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.
ThyssenKrupp to sell Alabama plant to consortium of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal
ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany, reports that it will sell its ThyssenKrupp Steel USA rolling and coating plant in Calvert, Alabama, to a consortium of ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp. A long-term slab supply contract will secure the value of ThyssenKrupp CSA in Brazil. Upon closing, ThyssenKrupp will receive a purchase price of $1.55 billion.
Advanced vacuum heat treating furnace increases stainless steel’s durability and corrosion resistance
Seco-Warwick Corp., Meadville, Pa., has commissioned an advanced furnace design that provides improved durability for stainless steel heat treating. This vacuum furnace is equipped with a 15-bar gas quenching system and a full HMI data retrieval control package. Its Super Expanite process improves the hardness and corrosion resistance of stainless steel.
Republic Steel invests $85 million to grow production by more than one million tons
Republic Steel, Canton, Ohio, has invested $85 million at its plant in Lorain, Ohio, where it has initiated hot commissioning of its new electric arc furnace. The furnace will provide more than one million tons of steel annually for the production of semi-finished, bar, and coil products. The initial heats will be cast into 6 x 6 in. billets and will be rolled on the 0.9 in. rolling mill.