The Elmet Group Co., Portland, Maine, has agreed to acquire ams OSRAM’s tungsten and molybdenum operations in Schwabmünchen, Germany, establishing its first EU production footprint for refractory metal components.
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John Cockerill India has inaugurated its Rolls Coating Facility at Taloja, expanding its value services offering and supporting the steel industry with advanced lifecycle solutions.
Continue readingIBC Advanced Alloys Corp., Wilmington, Mass., reports that its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, IBC Engineered Materials Corp., is working directly with Lockheed Martin to develop specific investment-cast optical components on the F-35 Lightning II aircraft to demonstrate the technical and commercial viability of Beralcast beryllium-aluminum alloys. Beralcast principal alloys are more than three times stiffer than aluminum, with 22% less weight. They can be precision cast for simple and complex three-dimensional stability. These high modulus alloys are ideal for high-performance industrial and high-tech components, as well as for a wide range of aerospace applications.
This collaboration enables IBC to demonstrate its expertise and industry leadership in offering rapid prototyping and advanced materials solutions to provide investment cast parts to aerospace customers with short lead times and competitive pricing.
“IBC Engineered Materials is excited to be collaborating with Lockheed Martin and believe we will demonstrate the viability of our Beralcast alloys and cast components as mechanically compliant and cost effective components for the F-35 Lightning II program,” said Ray White, President of IB-EMC. “We hope that IBC’s partnership and collaboration with Lockheed Martin will advance the potential for our engineered materials products for other aerospace industry initiatives where modulus, weight, and cost are important design criteria.”
Wisconsin Oven Corporation, East Troy, WI, announced the shipment of a two-zone belt conveyor oven designed for tempering steel parts following induction hardening. The system is engineered for precise temperature control and enhanced energy efficiency, meeting industry specifications for uniform heating.
The oven has the capacity to heat 2,400 pounds of steel per hour from 70°F to 350°F, with a maximum temperature rating of 500°F. It features a top-down airflow recirculation system with a 32,000 CFM blower, evenly distributed between the two heating zones. Temperature control is managed by a Watlow F4T digital recorder/controller, which includes Ethernet communication capabilities and adaptive PID temperature control. A temperature uniformity survey verified uniformity within ±10°F at 350°F, ensuring compliance with AIAG specification CQI-9.
The conveyor system utilizes a continuous belt with a variable frequency drive for speed adjustments, and the work zone measures 4’0” W x 21’0” L x 14” H. To improve energy efficiency, the oven is equipped with the E-Pack™ Energy Efficiency Package, which includes additional insulation and variable frequency drives on the recirculation blowers. These features reduce energy consumption and operational costs, potentially providing substantial annual savings depending on utility rates and operating conditions.
The system’s design optimizes heat-up efficiency and uniformity, making it well-suited for high-volume steel tempering applications. The oven incorporates programmable temperature controls with auto-tuning functionality, ensuring consistent and repeatable performance for industrial heat treatment processes.
Seco/Warwick, Meadville, Pa, announced that it will deliver a JetCaster induction vacuum furnace to a Turkish aviation company. The advanced furnace is designed for producing castings using directional solidification, single crystal, and equiaxed structure methods, as well as gas-cooled crystallization. The technology addresses the precision and quality requirements of aviation component manufacturing.
The JetCaster VIM50 DS/SC/EQ furnace, with a maximum load capacity of 50 kilograms, supports various crystallization techniques, offering flexibility and high performance. Its innovative Engineered Gas Cooling (DGCC) system shortens processing times while maintaining superior product quality, making it particularly suited to the stringent demands of the aviation sector.
Seco/Warwick’s CEO, Sławomir Woźniak, highlighted the increasing demand for the company’s vacuum metallurgy solutions within the aviation industry, noting its critical role in producing components for both civil and military aircraft. He emphasized the company’s collaboration with leading corporations globally to meet the sector’s high-quality standards.
This marks the first order of a melting furnace from this specific partner. Seco/Warwick customized the furnace design to accommodate future modifications, such as the addition of feeders for bulk materials or briquettes, ensuring adaptability to evolving production needs. The solution aims to enhance the partner’s production efficiency and innovation, solidifying its contribution to the aviation industry.
State University of New York, Albany, N.Y., announces that the pioneering College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering will become a separate institution within the SUNY system by the 2014-15 academic year. The establishment of SUNY CNSE will further cement New York’s position as a global center for nanotechnology innovation, high tech industry and research, and unmatched educational opportunities.
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SECO/WARWICK, Meadville, PA, announced that they will supply a Vector vacuum furnace to the Marle Group, a global manufacturer of orthopedic prostheses. The furnace on order will be used for the heat treatment of cobalt implants. Cobalt alloy hardening requires very high temperatures, and the heating process for these materials require a high puriity environment, temperature uniformity and very fast and effective cooling.
In order for cobalt alloys to be used in implantology, they must be deprived of their ferromagnetic properties. This shiny, hard metal loses this property only when it reaches a temperature higher than 1131°C. Such a high temperature makes it necessary to use a vacuum furnace in the implant production process. The furnace can not only provide such a temperature, but also guarantees its maintenance over a longer period of time. As a comparison, the temperature, above which a ferSECO/WARWICK, Meadville, PA, announced that they will supply a Vector vacuum furnace to the Marle Group, a global manufacturer of orthopedic prostheses. The furnace on order will be used for the heat treatment of cobalt implants. Cobalt alloy hardening requires very high temperatures, and the heating process for these materials require a high puriity environment, temperature uniformity and very fast and effective cooling.
A multidisciplinary team of University of Texas at Arlington researchers has received a $300,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the supply chain for rare earth metals.
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Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, Hermitage, vacuum degassed a record 175,000 pounds of 6Al-4V titanium in their 48-foot-long vacuum furnace. The furnace load consisted of 154 sheets of titanium 40” wide X 240” long. It represented the largest and heaviest single load of titanium ever processed in Solar’s history.
Bob Hill, president of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA states, “The future of the global aerospace titanium market is very promising with the many opportunities in the commercial and military aircraft markets!”
Nutec Bickley, Mexico, has been awarded a contract to manufacture and install five new lift-up furnaces, along with a fully modernized combustion system, for a leading U.S. manufacturer of high-quality alloy steel and carbon steel closed-die forgings. The project will take place between May and December 2023, with onsite work completed one furnace at a time to ensure the customer’s production schedules are not impacted. Two of the new furnaces will be used for tempering, while the remaining three will be used for austenitizing. Each furnace will be fitted with the latest control systems, complete fiber flues, and new exhaust and pressure control systems, along with insulation.
Nutec Bickley’s state-of-the-art combustion packages will be fully compliant with NFPA 86 standards, incorporating a fuel-only control system to allow maximum temperature uniformity potential for all cycles. The retrofitted furnaces will benefit from high-velocity nozzle mixing burners fitted with high-temperature burner blocks. The combustion systems will also feature automatic air control valves to adjust the maximum air volume used and to ensure proper burner ignition conditions.
The project will involve careful teamwork between the customer and Nutec Bickley to ensure successful delivery and highest quality outcomes. Rodrigo González, VP Metals at Nutec Bickley, emphasized the importance of constant communication and status updates with customers for a dynamic and mutually beneficial project result.
The South African Institute of Marine Engineers and Naval Architects is collaborating with the International Zinc Association to promote zinc thermal spraying for the local ship-repair industry.
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Constellium, Paris will sponsor ten new skilled trades scholarships at West Virginia University, Parkersburg. Now in its second year, the program provides financial assistance to selected high school graduates to help them earn an associate degree in Multi-Craft Technology or Reliability and Maintenance Technology.
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Researchers at the Phoenix project at Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands, developed a swarm of sensor nodes to explore unknown environments that are difficult for humans to access, like underground liquid-filled environments such as deep oil wells or water distribution systems.
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Olympus, Waltham, Mass., enables fast, easy and accurate long-distance inspections with its new IPLEX GAir long videoscope, combining maneuverability with high-quality, wide-view images to make complex pipe inspections fast and efficient.
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Bodycote, UK, has opened a new heat treatment facility at Elgin, Ill. Bodycote is the world’s largest provider of heat treatments and specialist thermal processing services. The upgraded Elgin facility provides improved capabilities for the agricultural, mining, construction, automotive and various other manufacturing supply chains in the Upper Midwest region. The new state of the art facility in Elgin offers nitriding, Corr-I-Dur, nitrocarburizing and low pressure carburizing solutions.
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Cleveland Cliffs Inc. announces that it has entered into a definitive agreement with ArcelorMittal S.A., in which Cleveland-Cliffs will acquire substantially all of the operations of ArcelorMittal USA LLC and its subsidiaries for approximately $1.4 billion.
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Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. announces that it is resuming construction of its hot briquetted iron (HBI) plant in Ohio and moving up plans to restart an idled iron ore mine in Michigan.
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United States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, announces a series of aggressive and meaningful actions to provide greater certainty on the company’s response to impacts from the coronavirus and the sudden, significant changes in global oil and gas markets.
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Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. and AK Steel Holding Corp. announce that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement in which Cliffs, North America’s largest producer of iron ore pellets, will join with AK Steel, a leading producer of innovative flat-rolled carbon, stainless, and electrical steel products.
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Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems, Plymouth, Mich., recently manufactured and commissioned a high temperature car bottom furnace for a Southern U.S. manufacturer of excavating equipment.
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Oerlikon Metco, Westbury, N.Y., customizes hardfacing alloys for specific applications and processes through its Scoperta Rapid Alloy Computational Design Process.
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Engineers from Wall Colmonoy Corp. discussed how the properties of a hard surfacing alloy change when applied by different methods, in a presentation at the ITSC conference in Japan last May.
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Danieli, Italy, announces that it has been selected to supply equipment for Nucor Corporation and its new greenfield plate steel mill complex in Brandenburg, Kentucky.
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United States Steel, Pittsburgh, announces that it has formed a joint venture partnership agreement under which it has taken the first step toward acquiring Big River Steel through the purchase of a 49.9% ownership interest at a purchase price of approximately $700 million in cash, with a call option to acquire the remaining 50.1% within the next four years.
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Engineers from InnoTech Alberta evaluated a coating consisting of tungsten carbide overspray for parts requiring moderate-to-low wear resistance.
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Researchers from Stony Brook University’s Center for Thermal Spray Research reported in this presentation that cermet coatings applied via high-velocity thermal spray are used in aggressive wear situations and are almost always coupled with corrosive environments.
Continue readingNorthern Minerals Ltd., Australia, announces that it has signed a rare earths supply agreement with Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Materials Trading for 100% offtake from the Western Australia Browns Range pilot plant, which has already begun producing heavy rare earth carbonates.
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Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., Cleveland, announces that has started up its new production equipment, including supporting infrastructure, to support large-scale commercial production of DR-grade iron pellets at its Northshore Mining facility in Babbitt, Minnesota.
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Höganäs AB, Sweden, launches its new Rockit 606/706 welding powders, which prolong component lifetime in tough wear environments such as the oil & gas and mining & construction industries.
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The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Paris, reports that global steelmaking capacity declined slightly in 2018, but projects that are underway now or have been proposed could bring about more than 100 million metric tons of new capacity over the next three years.
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