Lindberg/MPH ships atmosphere box heat treating furnace for R&D
January 28, 2017
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Lindberg/MPH, Riverside, Mich., announces the shipment of an atmosphere box furnace with a wide temperature range of 1400 to 2012°F for research and development purposes. It has a work chamber of 36X48x36 inches, making it ideal for heat treating a variety of part sizes. The heat-treating furnace is constructed with mild steel construction and structural steel frame.
A vacuum formed ceramic fiber insulation is enables quick heat-up and low heat storage. A horizontal swing insulated plug door keeps the inner hot surface away from the operator when opening to charge or unload work. The programmable temperature controller is capable of running 50 programs with 500 segments. This capability allows the operator to set specific programs for the different parts that will be processed.
"By designing the furnace with a wide temperature range it provides the customer with the flexibility to process a variety of part sizes and materials," says Jason Dobberstein, Sales Manager.
Unique features include vacuum-formed ceramic fiber modules with low heat storage for fast heat up rates; Prewired, side mounted, forced air-cooled control console; Programmable controller; Vacuum formed ceramic fiber insulation; Horizontal swing insulated door plug; Door limit switch ; and Nitrogen atmosphere.
www.lindbergmph.com
Lindberg/MPH, Riverside, Mich., announces the shipment of an atmosphere box furnace with a wide temperature range of 1400 to 2012°F for research and development purposes.
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One Minute Mentor: Removing the Passive Layer in Low-Temperature Gas Nitriding
January 27, 2017
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The recent advent of low-temperature gas nitriding (for the production of the S-phase in stainless steel) as opposed to regular high-temperature (above 550 °C) gas nitriding (of regular steel) had to find a way to remove the passive layer in this low-temperature condition.
Patent EP 1707646 B1 (2005): The process set forth in this patent uses a gaseous carbon donor compound (such as acetylene, ethylene, propane, butane, or carbon monoxide) with ammonia at temperatures greater than 570°F. It is carried out in a reactor vessel made of metal such as iron, nickel, cobalt, etc. The catalytic action of the reactor vessel will generate HCN. The HCN will depassivate the stainless steel surface through the following reactions:
2NH + C2H2 → 2HCN + 3H2
Cr2O3 + 6HCN → 2Cr(CN)3 + 3H2O
The carbon and nitrogen in 2Cr(CN)3 diffuse inward and form the nitrocarburized case, leaving a clean surface. The dewpoint must be kept below 40 °F to keep the metal surface being treated from repassivating, which means that the flow of gas must be continuous to eject excessive water formed during the depassivation and nitrocarburizing reaction. After the depassivation step, ordinary gas nitriding with NH3 + H2 + N2 atmosphere can be carried out as desired. The exhaust gas is burned and decomposed at the exit as nitrogen and CO2.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels ⇒ Heat Treated High-Alloy Steels ⇒ Nitriding of Stainless Steels ⇒ Thermochemical Nitriding Treatments
The recent advent of low-temperature gas nitriding (for the production of the S-phase in stainless steel) as opposed to regular high-temperature (above 550 °C) gas nitriding (of regular steel) had to find a way to remove the passive layer in this low-temperature condition.
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Airbus awards Ducommun multiyear contract to produce titanium structures
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Ducommun Inc., Carson, Calif., has received a multiyear, multimillion dollar contract from Airbus to produce additional titanium structures for engine support and engine frames on the A320neo (new engine option) aircraft. The award increases Ducommun's content on the single-aisle jetliner. Ducommun will manufacture these titanium engine support structures using its proprietary hot-forming and superplastic forming processes at its operations center in Parsons, Kansas.
"This award further demonstrates our support of Airbus with innovative, value-added structural solutions, and we are certainly pleased to see their continued confidence in our capabilities," said Stephen G. Oswald, president and chief executive officer. "We believe our expertise in a wide array of titanium forming technologies presents numerous opportunities for accelerated growth across the aerospace industry. This is a key area of strategic focus for Ducommun, and we are investing in technologies that will support our customers' changing requirements for their next generation aircraft."
www.ducommun.com
Ducommun Inc., Carson, Calif., has received a multiyear, multimillion dollar contract from Airbus to produce additional titanium structures for engine support and engine frames on the A320neo (new engine option) aircraft.
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Forgings supplier buys AFC Holcroft heat treatment furnace line
January 26, 2017
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AFC-Holcroft, Wixom, Mich., reports that a European-based multi-national supplier of forgings for the automotive industry has brought their heat treatment process in-house by investing in an AFC-Holcroft automated non-atmosphere batch heat treatment line to be delivered to an American facility located in the Midwest. The equipment will be used to process raw forgings that will undergo normalizing, tempering, stress relieving and a quench and temper process.
To secure the order, AFC-Holcroft needed to prove to the customer the return on investment. This was accomplished through meetings in the United States and abroad, calculations of costs, visits to customer sites, analysis of production schedules, testing of parts, etc.
"Our customer was very thorough in its consideration of new heat treatment equipment," says Ron Graham, Sales Engineer for AFC-Holcroft. "They were then outsourcing their heat treatment and needed to ensure that the new equipment met all of the requirements for their various processes. AFC-Holcroft's Sales, Applications, and Engineering groups all engaged in the process to validate that we were providing the optimal solution to meet their needs."
The equipment consists of five direct-fired, non-atmosphere batch heat treating furnaces, with automation provided by a SCADA system for a fully automated process.
www.afc-holcroft.com
AFC-Holcroft, Wixom, Mich., reports that a European-based multi-national supplier of forgings for the automotive industry has brought their heat treatment process in-house by investing in an AFC-Holcroft automated non-atmosphere batch heat treatment line to be delivered to an American facility located in the Midwest.
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Seco Warwick introduces Seco Vacuum Technologies to North America
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Seco Warwick, Meadville, Pa., announces the creation of Seco Vacuum Technologies, a new company designed to provide standard and custom vacuum furnaces and related professional services to the North America market. Our new company will deliver the best quality, service and support to our American customers.
We achieve this by focusing on North America for sales and support; offering production-size demonstration furnaces for process validation; expediting delivery of all components, controls, and support documentation; and providing United States-based local service teams, including installation and maintenance support.
With nearly 400 vacuum furnaces installed in North America alone, Seco Warwick is already a well-established vacuum furnace brand for commercial and captive heat treaters. Through the creation of a company dedicated to the unique requirements of our North American customers, Seco Vacuum Technologies will improve delivery of the world's best technology and configure it for seamless compatibility to American standard components and controls.
Commented SVT's managing director, Piotr Zawistowski, "Seco Vacuum Technologies is positioned to deliver improved products and services to established customers and new companies as well, by adapting some of Seco Warwick's core products and capabilities for better compatibility with North American expectations. In addition to providing the world's best technology, our key to this strategy will be to compete aggressively on both price and delivery. For example, our Value Incentive Program (VIP), is a platform that offers several standard Vector furnace models configured for fast delivery to USA customers."
Specific Vector models in the most popular sizes and quench pressures will be available through the VIP program.
www.secovacusa.com
Seco Warwick, Meadville, Pa., announces the creation of Seco Vacuum Technologies, a new company designed to provide standard and custom vacuum furnaces and related professional services to the North America market.
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Ipsen concludes record year by shipping 25 furnaces in fourth quarter
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Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., announces that it wrapped up a record year by shipping 25 furnaces during the last three months of 2016. With destinations in six countries and 13 U.S. states, this equipment will support the aerospace, automotive, commercial heat treating, medical and MIM industries. Heat-treating systems ranged from a custom-built debinding and sintering furnace to a horizontal MetalMaster vacuum furnace with a 20,000-pound load capacity.
Included among the shipments were an atmosphere washer and loader, as well as several H2- and H6-sized Titan vacuum furnaces equipped with the PdMetrics predictive maintenance software platform. This exclusive platform helps optimize equipment performance and minimize downtime. Other vacuum furnaces shipped included horizontal and vertical MetalMaster furnaces, Titan DS (debinding and sintering) furnaces, a VerticalTurbo, a Titan LT (low-temperature), a horizontal TurboTreater, and an HEQ (horizontal external quench) from the VFS product line.
To best support these industries, Ipsen's global ICS (Ipsen Customer Service) Team facilitates system installations, as well as provides expert training, startup assistance and 360° support throughout the entire life span of the equipment for any brand.
www.IpsenUSA.com/ICS
Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., announces that it wrapped up a record year by shipping 25 furnaces during the last three months of 2016.
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Sturbridge Metallurgical wins Sikorsky approval for materials testing
January 25, 2017
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Sturbridge Metallurgical Services Inc., Sturbridge, Mass., announces that it has been approved as a Materials Testing Lab for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. (a Lockheed Martin Corp.) and its manufacturing supplier base. Manufacturers, suppliers and/or vendors of Sikorsky, as well as Sikorsky directly, can now utilize the full scope of Sturbridge Metallurgical's materials testing capabilities. Suppliers can access their approved certification letter through the Sturbridge Metallurgical website and navigate to the quality assurance section.
Sturbridge offers chemical analysis, SEM/EDS analysis, failure analysis, tensile testing, GE grain size ratings, corrosion testing, metallography, hardness and microhardness testing, and a variety of other metallurgical testing services.
"Our team has worked extremely hard to put the systems in place to ensure that organizations such as Sikorsky and their supply chain will want to have their parts tested here," says Brendan Fullam, General Manager and Business Development Manager at Sturbridge. "We have a great team here and everyone works very hard to keep our customers happy. Having Sikorsky grant us approval validates all of the effort and time that they have put into the organization, and keeps us even more focused on demanding the best from ourselves."
www.smslabs.com
Sturbridge Metallurgical Services Inc., Sturbridge, Mass., announces that it has been approved as a Materials Testing Lab for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. (a Lockheed Martin Corp.) and its manufacturing supplier base.
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One Minute Mentor: Plasma-Immersion Ion Implantation
January 23, 2017
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The fundamental difference between plasma nitriding (glow discharge) and plasma-immersion ion implantation (PIII) is that the latter relies on high-energy pulses (up to 45 kV) that promote a low-energy ion implantation in the target, but that is still less than the energy used in conventional ion implantation (>100 kV). A combination of target temperature and pulse voltage achieve the desired implantation profile.
The PIII process can be seen as a modification of the plasma nitriding process that provides control of individual operational parameters and thus improves the plasma treatment. Most systems use an RF plasma at frequencies up to 2.45 GHz to generate a nitrogen microwave plasma, independent of temperature and bias voltage at the target, in the same beneficial low-pressure atmosphere as the regular RF plasma treatment process.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels ⇒ Heat-Treated High Alloy Steels ⇒ Nitriding of Stainless Steels ⇒ Thermochemical Nitriding Treatments
The fundamental difference between plasma nitriding (glow discharge) and plasma-immersion ion implantation (PIII) is that the latter relies on high-energy pulses (up to 45 kV) that promote a low-energy ion implantation in the target, but that is still less than the energy used in conventional ion implantation (>100 kV). A combination of target temperature and pulse voltage achieve the desired implantation profile.
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Ryerson acquires Laserflex for its laser fabrication and welding capabilities
January 20, 2017
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Ryerson Holding Corp., Chicago, announces that it has acquired the Laserflex Corp., which specializes in laser fabrication and welding, and further enhances Ryerson's existing fabrication and metals processing capabilities. Laserflex employs more than 100 at its two locations in Columbus, Ohio, and Wellford, South Carolina, and has annual revenue of approximately $25 million.
"Laserflex and Ryerson share a passion for creating great customer experiences in the advanced fabrication of metal parts for a wide variety of original equipment manufacturers," says Eddie Lehner, Ryerson's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Laserflex is an integral fit to our strategy focused around speed, scale, value-added culture, and analytics."
"The Laserflex management team has built an excellent company over the past 20 years," added Kevin Richardson, Ryerson's President, South-East Region. "We have worked closely with them as both a customer and a supplier of value-added services."
"Our Laserflex team looks forward to growing and expanding our laser processing and other precision metal fabrication services throughout Ryerson's expansive commercial network," says Ken Kinkopf, President and Chief Executive Officer of Laserflex.
www.ryerson.com
Ryerson Holding Corp., Chicago, announces that it has acquired the Laserflex Corp., which specializes in laser fabrication and welding, and further enhances Ryerson’s existing fabrication and metal processing capabilities.
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Outokumpu offers full range of stainless steel rebar products for infrastructure
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Outokumpu Oy, Sweden, announces that after expanding its stainless rebar capabilities in the United States, the company is able to offer a full range of stainless steel rebar products, including coil, cut-to-length, and bent shapes. The facility in Richburg, South Carolina, has unique capabilities to cover a full range of rebar dimensions between sizes #3 and #8 (from 6 mm to 25.4 mm), and lengths up to 60 feet, and offers short lead times for the North American market.
"With multiple landmark projects, Outokumpu has a strong reputation in the stainless steel rebar market globally," says Bob Beatty, head of Outokumpu Stainless Bar USA. "From our South Carolina facilities we are able to offer fully domestically produced stainless rebar for customers in the United States and Canada. We look forward working with leading construction-industry partners to bring our stainless rebar products to the market."
Usage of stainless steel rebar is growing rapidly across North America, as it delivers significant lifetime savings to infrastructure owners. Stainless rebar has been successful in highly demanding structures, including bridges and other road infrastructure, which show no signs of deterioration after decades of service. Stainless steel does not rely on concrete for its corrosion protection and is a straightforward solution when concrete is subject to the ingress of chlorides from either marine environments or de-icing salts.
Outokumpu has a century of experience in creating efficient, long-lasting, and recyclable stainless steels. Its global offerings include quality-critical long products for buildings and infrastructures. Its Long Products sites are located in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.
outokumpu.com/rebar
Outokumpu Oy, Sweden, announces that after expanding its stainless rebar capabilities in the United States, the company is able to offer a full range of stainless steel rebar products, including coil, cut-to-length, and bent shapes.
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