seeking to double the size of the third shift in 2014.”

Read the complete release.

Spirit AeroSystems Inc., Wichita,  Kan., and Norsk Titanium Components AS, Norway, have reached a significant milestone in a multi-year collaboration for direct metal deposition technology. They developed an additive manufacturing technology that enables titanium components to be built up close to the final shape using titanium feedstock instead of a large titanium block. The process reduces waste, uses less energy, and is significantly faster.

An international group of researchers, headed by Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has shown that graphene has a heat dissipating effect on silicon-based electronics. Graphene, a single layer of carbon atoms, is a very good heat conductor, ten times better than copper. Graphene has been shown to reduce temperatures in devices such as processors by up to 13 Celsius degrees, which not only improves energy efficiency, but also extends the working life of devices.

The Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,  has launched its Institute for Materials (IMat), the newest of Georgia Tech’s nine Interdisciplinary Research Institutes. It results from an investment of nearly $10 million that Georgia Tech has committed through 2018 to establish an interdisciplinary materials innovation ecosystem. IMat will play a leadership role in accelerating materials discovery, development, and application.

U.S. Chrome, Stratford, Conn., announces that it will scale up commercial production of its family of TriCom electroplating technologies. TriCom-H is based on a composite microstructure of a cobalt-phosphorus alloy matrix with uniformly dispersed fine silicon carbide particles. Offering extremely high hardness and high wear resistance, it represents a drop-in replacement for hard chrome, without environmental drawbacks.