One Minute Mentor: Distortion in Tool Steels

Distortion in tool steels encompasses all irreversible dimensional changes. There are two main types: size distortion and shape distortion. Size distortion involves expansion or contraction in volume or linear dimensions without changes in geometrical form. Shape distortion entails changes in curvature or angular relations, as in twisting, bending, and/or nonsymmetrical changes in dimensions. In most cases both types of distortion occur during a heat-treatment operation.

Some of the main interactions occur between temperature, microstructure, and stress/strain. Especially for tool steels these interactions are mainly influenced by the carbon content in the steel matrix, the types and relative amounts of the alloying elements, and the carbide formation/transformation/precipitation characteristics of the alloy system.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 1..

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

Constellium 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.

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Lehigh’s summer engineering institute students tour Solar Atmospheres

Solar Atmospheres, Souderton, Pa., hosted over 40 high school students enrolled in the Summer Engineering Institute (SEI) at Lehigh University. The SEI program, under the guidance of Director Dr. Laura Moyer, is a two-week residential program, running two sessions back to back. 

Students are nominated by faculty of local high schools, and the program specifically targets under-represented groups including girls, first-generation students, and students who might otherwise have limited opportunities to study in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Solar Atmospheres provided a tour of the campus, exhibiting materials and processes for intriguing applications in a variety of markets. The students experienced a manufacturing setting encompassing related topics from their curriculum, gaining a better understanding of heat treating and manufacturing, and how cutting edge technology reshapes centuries-old processes.

Read further here.

Lehigh’s summer engineering institute students tour Solar Atmospheres

Solar Atmospheres, Souderton, PA, hosted over 40 high school students enrolled in the Summer Engineering Institute (SEI) at Lehigh University. The SEI program, under the guidance of Director Dr. Laura Moyer, is a two-week residential program, running two sessions back to back. 

Students are nominated by faculty of local high schools, and the program specifically targets under-represented groups including girls, first-generation students, and students who might otherwise have limited opportunities to study in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).

Solar Atmospheres provided a tour of the campus, exhibiting materials and processes for intriguing applications in a variety of markets. The students experienced a manufacturing setting encompassing related topics from their curriculum, gaining a better understanding of heat treating and manufacturing, and how cutting edge technology reshapes centuries-old processes.

Read further here.

Mark Saline receives MPIF distinguished service award

Gasbarre, Dubois, PaA, announced that Mark Saline, president of Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems, is a recipient of the 2023 MPIF Distinguished Service to Powder Metallurgy (PM) Award that recognizes individuals who have actively served the North American PM industry for at least 25 years.The award is selected by the Metal Powder Industries Federation’s (MPIF) Awards Committee.

Over 70 nominated individuals were on the ballot for review by the past 10 years of Distinguished Service Award recipients, as well as the MPIF Board of Governors and Boards of Directors of the MPIF trade associations. Mark Saline will receive his award during PowderMet 2023 in Las Vegas. Mark has been well established in the Powder Metallurgy industry for many years. His PM involvement includes teaching students at the PM Sintering Seminar, sitting on the MPIF Program Committee, judging the PM Design Excellence Awards, he has written several publications on processing in continuous furnaces, and he provides input in organizations such as the Center for Powder Metal Technology, Powder Metal Equipment Association, and the Association for Metal Additive Manufacturing. Mark will also serve at the Conference Technical Chair-Person for PowderMet 2024 in Pittsburgh.

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Constellium to provide closed-loop recycling for the all-new Megane E-TECH Electric

Constellium, Paris,  announced today its agreement with Renault Group to establish a closed-loop recycling process for the all-new Megane E-TECH Electric. 

Aluminum, lightweight and fully recyclable, is the material of choice for the electrification of the automotive fleet, and Constellium is well-positioned to support this transition with advanced products and solutions.

Renault Group has developed a closed-loop recycling process to bring manufacturing scrap from the stamping process directly back to Constellium, resulting in a reduced CO2 footprint. Based on best practices to avoid mixing 5xxx and 6xxx alloys and to compact scrap for optimal logistics at Renault Group, the closed-loop process will recycle these alloys, so that they can be reused in Renault Group’s production without any loss of properties, and overall with no downcycling.

Constellium, a full-service supplier of rolled and extruded aluminum solutions for the global automotive market, supplies aluminum for 1 in 4 vehicles produced in Europe and the U.S. We help automakers produce lighter, safer and more fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as electric vehicles with greater range. Renault Group is supplied by Constellium’s ASI-certified facility in Neuf Brisach, France.

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