GE Additive company to offer aluminum alloy F357 powder for aerospace and automotive
December 12, 2018
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AP&C, a GE Additive company located in Saint-Eustache, Canada, announces that it will begin production of aluminum alloy F357 powder to meet increased demand from aerospace and automotive sectors in Q1 2019. Customer deliveries are expected from April 2019.
The product is known for its good weldability with high strength and toughness, while offering a good corrosion resistance and heat conductivity. AP&C will use its proprietary Advanced Plasma Atomization (APA) for production at its recently expanded facility in Saint-Eustache, Canada. The new, automated plant offers a full production capacity of 1,000 tons.
Aluminum shares similar characteristics with titanium, and aluminum alloy F357 powder has the same quality signature as APATM titanium powders, providing the processability, high flowability, high packing, low porosity and high purity required by the additive manufacturing industry to enhance performance and reliability for the aluminum printing process.
www.ge.com/additive
AP&C, a GE Additive company located in Saint-Eustache, Canada, announces that it will begin production of aluminum alloy F357 powder to meet increased demand from aerospace and automotive sectors in Q1 2019.
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GKN Powder Metallurgy and EOS partner to advance metal additive manufacturing
December 9, 2018
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GKN Powder Metallurgy, DuBois, Pa., has formed a strategic partnership with EOS GmbH, Germany, with the goal of designing a new, high-productivity process for laser-based metal additive manufacturing to reduce production time by 70% and overall cost by up to 50%.
The combination of GKN’s innovative metal powder, EOS Stainless Steel 316L VPro, and its additive manufacturing expertise, should make it possible to create high-performance parts designed for end-use at scale.
“In order to expand our footprint in the automotive industry, we were looking for a strong partner with a high level of expertise in the field of steels and typical industry grade materials combined with a proven track record of further industrialising technologies together with customer applications,†says Dr Adrian Keppler, CEO at EOS. “We found a perfect partner in GKN Powder Metallurgy. Based on this partnership, our customers will benefit from higher build speeds and lower material costs resulting in significantly optimized cost per part. This is going to lower the entry barrier and will enable completely new application fields.â€
www.gknpm.com
www.eos.info
GKN Powder Metallurgy, DuBois, Pa., has formed a strategic partnership with EOS GmbH, Germany, with the goal of designing a new, high-productivity process for laser-based metal additive manufacturing to reduce production time by 70% and overall cost by up to 50%.
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Seco gas nitriding furnace enables production of high-performance steel surfaces
December 8, 2018
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Seco Vacuum, Meadville, Pa., reports that a growing American manufacturer has recently ordered a new precision gas nitriding furnace with ZeroFlow. The furnace will allow the company to offer engineered steel surfaces that exceed, in many cases, its competitors’ product performance, giving it an edge via heat treating that few other companies in their competitive sphere can replicate. The customer is involved in high-end manufacturing of various transportation components.
ZeroFlow solves a broad array of heat processing needs, such as lower operating costs, attractive return-on-investment (ROI), precise control of case depth, and control of nitride layer formation.
“ZeroFlow refers to precision gas nitriding, but the Seco Vacuum retort line of furnaces offers so much more," said Piotr Zawistowski, Managing Director of Seco Vacuum Technologies.
The vacuum purge provides inexpensive processing atmospheres, and the vacuum-tight construction assures clean heat processing for tempering, annealing, and precipitation hardening. This retort furnace can be paired with a oil quench hardening and low pressure carburizing furnace for extreme flexibility.â€
The furnace is equipped with all options, including accelerated turbo cooling. In addition to gas nitriding, it also has ferritic nitrocarburizing capability and pre- and post-oxidation. Unique to its design is the ability to clean temper and clean anneal to temperatures up to 1400°F.
https://www.secovacusa.com/product/zeroflow-furnace
Seco Vacuum, Meadville, Pa., reports that a growing American manufacturer has recently ordered a new precision gas nitriding furnace with ZeroFlow.
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Goodfellow to offer Victrex mineral-filled semicrystalline and amorphous PEEK film
December 6, 2018
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Goodfellow, Coraopolis, Pa., announces a major expansion of its range of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) materials to include 12 different forms: film, sheet, fiber, monofilament, powder, granule, tube, rod, mesh, bolt, nut, and washer. The company is now able to meet application requirements in an extraordinarily wide range of industries.
Of special note is the addition of more semi-crystalline unfilled, mineral-filled, and black cosmetic grades of PEEK film, along with a mineral-filled amorphous grade film. This is the result of an agreement Goodfellow has established with Victrex, an innovative world leader in high-performance polymer solutions, to adopt the full range of Victrex Aptiv PEEK films in sample quantities. Featuring a thin film format and used in a wide variety of applications in the aerospace, automotive, electronics, energy, and manufacturing industries, versatile Aptiv PEEK films provide exceptional durability and reliability in demanding application environments.
PEEK is a high-performance engineering thermoplastic with excellent mechanical properties and chemical resistance across a broad temperature range. It also exhibits extremely high resistance to steam sterilization, excellent radiation resistance, low outgassing under vacuum, and UL94 V-0 flammability rating.
www.goodfellowusa.com
Goodfellow, Coraopolis, Pa., announces a major expansion of its range of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) materials to include 12 different forms: film, sheet, fiber, monofilament, powder, granule, tube, rod, mesh, bolt, nut, and washer.
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Steel Dynamics to invest $1.6 billion in new electric-arc furnace flat roll steel mill
November 28, 2018
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Steel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., announces that its Board of Directors has authorized the company to construct a new state-of-the-art, electric-arc-furnace (EAF) flat roll steel mill with annual production capacity of approximately 3.0 million tons, including the capability to produce the latest generation of Advanced High Strength Steel products.
The project will include value-added finishing lines, including a galvanizing line with an annual capacity of 450,000 tons, and a paint line with an annual coating capacity of 250,000 tons. The product offering is anticipated to include various flat roll steel products, including hot roll, cold roll, galvanized, Galvalume and painted steel, primarily serving the energy, automotive, construction, and appliance sectors. The current estimated investment is $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion, with anticipated direct job creation of approximately 600 well-paying positions, and numerous opportunities for indirect job growth from other support service providers.
The company currently expects to locate the facility in the southwestern United States, to cost effectively serve not only the southern United States, but also the underserved Mexican flat roll steel market. Determination of the final site location is subject to state and local government infrastructure and incentive support. Upon final site selection and the receipt of required environmental and operating permits, the company would expect to begin construction in 2020, followed by the commencement of operations in the second half of 2021.
"We plan to utilize new technologies that will further reduce the gap between existing EAF and integrated steel mill production capabilities,†says Mark. D. Millett, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are excited to announce this investment, which is a culmination of our intentional focus to cost effectively further serve the customers in this growing flat roll steel consuming region, while increasing our steelmaking capacity and value-added product capability.â€
www.steeldynamics.com
Steel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., announces that its Board of Directors has authorized the company to construct a new state-of-the-art, electric-arc-furnace (EAF) flat roll steel mill with annual production capacity of approximately 3.0 million tons, including the capability to produce the latest generation of Advanced High Strength Steel products.
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Sandvik installs Renishaw laser 3D printers and collaborates on process development
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Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, Sweden, announces that it has installed several new Renishaw RenAM 500Q quad laser printing machines, and is also initiating further collaboration with Renishaw in areas such as materials development, AM process technologies, and post-processing.
This print capacity expansion follows a recently announced investment of $22 million in a new plant for the manufacturing of titanium and nickel powders for additive manufacturing. These powders will complement Sandvik’s existing Osprey powder offering to include virtually all alloy groups of relevance today.
The new multi-laser RenAM 500Q systems complement Sandvik’s existing AM machines, which include printers from EOS, Concept Laser, Arcam, and ExOne. Collectively, the machines now cover a very wide range of printing technologies for different materials and applications.
When it comes to additive manufacturing, the optimal balance of weight, strength, hardness, thermal characteristics, flexibility, geometric complexity, surface finish, and other characteristics varies from one application to the next. Therefore, Sandvik works across the entire value chain, from component selection, AM-design and modelling, through material choice/development and optimal printing process, to post-processing, testing, and quality assurance.
With its Osprey range of metal powders, Sandvik has the in-house capability to produce the market’s broadest portfolio of alloys, coupled with the metallurgical expertise to customize the best material for every application.
“We work closely with our customers to tailor alloys in line with their exact requirements, even for small batch print runs,†says Annika Roos, Head of the Powder Division in Sandvik. “Not only do we match the alloy to the purpose, but also we can optimize the particle size for the chosen printing process."
www.additive.sandvik/se
Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, Sweden, announces that it has installed several new Renishaw RenAM 500Q quad laser printing machines, and is also initiating further collaboration with Renishaw in areas such as materials development, AM process technologies, and post-processing.
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Abstract from MS&T 2018 technical program: Effects of Post-Build Thermal Processing on the Microstructure of Laser Powder-Bed Produced 17-4 PH Stainless Steel
November 24, 2018
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17-4 PH is a martensitic stainless steel of interest for additive manufacturing (AM) applications because of its combination of high strength and corrosion resistance. In the wrought form this steel has a fully martensitic structure that can be strengthened by precipitation of fine Cu-rich FCC precipitates upon aging. When produced via AM, its microstructure depends strongly on the powder feedstock, particularly the gas used during powder atomization, typically argon or nitrogen. Argon-atomized powder costs significantly more than that produced with nitrogen.
However, nitrogen is a strong austenite stabilizer in iron and steel, resulting in an as-built microstructure of AM 17-4 PH that contains up to 90% retained austenite.
Conventional annealing heat treatments reduce the retained austenite to around 10% to 15%, even after cryogenic treatment, resulting in mechanical behavior that differs significantly compared to cast/wrought 17-4 PH.
This work examines alternative post-build processing of nitrogen gas-atomized AM 17-4 PH to minimize or eliminate the retained austenite in the final microstructure, producing a material that more closely resembles its cast/wrought counterpart.
Eric Lass, Carelyn Campbell, Maureen Williams, National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST)
www.nist.gov
https://www.nist.gov/people/eric-lass
17-4 PH is a martensitic stainless steel of interest for additive manufacturing (AM) applications because of its combination of high strength and corrosion resistance.
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HRE Wheels, GE Additive build 3D-printed titanium wheel via electron beam melting
November 16, 2018
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HRE Wheels, Vista Calif., and GE Additive, Cincinnati, Ohio, announced a partnership agreement and showed the first titanium wheel built via electron-beam melting of titanium powder. Known as “HRE3D+â€, this new prototype wheel shows how advanced materials such as titanium can be harnessed to create complex designs.
The goal of the “HRE3D+†project was to test the capabilities of additive manufacturing in a practical application and to create a highly-sophisticated wheel design. With a traditional aluminum Monoblok wheel, 80% of material is removed from a 100-pound forged block of aluminum to create the final product. With additive manufacturing, only 5% of the titanium is removed and recycled, making the process far more efficient. Titanium also has a much higher specific strength than aluminum and is corrosion resistant, allowing it to be extremely lightweight and to be shown in its raw finish.
The wheel was produced on two Arcam EBM machines - Q20 and a Q10 in five separate sections, then combined using a custom center section and titanium fasteners.
"This is an incredibly exciting and important project for us as we get a glimpse into what the future of wheel design holds,†said HRE President Alan Peltier. “Working with GE Additive’s AddWorks team gave us access to the latest additive technology and an amazing team of engineers, allowing us to push the boundaries of wheel design beyond anything possible with current methods. To HRE, this partnership with GE Additive moves us into the future.â€
“HRE prides itself on its commitment to excellence and superior quality in the marketplace. It was a natural fit for AddWorks to work on this project with them and really revolutionize the way wheels can be designed and manufactured,†said Robert Hanet, senior design engineer, GE Additive AddWorks.
www.hrewheels.com
www.ge.com/additive
HRE Wheels, Vista Calif., and GE Additive, Cincinnati, Ohio, announce a partnership agreement and unveiled the first titanium wheel created using electron-beam melting of titanium powder.
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JSW Steel breaks ground on uniquely integrated plate/pipe mill complex in Texas
November 15, 2018
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JSW USA, Baytown, Texas, has broken ground on what its engineers believe to be the most technologically advanced and eco-friendly electric arc furnace, slab caster, and plate mill in the world. It is the only melt-and- manufacture plate mill with a contiguous pipe mill in North America. The melt-and-manufacture electric arc furnace and slab caster are being built on 111 acres at its 700-acre Baytown campus.
Thanks to new policies from Washington, JSW Steel USA is embarking on a journey to hire 1000 new workers and invest up to $1 billion to modernize and expand its U.S. operations. The project was initially unveiled in March of this year before an audience of more than 200 that included Texas Congressman Brian Babin, representatives from U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn’s offices, local economic development officials, and employees.
JSW USA, based in Baytown, Texas, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSW Group, a $13 billion group headquartered in India with more than 40,000 employees worldwide.
www.jswsteel.com
JSW USA, Baytown, Texas, has broken ground on what it believes to be the most technologically advanced and eco-friendly electric arc furnace, slab caster, and plate mill in the world.
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Carpenter acquires LPW Technology, continues additive manufacturing investment
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Carpenter Technology Corp., Philadelphia, announces it has acquired LPW Technology Ltd., England, for approximately $81 million. LPW provides advanced metal powders and management solutions to the additive manufacturing industry. With its additional processing operations near Pittsburgh, Pa., LPW employs approximately 80 people.
“The acquisition combines LPW’s metal powder lifecycle management technology and processes with our technical expertise in engineered metal powders and additively manufactured components," said Tony R. Thene, Carpenter’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Lifecycle management technology is becoming increasingly important to understanding how materials behave before, during, and after production in the powder-bed fusion process.
Carpenter’s additive portfolio, including recent investments in Puris, a titanium powders producer; CalRAM, a leader in electron beam and laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing services, and construction of an Emerging Technology Center in Athens, Alabama, represent a significant force positioned to capitalize on rapid AM growth.
www.cartech.com.
Carpenter Technology Corp., Philadelphia, announces it has acquired LPW Technology Ltd., England, for approximately $81 million.
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