Chrome plating is set to be banned over health-related issues, with one of them being the risk of lung cancer.
Continue readingChrome plating will be banned in all new cars starting 2024
Targeted pump and turbine retrofits boost output and reliability at Philippines naphtha cracker
Sulzer, Switzerland, with expertise in rotating equipment retrofits and abrasive services, has helped a Philippines petrochemical plant solve a persistent reliability issue and prepare for a 64% increase in capacity by replacing critical pump components with new parts made from high-chromium C6 steel with an abrasion resistant coating applied using a high HVOF process.
Continue readingConstellium to sell three german extrusion plants to Vaessen Aluminium
Constellium, Paris, announced that it signed a binding agreement with Vaessen Aluminium for the sale of three of Constellium’s soft alloy extrusion facilities located in Landau, Crailsheim and Burg in Germany for a total cash consideration of €48.8 million.
With nearly 450 employees, the three Constellium plants specialize in soft alloy extruded products for the Building & Construction, Transportation and Industry markets in Europe.
Vaessen Aluminium belongs to a longstanding family-owned industrial group, headquartered in Belgium, active in aluminum billets and profiles (E-Max), in lighting and ceiling (Kreon) and in wall cladding (Limeparts Drooghmans).
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2023 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.
New material shows promise for next-generation memory technology
Researchers from Tohoku University, Japan, used sputtering to fabricate large-area 2D vdW tetra-chalcogenides and identified an exceptionally promising material ー niobium telluride ーthat exhibits an ultra-low melting point, opening up new possibilities for developing high-performance phase change memories.
Continue readingSuperlubricity coating could reduce economic losses from friction, wear
Scientists at the U. S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn., invented a coating that could dramatically reduce friction in common load-bearing systems with moving parts, reducing the friction of steel rubbing on steel at least a hundredfold.
Continue readingSpray Tips: Powder properties produced by the Sol-Gel route
Powders produced by way of the sol-gel route. The sol structure can be in either an aggregated or dispersed structure, so varying degrees or particle alignments are obtained when the conversion to a gel takes place.
Continue readingTesting coatings to conserve canisters against corrosion
Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., tested a variety of nickel mixtures as protective coatings to shield stainless steel from the corrosive threats posed by sea air.
Continue readingDr. Kathy Hayrynen awarded the 2023 Fred Linebarger teaching award
Dr. Kathy Hayrynen, FASM, vice president of research and development, Aalberts Surface Technologies, Cleveland, has been awarded the 2023 Fred Linebarger Teaching Award by the Cast Iron Division of the American Foundry Society Technical Council.
The award was established in 2015 and honors the late Dr. Fred Linebarger (Director of Technology for Miller & CO) who devoted his career to the development of treatment alloys and processes for the production of both ductile and compacted graphite iron.
Dr. Fred was known for his teaching skills, namely an ability to take complex concepts and break them down into simple bites that anyone could understand. He served as a mentor to many technical employees in the metalcasting industry.
The award honors Dr. Kathy’s efforts mentoring and sharing her knowledge. It emphasizes her role in and the importance of education in the metalcasting industry. It also recognizes her willingness to share knowledge with others by teaching fundamentals of metalcasting to students, customers and industry peers. She serves as a mentor to the next generation of metalcasting professionals, especially women in the industry.
Electric car battery life extended by a revolutionary polymer coating
An innovative polymer coating pioneered by researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Calif., has been demonstrated to boost electric car battery life by up to 15 years.
Continue readingMulti-furnace heat treat project for major steel forger
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.
Game-changing high-performance semiconductor material could help slash heat emissions
Researchers have engineered a material with the potential to dramatically cut the amount of heat power plants release into the atmosphere.
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