Sulzer Metco opens diamondlike coating center in Germany

Thin Film, an operational unit of Sulzer Metco, Germany, has opened its new diamondlike carbon (DLC) Coating Center in Germany. The 3000 m2 production area includes six coating systems that provide state-of-the-art DLC coatings. They offer low friction, wear and corrosion protection, and hardness, as well as optimal starved-lubrication conditions that meet the growing demands for CO2 reduction and reduced fuel consumption.

ASB cold spray system used by GE Aerospace for 3D printing of aerospace components

ASB Industries, Barberton, Ohio, reports that its 2000-2 Portable High Pressure Cold Spray system is being used by GE Aerospace for 3D printing of aerospace components. GE chose this system because it is capable of producing contamination-free and oxide-free dense coatings with high bond strength, processing a wide range of high purity materials, and controlling process parameters to build reproducible and homogenous coatings.

Ruukki to deliver 9000 metric tons of Galfan-coated steel to Morocco thermosolar plant

Ruukki Metals, Helsinki, has signed a contract to deliver 9000 metric tons of steel coated with Galfan zinc-aluminum alloy to the Spanish company CIE Egana. The material will be used to manufacture the support arms for the parabolic reflectors in a new thermosolar plant to be built in Morocco. The plant will have an output of 125 megawatts, making it one of the largest in the world, and the first to be built in Morocco.

Laser deposition process increases forming die lifetime by 150%

The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT, Germany, announces that it has collaborated with several partners to develop a laser metal deposition process that builds up local layers on forming dies, increasing lifetime by over 150%. Researchers rebuilt a conventional five-axis milling machine so that it could be used to alloy forming dies automatically via laser.