Bodycote appointments Group Chief Executive

Bodycote, Macclesfield, U.K, announced the appointment of Jim Fairbairn as the new Group Chief Executive, succeeding Stephen Harris upon his retirement. Fairbairn is set to join the company and its Board in March 2024 and will assume the role of Group Chief Executive in May 2024, following a structured transition period. Stephen Harris will retire and step down from the Board at the Annual General Meeting on May 31, 2024.

Jim Fairbairn, 54, brings a wealth of experience in managing engineering businesses. His career, spanning over thirty years, includes significant roles at John Wood Group, PE-owned Clyde Bergemann, Howden Group, and Megger Group, culminating in substantial experience as both a Divisional and Group CEO.

Fairbairn’s most recent position was Group CEO at Megger Group, a test and measurement specialist based in Dover, which he joined in 2017. Under his leadership, the company saw significant revenue growth to £325m and a notable increase in operating margins. He also played a pivotal role in evolving Megger’s strategy and culture. Before Megger, he held executive roles at Howden Group in Glasgow from 2009 to 2017, ending his tenure there as President of the Howden Power, Environment and Process business, overseeing global product and service revenues exceeding $1 billion across 19 sites worldwide.

Read further here.

One Minute Mentor: Continuous Operating Furnaces for Tool Steel Strips

The continuous heat treatment of tool steel is applied to low- or medium-alloyed carbon steel strips as well as martensitic stainless steels. The described lines produce high-quality strip with respect to uniform structure, flatness, and bright surface finish. Steel grades with 0.4 to 1.2% C, low and high alloyed, can be processed. 

Strip dimensions range between 10 to 750 mm (0.4 to 29.5 in.) wide and 0.05 to 4 mm (0.002 to 0.16 in.) thick. High quenching rates are necessary, especially for plain carbon steels. Cooling gradients of up to 600 K/s are possible in a molten lead-bismuth quench. Because two-stage quenching technology provides considerable advantages over quenching in oil, this method has been adopted worldwide. It is also possible to achieve isothermal transformation to bainite and pearlite using a molten metal quench, so this type of hardening and tempering line is extremely versatile.

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.a0005958

Solar Atmospheres South Carolina facility orders 10 bar vacuum furnace

Solar Atmospheres, Greenville, SC, has announced the acquisition of a new 10-bar vacuum furnace for its Greenville, SC facility. Manufactured by Solar Manufacturing, this new horizontal vacuum furnace measures 48 inches wide, 48 inches high, and 96 inches deep. It is designed to handle loads up to 12,000 pounds and is scheduled for installation in late 2024.

The furnace will be equipped with a vacuum pumping system capable of achieving an ultimate vacuum of 1×10-6 Torr, essential for processing titanium and other high-grade alloys. It also features advanced designs for the uniform and rapid cooling of large workloads, enhancing the processing capabilities at the Greenville facility.

Steve Prout, president of Solar Atmospheres Southeast, said, “This new furnace will provide an additional option for high-pressure quenching of large components and workloads in the region. It also offers an opportunity for cost-effective thermal processing in the current economic environment.”

https://solaratm.com/solar-atmospheres-south-carolina-facility-orders-10-bar-vacuum-furnace/

Lindberg/MPH completes roller hearth furnace system for the energy industry

Lindberg/MPH, Mich., announced the installation of a roller hearth furnace system for a manufacturer of products used in the energy industry. The heat treat system is comprised of two box furnaces with quench tanks, a dual directional load transfer car, four companion draw batch ovens, and two stationary load/unload tables.

The maximum operating temperature of the box furnaces is 1850°F and they are designed for nitrogen-based atmosphere applications. The load space dimensions of the box furnaces are 48” W x 96” D x 36” H, and the internal chambers are larger to provide clearance for baskets or fixtures. A snake chain pusher assembly is used by each furnace to transfer the loads from the chamber to the quench elevator deck.

Read further here.

Three from Aalberts Surface Technologies included in this years 40 under 40

Aalberts Technologies, Livonia, announced today that Angella Sell, Connor Montgomery, and Chris Pietszak are members of Heat Treat Today’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2023. The Heat Treat Today 40 Under 40 award recognizes rising leaders in the heat treat community who are giving their time, talent, and education to make the industry a great place to work.

Angella Sell, Research & Development Engineer, is a proven leader, having chaired the ASM Detroit Chapter from June 2020 to June 2021. In 2022 Angella received the ASM Detroit Chapter President’s Award for her leadership role during the challenging pandemic years. Angella is the vice-chair of the AFS Cast Iron Research Committee and will assume the role of chair in May 2024. 

Connor Montgomery, Oshkosh Plant Manager, is focused on hiring and retention practices as well on effective communications. Connor is leading major efforts to improve flow, efficiency, and throughput in the Oshkosh plant. He has introduced the use of modern lean tools such as 5S, FIFO, and Supermarkets to reduce unproductive manhours. He is actively involved in the reduction of additional waste within plant processing. 

Chris Pietszak, Quality Manager, is focsed on the implementation of and support of ISO, IATF, and Nadcap as well as CQI-9 compliance. He is a trained ISO and IATF auditor and an MTI YES Program graduate. Chris played an important role implementing the quality systems during the start-up of the Fort Smith facility. 

Read further here

One Minute Mentor: Fluidized Bed

A fluid bed results when a gas is passed upward through a bed of small solid particles at a rate fast enough to lift these particles and to create turbulence. This motion of particles, which are usually made of aluminum oxide or silica oxide, is similar to that of a fluid, which can be seen schematically in the figure.

When gas is forced upward through small holes in a supporting plate, two forces meet to raise the particles: the buoyancy of the gas and the retarding force known as aerodynamic drag. Objects to be heat treated are immersed directly into the bed of particles.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 7.

R Schneider; R. Mesquita; W Schützenhöfer, Distortion in Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005958

Ipsen ships Turbo Treater vacuum furnace to commercial heat treater in Mexico

Ipsen, Tainan City, Taiwan, has shipped a vacuum furnace to Tratamientos Termicos Avanzados (TTA) in Mexico. Translated to “Advanced Heat Treatments,” TTA is a leader in plasma nitriding services for steel. They serve many industries and boast a clientele that includes John Deere, Caterpillar and Nissan.

Looking to expand their capabilities by adding vacuum processing to their commercial heat-treating business, they chose an Ipsen Turbo2Treater for its process flexibility. The new furnace has a work zone size of 24” x 24” x 36”, 1,600 lb. weight capacity, 2,400 °F maximum operating temperature, and quench pressure up to 12 bar. It will mainly be used for hardening tool steels but can easily be adapted to meet new customers’ needs.

TTA chose Ipsen for their ability to lead them in the right direction to grow their business.

https://ipsenglobal.com/knowledge-center/ipsen-ships-vacuum-furnace-to-heat-treater-in-mexico/

Nitrex and Linde renew their 13-year collaboration

Nitrex, Quebec, and Linde are celebrating their 13-year collaboration, which today covers Europe and North America. Nitrex said that this partnership emphasizes both companies’ positioning in terms of technology, digital, and green footprints. 

The cooperation between Linde (previously Praxair) and UPC-Marathon, a Nitrex company, began in the USA in 2010, when Linde approached UPC-Marathon to build gas panels. Eventually, the company started sending some of its clients who needed technical support in UPC’s direction.

Nitrex supplies Linde with equipment and analyses to control gas atmospheres, thanks to its competence in heat treatment and electrical fields, technical solutions, support, and world-class gas panels.

Read further here.

One Minute Mentor: Controlled Atmosphere Furnace Equipment

Heat treatment of tool steels usually requires high flexibility combined with small lots of parts. Seal quench furnaces, executed with a single heating chamber, meet this demand. Figure 5 shows a typical schematic of a single-chamber furnace, executed with a pre-chamber, which is used both for loading and unloading and also for oil quenching or gas cooling. Another execution is shown in Fig. 6, where the load is fed directly into the heating chamber (left side in the drawing). In this case the load is transported through the furnace and received after oil quenching on the right-hand side.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 5.

R Schneider; R. Mesquita; W Schützenhöfer, Distortion in Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005958

Wisconsin oven completes spray quench aluminum solution furnace for the defense industry

Wisconsin Oven, East Troy, Wis. announced the completion of a Horizontal Spray Quench Furnace for C/A Design located in Dover, NH. This furnace will be used for the solution treatment of aluminum. The system is designed to soak the product load at temperature in the furnace and then a pusher mechanism rapidly moves the load into the spray quench. The spray quench offers reduced distortion in comparison to submersion quenching.

The maximum temperature for this system is 1,150°F and it has sufficient capacity to heat a 200 pound aluminum load plus the work grid and product fixture. A temperature uniformity survey was documented for +/-10°F at 985°F to verify the furnace has the capability to meet AMS 2750G, Class 2 furnace and Instrumentation Type D requirements.

The spray quench is located in front of the oven and has vertical-lift, pneumatically operated doors on each end. The spray quench system utilizes fifty (50) fine mist nozzles located above, below, and on each side of the quench chamber to rapidly cool the product from all sides. Each nozzle is independently selectable from the touchscreen HMI and a variable frequency drive allows the pump speed to be adjusted to maintain a constant pressure to each spray nozzle. 

Read further here.