Ipsen ships more than 15 furnaces that can run several different heat-treating processes
April 15, 2015
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Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., recently shipped more than 15 furnaces, including horizontal and vertical MetalMaster, Titan, TurboTreater, and VFS furnaces, as well as a vacuum aluminum-brazing furnace. Customers were in the United States, England, Canada, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Singapore. The furnaces have a variety of hot zone sizes and materials, including two vertical 84 x 84-inch hot zones.
These furnaces offered a range of different features, from being capable of meeting AMS 2750E requirements, to providing improved temperature uniformity using individual, PID-controlled heating zones and ensuring ease of system maintenance with a hinged rear service door.
This selection of furnaces was designated for use in a range of applications and industries, including Aerospace, Commercial Heat Treating, Energy, Medical and Tool and Die.
Combined with the ability to run a number of different processes, including annealing, brazing, hardening, stress relief and tempering, these shipments represent Ipsen's ability to provide sophisticated and intuitive heat-treating solutions through all-inclusive product lines. In addition, every furnace shipped by Ipsen is fully tested at vacuum and at temperature to ensure fast commissioning once it arrives at the customer's site.
With the help of Ipsen's Global Support Team – which facilitates furnace installations, as well as provides expert training and startup assistance throughout the entire lifespan of the equipment – customers can rely on Ipsen to provide 360-degree support for all of their heat-treating needs.
www.IpsenUSA.com/Products
Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., recently shipped more than 15 furnaces, including horizontal and vertical MetalMaster, Titan, TurboTreater, and VFS furnaces, as well as a vacuum aluminum-brazing furnace.
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EFD Induction furnace chosen for heat treatment of balance shafts
April 13, 2015
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EFD Induction Inc., Madison Heights, Mich., announces that a global supplier of engine, steering, and chassis components has selected a HardLine VM 500EFD furnace for hardening balance shafts. The vertical hardening system, which will be installed at a plant in Pune, India, is powered by a Sinac 60/80 generator. The machine also features a CNC-based control system and a closed-loop cooling system.
HardLine is our range of stationary heat treatment systems for surface- and through-hardening. The HardLine family includes vertical, horizontal centerless and customized machines—and serial and/or parallel compensated induction power sources with a wide range of output power and frequencies
"Balance shafts are subjected to extreme conditions," says Kiran Deyannavar of EFD Induction India. "The hardening process for this critical component must satisfy stringent quality standards."
The company has to date installed thousands of heating solutions for a vast range of industrial applications—bringing the benefits of induction technology to many of the world's leading manufacturing and service companies. EFD Induction has manufacturing plants, workshops, and service centers in the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
www.efd-induction.com
EFD Induction Inc., Madison Heights, Mich., announces that a global supplier of engine, steering, and chassis components has selected a HardLine VM 500EFD furnace for hardening balance shafts.
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Constellium invests $40 million to expand automotive structures plant in Michigan
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Constellium N.V., New York, has invested $40 million to expand its plant in Van Buren, Mich., which produces customized automotive structures and which features advanced prototyping and development capabilities. The 210,000 ft.2 expansion project has doubled plant manufacturing capacity for a total investment.
"Through the newly expanded Van Buren plant, we are now well-positioned to take full advantage of the growing automotive demand for aluminum structures in North America," said Pierre Vareille, Chief Executive Officer of Constellium.
"Van Buren is an ideal location," commented Paul Warton, President of Constellium's Automotive Structures and Industry business unit. "Its proximity to the automotive industry in Detroit enables us to work closely with our OEM customers and suppliers to ensure our products meet customized, precise specifications and performance expectations."
Constellium's expansion in Van Buren has created over 200 new jobs, enabling the industrial facility to reach a total of 370 full-time employees.
www.constellium.com
Constellium N.V., New York, has invested $40 million to expand its plant in Van Buren, Mich., which produces customized automotive structures and which features advanced prototyping and development capabilities.
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Zeiss provides scanning electron, stereo, and digital microscopes to ECR Engines
April 8, 2015
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Zeiss, Germany, announces an expansion of its multi-year partnership agreement with ECR Engines, Welcome, N.C., a subsidiary of Richard Childress Racing. The company develops and builds Chevrolet engines for numerous teams, including RCR's seven full-time teams. ECR is using the latest Zeiss EVO MA25 scanning electron microscope for material analysis studies, the Zeiss Stereo Discovery.V20 stereo microscope, and the ZEISS Smartzoom 5 digital microscope for imaging larger parts, and a confocal light microscope for measuring surface roughness and 3D-topographical characterization.
"We are proud of this new partnership with Zeiss, the leader of the microscopy industry," said Jim Suth, Quality Manager and Engineer for ECR. "Having access to the latest advanced, analytical technology will be an asset and provide us a distinct advantage that will undoubtedly translate to success on the race track."
ECR will use the microscopes for quality control, research and development, and failure analysis work. Data obtained by using these analytical tools will allow engineers to be completely confident in their decision making on both new part acceptance and failed part corrective actions. The work is being carried out as part of the company's ongoing implementation of cleaner components, stronger raw materials and higher performing lubricants. Engineers have found that ever-increasing demands on engines for power and fuel economy places greater pressure on various critical engine components, which can cause premature wear and/or fatigue. Occurrences of premature wear and fatigue can lead to catastrophic failure, resulting in the race team having to exit the race.
ECR will use the newest version of ZeissVO MA25 to study these different types of component wear and material fatigue. The SEM is equipped with Zeiss SmartBrowse software for particle analysis and report generation. As an essential part of the EVO workflow, Zeiss SmartBrowse provides an interactive map of the entire sample. By providing in-context visualization of all optical and SEM images in data layers, SmartBrowse greatly improves post image analysis and provides an innovative and striking data review method.
www.zeiss.com
Zeiss provides scanning electron, stereo, and digital microscopes to ECR Engines.
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Tata Steel awarded contract to supply heat-treated steel rail for London project
April 1, 2015
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Tata Steel, India, announces that is has been awarded the contract to supply highly wear-resistant steel rail for the Crossrail project beneath the heart of London. Rather than traditional methods of heating and cooling, the company has developed a system in which the rail moves through an induction furnace where an electromagnetic field heats the steel to 950°C. The rail is then rapidly cooled by compressed air. The result is steel rail with very low residual stress, which provides greater protection against the risk of rail failure compared to other in-line heat treatment processes.
Steel will be produced at Tata's Scunthorpe site in the U.K., before being rolled at the company's Hayange mill in northern France. It has already commenced deliveries to the Crossrail project, and will ultimately supply more than 57 km of its rail. In total, 7000 metric tons of rail will be used to create one of Europe's largest railway and infrastructure projects.
The Crossrail route will serve 40 stations and travel more than 100 km from Reading and Heathrow in the west, through new twin-bore 21-km tunnels below central London, to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
Tata Steel has already commenced deliveries to the Crossrail project, and will ultimately supply the project with more than 57 km of its heat treated, wear-resistant rail. In total 7000 metric tons of Tata Steel rail will be used to create one of Europe's largest railway and infrastructure projects.
During 2015, Crossrail's major tunnelling works will conclude and the focus will shift towards fit-out and implementing railway systems within the tunnels and stations. Alstom, TSO, and Costain Limited Joint Venture (ATCjv) have been appointed to provide the tunnel fit-out, including track and train power supply, in the central area which extends east under London from the Royal Oak tunnel portal at Paddington.
www.tatasteel.com
Tata Steel, India, announces that is has been awarded the contract to supply highly wear-resistant steel rail for the Crossrail project beneath the heart of London.
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Seco-Warwick nitriding system reduces ammonia usage by 140 metric tons/year
March 31, 2015
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Seco-Warwick, Meadville, Pa., reports that a global automotive manufacturer reduced ammonia usage by 140 metric tons per year while producing a million gears per year when it replaced traditional gas nitrocarburizing with ZeroFlow nitriding. The system also provides 99% process reliability and 98% equipment availability.
The scope of the installation was a completely automatic thermal treatment line, for the production of the whole series of gears being manufactured. The line includes five retort furnaces for nitrocarburizing, one four-chamber vacuum washer, two furnaces for activation in air, two units for further cooling of the charges, and an automatic loader that ensures transport within the system.
The company, which specializes in the production of diesel engines for trucks, construction machines, and other industrial applications, decided to install the ZeroFlow system to modernize and relocate the engine gear manufacturing cell that focused on mechanical assembly and heat treatment.
The new system works continuously, with one maintenance break per year. The quality of the heat treatment results meets requirements in terms of the thickness and hardness of the hardened layer, the compound layer, and porosity. No deficient gears were found during normal operation. Moreover, fatigue properties have been improved by about 50%.
The new system went online in 2014 and is currently operating at full capacity, meeting the stringent requirements for the automotive industry.
www.secowarwick.com
Seco-Warwick, Meadville, Pa., reports that a global automotive manufacturer reduced ammonia usage by 140 metric tons per year while producing a million gears per year when it replaced traditional gas nitrocarburizing with ZeroFlow nitriding.
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Proto Labs adds nickel steel and chrome-moly steel to its line of MIM materials
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Proto Labs, Maple Plain, Minn., has added two nickel-steel alloys and a chrome-moly steel that is the metal injection molding equivalent of 4140 steel to its portfolio of MIM materials. They expand potential applications for parts produced by its advanced MIM process. Low-alloy steels enable strong wear-resistant parts when heat-treated, and may also be coated in post-processing for further protection.
"We had tremendous customer demand for stainless steel with MIM last year, and expect the same response to our new low-alloy metals," says Becky Cater, product manager for MIM. "We offer many different hard and soft metals through our 3D printing and CNC machining services, but nickel steel parts are only produced through metal injection molding."
As for applications, the low-alloy steel materials will be used heavily by the firearms industry for various gun and archery components, as well as by automotive engineers for engine and transmission components. The industrial goods sector will use MIM during development of hand and power tools, and door and window lock hardware, for example.
In addition to rapid prototypes, Proto Labs can produce up to 5000+ metal-injection-molded end-use parts within 15 days.
www.protolabs.com
Proto Labs, Maple Plain, Minn., has added two nickel-steel alloys and a chrome-moly steel that is the metal injection molding equivalent of 4140 steel to its portfolio of MIM materials.
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Head of Mars Curiosity Rover Mission to speak at ASM’s Megashow
March 26, 2015
Source: ASM International
SM International, Materials Park, Ohio, announced that Dr. John Grotzinger, chief scientist and head of strategic science planning for NASA’s $2.5 billion Curiosity rover mission to Mars, was selected as the plenary speaker for their co-located show which takes place on May 11-14.
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Thermal Product Solutions acquires Wisconsin Oven
March 23, 2015
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Thermal Product Solutions (TPS), New Columbia, Pa., has acquired Wisconsin Oven Corp., East Troy, Wis. TPS is a global leader in thermal processing products and test solutions, with brands including BlueM, Gruenberg, Tenney, Lindberg, and MPH. Wisconsin Oven offers products for the aerospace, automotive, composites, energy, finishing, military, and pharmaceutical industries.
Wisconsin Oven has been designing, engineering, and manufacturing a broad range of industrial ovens and other heating equipment since 1973. The company strives for superior equipment quality and performance along with a commitment to customer service. Many of the industries served require specific temperature uniformity and equipment performance documentation. Its experienced design team is able to meet even the most stringent standards for its equipment.
"Wisconsin Oven has experienced incredible growth since selling to PLC group of France in 2012. This acquisition by TPS will provide great new opportunities and allow continued growth for the entire group. We are extremely excited about becoming part of the TPS family. The experience combined by all these great companies will provide expert solutions for applications in all temperature ranges," says David Strand, President/CEO, Wisconsin Oven.
www.thermalproductsolutions.com
Thermal Product Solutions (TPS), New Columbia, Pa., has acquired Wisconsin Oven Corp., East Troy, Wis.
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United States Steel to invest $277 million in Birmingham Fairfield Works
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United States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, announces two capital investment projects valued at a total of $277.5 million at its Fairfield Works in Birmingham, Ala. The first is the construction of a technologically advanced electric arc furnace (EAF). The second is construction of a plant that will develop and manufacture oil country tubular goods with premium connections for the oil and gas industries.
The EAF is part of the company's larger transformation, the Carnegie Way, in which a large number of initiatives are being implemented to improve the company's customer understanding, operating flexibility, cost structure, and raw materials position. The tubular coupling facility will feature four cells to manufacture couplings for all of U. S. Steel's premium connections, including USS-Liberty FJM, USS-Patriot EBM, and USS-Patriot TC connections, for customers in the energy industry.
U. S. Steel has received the necessary authorization and economic incentives from Jefferson County to invest $230 million to construct the EAF at Fairfield Works in place of the facility's existing blast furnace, and an additional $47.5 million in the construction of the coupling facility. The construction project will be a significant investment into Jefferson County, as it will create approximately 650 temporary construction jobs over the course of both projects, and will ensure the future of steelmaking in Alabama.
Construction of the EAF will begin in the second quarter of 2015, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2016. The construction on the coupling facility is also anticipated to begin in the second quarter of 2015, and is expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2016. Throughout the process, U. S. Steel will continue to operate Fairfield Works' steelmaking and finishing operations to serve both flat-rolled and tubular customers in accordance with market requirements.
www.ussteel.com
United States Steel Corp., Pittsburgh, announces two capital investment projects valued at a total of $277.5 million at its Fairfield Works in Birmingham, Ala.
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