Norman Noble, Highland Heights, Ohio, a medical device contract manufacturer, announced it has officially opened their new corporate headquarters at 5500 Avion Park Drive.
The new 51,000-square-foot facility on 12.35 acres accommodates the sales, estimating, and purchasing departments, and includes collaboration rooms, conference rooms, a learning center, and future manufacturing and product development space.
As project manager, Julie Bennett Lowry, Norman Noble’s director of facilities and environmental Health and Safety stated, “The newly constructed space is stunning, from the two-story main lobby with the full-height glass curtain walls to the 9-display video wall. The space was designed with multiple conference rooms ranging in size as well as a very open office concept making it inviting for personnel to collaborate.”
The technology and the design of the headquarters will help meet medical OEM customers’ growing requirements for Nitinol-based products, including structural heart implants, neurovascular devices, and vascular stent implants.
The continuous heat treatment of tool steel is applied to low- or medium-alloyed carbon steel strips as well as martensitic stainless steels. The described lines produce high-quality strip with respect to uniform structure, flatness, and bright surface finish. Steel grades with 0.4 to 1.2% C, low and high alloyed, can be processed. Strip dimensions range between 10 to 750 mm (0.4 to 29.5 in.) wide and 0.05 to 4 mm (0.002 to 0.16 in.) thick. High quenching rates are necessary, especially for plain carbon steels. Cooling gradients of up to 600 K/s are possible in a molten lead-bismuth quench. Because two-stage quenching technology provides considerable advantages over quenching in oil, this method has been adopted worldwide. It is also possible to achieve isothermal transformation to bainite and pearlite using a molten metal quench, so this type of hardening and tempering line is extremely versatile.
The configuration of a high-performance line involves an entry and exit section of the strip handling equipment (Fig. 10). The hardening section consists of the austenitizing furnace, the molten metal quench or hydrogen quench, and a martensite cooler. Beyond the martensite cooler the strip is martensitic and fully hardened, and then it passes through the tempering section—consisting of a leveling furnace, tempering furnace equipped with an atmosphere recirculation system, and an atmosphere jet cooler—to finally leave the facility, completely flat, with a bright surface finish and tempered to very uniform tensile strength.
For more information, click on the link below (subscription required). Then scroll to Figure 10
R Schneider ; R. Mesquita ; H. Altena ; T. Müller ; P. Seemann,Processes and Furnace Equipment for Heat Treating of Tool Steels, ASM International, 2014, https://doi.org/10.31399/asm.hb.v04d.a0005958
Ipsen repurposes ceramics facility for expanded hot zone production capacity
Ipsen, Pecatonica, Ill., formerly known as Ipsen Ceramics, is expanding its vacuum furnace hot zone assembly. The refurbishments include new lighting, HVAC, roofing, and other interior and exterior upgrades. Located at 325 John Street, less than 30 miles from Ipsen’s Vacuum Technology Excellence Center in Cherry Valley, the factory will initially employ up to eight material assemblers.
Incorporating the Pecatonica location into Ipsen’s vacuum furnace production and aftermarket process will provide added benefits to customers. Jake Hamid, Ipsen’s director and chief Operating Officer, stated that “Our goal is to reduce delivery times and better control the critical phase of assembly.” In the future, Ipsen is considering other manufacturing activities in Pecatonica to supplement the needs of the Vacuum Technology Excellence Center.
The move to repurpose the Pecatonica plant aligns with Ipsen’s commitment to providing high-quality vacuum furnace equipment and services to customers. The company’s dedication to meeting customer needs and reducing delivery times will be further enhanced by this strategic move, ensuring that Ipsen remains a leader in the vacuum furnace industry.
Seco/Vacuum, Meadville, Pa., has announced that a U.S.-based international manufacturer has placed an order for a Vector high-pressure gas quench furnace. The new furnace will increase the partner’s heat treat capability while improving part quality. The Vector will allow the partner to heat treat larger parts, at higher quantities per cycle than their existing furnace, all with improved quality control and reliability.
The partner’s equipment requires the use of large dies that require precise heat treating. Their current heat treatment setup includes a pair of vacuum furnaces, which have some limits compared to the Vector they are about to receive.
The new furnace, a bottom loading Vector vacuum furnace with 6 bar nitrogen gas quench, has a 60″ diameter, 72″ tall, and a 3-ton capacity working zone. It is equipped with convection heating which allows them to run their tempering cycle in the same furnace without having to move parts after hardening, a tremendous time and labor savings.
The furnace is also equipped with SECO/WARWICK’s FineCarb low-pressure carburizing system for future process developments. The Vector will increase production capacity to meet the rising market demand of today and tomorrow. The new furnace’s vertical configuration and rotary hearth were built specifically to accommodate more large dies, allowing the partner to meet the elevated demand with ease. SECO/VACUUM’s intuitive process controls ensure greater heating uniformity than their existing equipment in both convection mode and in vacuum mode.
More than 125 presentations of original, unpublished work will be delivered when the ASM Heat Treating Society convenes for its 29th conference and exhibition in Columbus, Ohio, October 24-26. The information exchanged in these sessions – as researchers and practitioners share their latest discoveries, theories, and advancements – will have a significant impact on design and manufacturing innovation as well as the fortunes of industry.
One example of the cutting-edge work that will be unveiled is an investigation on the effect of heat treating on additively manufactured medical implants. Additive techniques offer unprecedented design flexibility for dental and orthopedic implants, but the intense heating and cooling spikes associated with direct metal laser sintering can leave the microstructure of titanium – a good bio-material but a poor thermal conductor – in a less than optimum state. To quantify the potential for improvement, researchers evaluated several heat treat processes and measured changes in hardness, residual stress, and corrosion. The promising findings will be shared in a Thursday morning session.
Caption: Optical metallography reveals microstructural differences between the build and deposition planes as well as pores near the surface of an as-printed titanium test sample. Structural mismatch is a source of residual stress, while pores can lead to fatigue fracture and corrosion.
Caption: X-ray diffraction results indicate that heat treating as-printed titanium parts (blue trace) reduces the ratio of α to β phase precipitates as seen in the narrowing of α peaks and the development of β peaks (green, orange, and red traces). This seems to correlate with measured improvements in corrosion resistance because micro-galvanic reactions stemming from phase differences cause pitting in α precipitates, a likely pathway for corrosion.
Another significant accomplishment that will be reported is a new method to predict the quenched and tempered hardness of complex steels based on chemistry data. Two researchers, building on prior attempts to calculate hardness as a function of chemistry, have developed a hybrid model that works for mixed microstructure alloys containing less than 0.5wt%Cr. As Cr levels increase, however, other alloying elements such as Mo and V become more influential, compounding the complexity of the problem. The researchers will describe the new method and its limitations on Tuesday morning.
Caption: A corrective variation on an earlier method for calculating tempered hardness in complex steels based on chemistry shows considerable improvement when measured and calculated data plots are compared side by side.
Caption: Hardness profiles for a 95 mm bar of SAE 4142 steel quenched in water and tempered at 1100°F as calculated from chemistry data using a recently developed method.
The results of several cross-sector efforts will also be presented, including a paper submitted by a group examining the role of vanadium in induction hardened shafts. Vanadium microalloying is common in carbon steel shafts because it increases load capacity. Induction hardening offers additional benefits, but the presence of vanadium adds uncertainty to the process. Seeking clarity, researchers have obtained evidence that, under certain conditions, vanadium carbonitride precipitates formed during induction reduce austenite in the case/core region but not the case. Retained austenite, characterized by compositional gradients and undissolved carbides, is believed to limit case depth and hardenability.
Caption: Cross-sectional images of 1045 steel shafts in various induction hardened conditions reveal distinct differences in case, core, and case/core regions that correspond with the presence of vanadium and its effect on microstructure formation.
Caption: A high volume fraction of martensite (M) revealed by SEM imaging is believed to be the result of a large amount of austenite formed with the help of vanadium during induction hardening of 1045 steel.
More than 125 presentations of original, unpublished work will be delivered when the ASM Heat Treating Society convenes for its 29th conference and exhibition in Columbus, Ohio, October 24-26. The information exchanged in these sessions – as researchers and practitioners share their latest discoveries, theories, and advancements – will have a significant impact on design and manufacturing innovation as well as the fortunes of industry.
One Minute Mentor: Variations in Heat-Treating Cycles of PH Stainless Steels
October 31, 2016
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One of the principal advantages of these materials is their versatility. Although certain heat treatments are classified as standard, there are applications where deviations from these standards are desirable.
The graphs show the effect of variations in annealing temperature on typical mechanical properties of 17-7 PH sheet, strip, and plate.
Heat Treating of Precipitation-Hardenable Stainless Steels and Iron-Base Superalloys ⇒ Heat Treated High-Alloy Steels ⇒ Heat Treating of Martensitic Stainless Steels ⇒ General Procedures
The exposure of duplex stainless steels to temperatures in the range of 1100 to 1850°F can result in the formation of undesirable intermetallic compounds such as σ and χ phases.
One Minute Mentor: Effects of Stress Relieving Temperature on Corrosion Resistance of Stainless Steel
August 12, 2016
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Although stabilized alloys do not require high-temperature annealing to avoid intergranular corrosion, the stress-relieving temperature exerts an influence on the general corrosion resistance of these alloys.
The graph shows the effect of stress relieving for two hours at various temperatures on the corrosion rate of type 347 stainless steel in boiling 65% nitric acid. The corrosion resistance of type 347 in boiling nitric acid is better when the material is treated at 1500 to 1600°F than when treated at 1200 to 1300°F. The 1200 to 1300°F stress relief may be promoting the formation of a small quantity of chromium carbides as a result of free carbon not previously tied up as niobium carbides.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels⇒ Heat Treated High-Alloy Steels ⇒ Heat Treating of Austenitic and Duplex Stainless Steels ⇒ Stress Relieving
Although stabilized alloys do not require high-temperature annealing to avoid intergranular corrosion, the stress-relieving temperature exerts an influence on the general corrosion resistance of these alloys.
One Minute Mentor: Annealing of Austenitic and Duplex Stainless Steels
August 4, 2016
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The lower carbon content in an austenitic stainless steel slows the kinetics of carbide precipitation. This allows longer time at temperature before the onset of sensitization. The graph shows the Time-Temperature-Sensitization diagram (TTS) for 304 austenitic stainless steel with various amounts of carbon. Decreasing carbon content significantly delays the formation of chromium carbides and the onset of intergranular corrosion. In low-carbon grades, defined as those with carbon content below 0.030%, an exposure of about 8 hours is necessary before sensitization occurs
Carbon content of 0.03% and lower allows short excursions of several hours into the sensitizing temperature range without loss of corrosion resistance. Carbon in austenite can be retained in supersaturation for extended periods of time. This is why austenitic L grades do not sensitize even though they are slightly supersaturated. Sensitization occurs at higher levels of carbon by prolonged heating at 600 to 850°C.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels⇒ Heat Treated High-Alloy Steels ⇒ Heat Treating of Austenitic and Duplex Stainless Steels ⇒ Annealing
One Minute Mentor: Heat Treating of Ferritic Stainless Steel: Properties
July 22, 2016
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Ferritic stainless steels are quite similar in their mechanical behavior to carbon steel. The main influence of chromium is to produce some solid solution hardening. Intermetallic phases may increase hardness (sometimes usefully) and decrease ductility, notch toughness, and corrosion resistance. The graph shows the influence of alpha prime on toughness.
Because stabilized alloys are ferritic at all temperatures, there is no automatic grain-refining transformation as exists in carbon steel. If grains grow large from annealing at high temperatures or welding, then the transition temperature increases. Section size also has an effect. Stabilized ferritic stainless steels are seldom used in thicknesses of over several millimeters because of decreasing toughness.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels -> Heat Treated High-Alloy Steels -> Heat Treating of Ferritic Stainless Steels -> Properties
Ferritic stainless steels are quite similar in their mechanical behavior to carbon steel. The main influence of chromium is to produce some solid solution hardening.
