\n\tAdvanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), Waterloo, Iowa, announces that it has completed Phase I of a grant to evaluate plasma nitriding for improved life of forging dies by generating a hard case on tribological surfaces. AHT, along with Ohio State University’s Manufacturing Research Group, received a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration SBIR Program and the Defense Technical Information Center. The grant was issued in August 2015 to research “Plasma Enhanced Nanostructures for Improved Life of Forging Dies,” and Phase I was completed on April 30th, 2016.<\/p>\n
\n\tForging die failure affects the entire economy of forging companies, including the cost of tooling, repair, press downtimes, and production lead times, to name a few. According to a recent survey, as the batch sizes increase, machine setup costs go down (economy of scale); however, tooling costs rise.<\/span><\/p>\n