Wisconsin Oven to ship three custom conveyor ovens to the molded-fiber industry

Wisconsin Oven, East Troy, is scheduled to ship three custom dryers to a manufacturer in the molded-fiber industry. The ovens will be used for drying thick-walled paper pulp molded fiber packaging material used in a variety of products. Molded fiber packaging is made of 100% recycled materials, making them an environmentally friendly solution for companies looking to use sustainable packaging and reduce their environmental impact.

These paper pulp drying conveyor ovens are designed with four temperature zones, and each has the sufficient capability to remove 850 pounds of water per hour from the molded pulp. The ovens feature a maximum temperature rating of 500°. The work chamber dimensions are 8’ W x 120’ L x 1’ H. A total of twelve personnel access doors with explosion relief latches are located on the sides of each unit. Each unit also has stainless steel sheet metal and structure on the wet end to reduce corrosion.

The conveyor ovens are designed with top-down and bottom-up airflow to maximize the drying rate of the paper pulp shapes. The flat wire belt continuous conveyor system uses a variable frequency drive that is adjustable from 0-3 FPM. Emergency stop buttons are located at the load and unload sections of each oven for operator safety.

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Medical implant hardening in a SECO/WARWICK furnace

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.


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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. 

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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

Constellium’s operations in Muscle Shoals and Bowling Green certified by the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI)

Constellium, Pairs, announced that it has received the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) Performance Standard certificate for its facilities in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Bowling Green, Kentucky. This certification, verified by an independent third-party audit, means that the plants operate according to a strict set of governance, environmental, and social standards, including greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and labor rights.

The Constellium Muscle Shoals plant is a major aluminium cansheet supplier for the packaging market with over 450,000 metric tons of finished aluminium coils per year. The facility also produces aluminium automotive coils, which are processed at the Bowling Green plant. Muscle Shoals’ world-class recycling center is able to recycle the equivalent of 20 billion aluminium cans per year. Constellium’s Bowling Green plant produces flat rolled aluminium Auto Body Sheet products for the automotive market, with a capacity to produce 100,000 metric tons annually.

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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.

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Solar Atmospheres of Michigan’s relocation charges forward

Solar Atmospheres, Chesterfield, MI, formerly known as Vac-Met Inc., has successfully reached its first milestone in the relocation phase. Solar invested over $5 million of new equipment installed with all new utilities. 

The new equipment includes two vacuum furnaces, an air tempering furnace, and a freezer. As a result, Solar was able to host their first AS9100D audit at the new facility in Chesterfield Michigan. This quality management system audit for aviation, space and defense organizations which incorporates ISO9001 standards passed with zero findings.After purchasing the company one year ago, the goal was to build a new facility with no impact on the existing customer base. 

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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

Processing of nano-reinforced aluminum hybrid metal matrix composites and the effect of post-heat treatment: a review

A review from the School of Engineering and Technology, India, describes the increasing demand for cutting-edge materials with a high strength-to-weight ratio and economic considerations. Lightweight materials such as aluminum (Al) and its alloys are attractive, but some properties such as low thermal stability and high wear rate limit the application of aluminum alloys (AA) to some extent. Many researchers have developed various composites to get around these restrictions and increase the performance of aluminum and its alloy. Metal matrix composites (MMCs) with nanoparticles have revealed greater mechanical and tribological properties compared with micron-sized reinforcements. This review summarizes the latest developments in this field.

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