One Minute Mentor: Austenitizing of Water-Hardening Tool Steels

Austenitizing temperatures for water-hardening tool steels normally vary from 760 to 845 °C (1400 to 1550 °F), as indicated in Table 2. Higher temperatures are sometimes used for special purposes (Fig. 2). Hardenability increases as austenitizing temperature increases. The optimum time at austenitizing temperature is from 10 to 30 min. Preheating is unusual except for very large tools or those with intricate cross sections. It is particularly important to protect shallow-hardening steels against scaling and decarburization. Severe scaling can interfere with heat transfer during quenching and slow the required high rate of cooling. Decarburization will produce a soft surface on any tool steel, but in a deep-hardening steel it can be ground off until the underlying hard high-carbon area is reached. Grinding a shallow-hardening steel will frequently expose the soft core.

For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 2.

Rafael Agnelli Mesquita; Reinhold Schneider; Cristiane Sales Gonçalves, Heat Treating of Cold-Work Tool Steels — Low- and Un-Alloyed Water and Oil Hardening Steels, ASM International, 2014. https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005972

Bodycote opens new heat treatment facility in Monterrey, Mexico

Bodycote, Macclesfield, England, plans to open a new heat treatment facility in Apodaca, in the Monterrey metropolitan area of Mexico. The new site will expand Bodycote’s North American footprint and provide additional regional capacity to support customers across Mexico and the southern United States, helping reduce logistics complexity and strengthen supply-chain resilience for OEMs and tier suppliers operating in the region’s automotive, aerospace, and industrial markets. The Apodaca facility will offer precision heat treatment capabilities including case hardening and nitriding processes such as carburizing, carbonitriding, and nitrocarburizing, technologies widely used to improve wear resistance, fatigue performance, and dimensional stability in critical drivetrain, gearing, and structural components. The new site complements Bodycote’s existing North American network and reflects continued investment by the group in geographic capacity expansion and customer-proximate service. Bodycote is the world’s largest provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services, operating more than 165 facilities across 22 countries with capabilities spanning vacuum heat treatment, hot isostatic pressing, surface engineering, and advanced thermal processing technologies. The company serves a broad customer base across aerospace, automotive, defense, energy, medical, and general industrial markets, and continues to invest in both new geographies and decarbonized process technologies to support its customers’ performance and sustainability goals.

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Solar Atmospheres expands California operations with new 10-bar vacuum furnace

Solar Atmospheres, Fontana, California, announced the installation and commissioning of a new 10-bar vacuum furnace at its California facility. Manufactured by sister company Solar Manufacturing, the horizontal furnace features a hot zone measuring 48-in. wide by 48-in. high by 96-in. deep, with a maximum load capacity of 12,000 pounds and an ultimate vacuum level of 1×10⁻⁶ Torr. The furnace expands the facility’s high-pressure quenching capabilities for processing titanium and high-performance alloys serving the aerospace, defense, medical, and power generation markets. “This investment gives our customers another regional solution for high-pressure quenching of large components and heavy workloads,” said Derek Dennis, President of Solar Atmospheres California.

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HAI Romania enhances sustainable extrusion production with Nitrex system

Nitrex, Quebec, announced that it has implemented a new nitriding system at Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI) Romania, marking a significant step in advancing the sustainability of aluminum extrusion production. This installation aligns with HAI’s corporate commitment to environmental leadership and operational modernization.

HAI Romania, a subsidiary of Austria-based Hammerer Aluminium Industries, operates a state-of-the-art extrusion plant in Chișineu-Criș, near the Hungarian border. The facility features five extrusion presses, including a recently added 10-inch press, and serves key industries such as automotive, construction, and packaging, with strategic access to both Western and Eastern European markets.

The newly installed Nitrex NX-815 nitriding system replaces the traditional salt bath nitriding process. Unlike its predecessor, which generates environmentally challenging waste, the gas nitriding process offers a sustainable alternative. The system utilizes Nitreg® controlled nitriding and Nitreg®-C ferritic nitrocarburizing technologies, ensuring superior and consistent performance while minimizing environmental impact. With a 3,300-pound load capacity, the furnace is specifically designed for treating extrusion dies.

By adopting Nitreg® technologies, HAI Romania eliminates hazardous waste, reduces energy consumption, and enhances the durability of aluminum extrusion dies. This shift not only supports eco-friendly practices but also optimizes production efficiency by eliminating costly post-finishing operations, contributing to the company’s sustainability and operational goals.

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Centorr Vacuum names Sean P. Murphy as product manager for laboratory and r&d furnaces

Centorr Vacuum, Nashua, NH, announced that Sean P. Murphy has been appointed as the product manager for its laboratory and R&D furnace product lines. Murphy will oversee more than 30 vacuum furnace lines that cater to laboratory applications across the metals, ceramics, and carbon/graphite/composites industries. His client base includes national laboratories, universities, and industrial customers worldwide who require compact laboratory and R&D equipment.

Murphy brings a wealth of experience to Centorr, having previously served as senior manufacturing manager at Osram Sylvania’s Exeter, NH location, where he focused on micro-LED ceramic automotive products. His expertise spans hydrogen sintering, spark plasma sintering, and annealing, among other manufacturing processes. Murphy holds a bachelor’s degree in materials science from Alfred University and an MBA from Southern New Hampshire University and is actively involved in the American Ceramic Society, ASM Heat Treat Society, and Society of Automotive Engineers.

Centorr Vacuum Industries, established in 1954 and currently celebrating its 70th anniversary, is known for its high-temperature vacuum and controlled atmosphere furnaces, with over 7,000 units installed globally. The company’s Nashua headquarters includes a dedicated aftermarket field service team and an Applied Technology Center that provides R&D support and toll production services.

For more information please visit www.centorr.com

Lindberg/MPH ships aluminum melting and holding furnace

Lindberg/MPH, Mich., has announced the shipment of a gas-fired reverberatory aluminum melting and holding furnace equipped with a preheat hearth. The furnace, designed for manufacturing aluminum parts, boasts a melt rate of 10,000 pounds per hour and a maximum temperature rating of 1450°F. It has a holding capacity of 85,000 pounds, based on 155 pounds per cubic foot of molten aluminum.

The furnace features a vertically rising air-operated door for loading the preheat hearth and a full-width cleanout door at the rear for unloading. Designed with an elevated base, it includes a bottom-mounted magnetic stirring mechanism and an air pressure pump well for dispensing molten aluminum. This configuration allows the furnace to remain idle for extended periods without significant temperature variation.

Temperature control is managed by three controllers, while flame supervision equipment ensures safety, including forced-air purging and automatic shutdown in case of system failures.

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Preparation and high-temperature oxidation resistance of zirconium alloys

Researchers from the National Engineering Research Center for Instrument Functional Materials and Chongqing University, both in Chongqing, China, have highlighted the pivotal role of zirconium alloys in nuclear power systems. Their latest paper reviews the significant advancements in coating technologies for zirconium alloy fuel cladding, a crucial component in nuclear reactors. The study discusses various preparation methods, types of coatings, and their efficacy in resisting high-temperature oxidation—a key challenge for fuel cladding materials. This comprehensive review aims to serve as a critical reference in advancing the surface coating technology of fuel cladding zirconium alloys, promising enhanced performance and safety in nuclear power applications.

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Solar Atmospheres awarded Lockheed Martin space systems approval

Solar Atmospheres, Greenville, SC, has announced that it has been awarded Lockheed Martin Space Systems approval. With this approval, now all five Solar Atmospheres facilities are an option for our customers with Lockheed Martin requirements for thermal processing services.

Steve Prout, President of Solar Atmospheres’ Greenville facility states: “We are proud to once again provide our customers in the Southeastern U.S. with another regional option for aerospace and defense thermal processes, saving them time and money while continuing to deliver the high level of quality required.”

With the ability to support vacuum thermal processing needs ranging from development cycles to 50,000 pound loads at temperatures of up to 2400°F, Solar Atmospheres provides AS9100 and Nadcap quality accredited heat treatments, providing our customers with the confidence their product is being processed as specified.

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