Custom furnace maker Thermcraft launches first standard lab furnace line
September 1, 2015
Source:
Thermcraft Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., a manufacturer of custom furnaces, announces the release of ExpressLine, the company's first standard-size laboratory furnace, with the goal of cutting delivery time to just two weeks. The ExpressLine furnaces will provide a degree of customization via controller options, data acquisition and communication options, and gas purging and exhaust options.
The company says that these furnaces provide the same high quality and durability of its custom furnaces, with the fast shipment and affordability of standard furnaces. Thermcraft has been designing and engineering custom lab furnaces for over four decades.
"Researchers and manufacturers who rely on grant money or government funds have always been asking for quality lab furnaces that fit their tight budget and can be delivered within a short span of time, and our answer is creating our own line of standard size furnaces that will fit their needs perfectly," said Tom Crafton, President of Thermcraft.
"We take pride in the accuracy and toughness of our custom furnaces; however, we are also aware that the steep cost is preventing many small and medium laboratories from getting the furnaces they need. Through standardization, we are able to offer our ExpressLine laboratory furnaces at significantly lower prices, as they can be made at a lower cost while also having a faster turnaround," says Mr. Crafton.
Thermcraft's ExpressLine Laboratory Furnaces are available now with pricing that starts at $2018.00. The Thermcraft website has also been updated with ecommerce capabilities to eliminate the need for users to talk to a sales representative when making a purchase.
www.thermcraftinc.com
Thermcraft Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., a manufacturer of custom furnaces, announces the release of ExpressLine, the company’s first standard-size laboratory furnace, with the goal of cutting delivery time to just two weeks.
Continue reading
Seco-Warwick Allied commissions two aluminum melting and holding furnaces
August 31, 2015
Source:
Seco-Warwick Allied, India, recently commissioned two 60-metric-ton aluminum melting and holding furnaces for Hindalco Industries Ltd. The furnace design was prepared in conjunction with Seco-Warwick Corp. (USA). The furnaces are electrically heated with a hydraulic mechanism for tilting, and are designed for a melting rate of 1.3 metric tons per hour (minimum) each.
High inputs of fuel are required when melting aluminum; smaller amounts are required for holding the molten metal. Special attention is given to combustion control of fuel/air mixtures, furnace pressure, and temperature. Each system is equipped with solid state safety protection, high-temperature limits, and an alarm system.
The furnaces feature rugged steel construction reinforced with structural members at various key points. Points of localized stress such as door openings, tap and drain locations, and openings into external wells, receive additional reinforcement.
Burner placement is carefully analyzed to provide maximum coverage while providing the fastest melt rate possible. Special care is taken to select the correct burner so that just enough heat is applied to the furnace to do the job, but not too much as to cause problems with metal quality, high metal loss, or short furnace lining life.
The furnaces have been provided with doors for charging of solid metal or for skimming, and a door for charging of liquid metal by overhead crane. The scope of supply includes the furnace with heating, hydraulic system, PLC, and SCADA, with launders to feed an ingot casting machine. The launders lids have been designed for operation through a pneumatic cylinder arrangement.
Hindalco Industries Ltd., the flagship company of the Aditya Vikram Birla Group, seeks to be the growth engine of the group in the nonferrous metals business. A $41 billion corporation, the Aditya Birla Group is in the league of Fortune 500.
www.secowarwick.com
Seco-Warwick Allied, India, recently commissioned two 60-metric-ton aluminum melting and holding furnaces for Hindalco Industries Ltd.
Continue reading
Carl Zeiss Microscopy celebrates fifty years of scanning electron microscopes
Source:
Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd., England, marked the 50th anniversary of the first sale of a commercial scanning electron microscope with an event in Cambridge. Customers and specialists from many disciplines had the chance to meet scientists who worked on its development. Between 1951 and 1961, a team of engineering PhD students led by Sir Charles Oatley built the world's first five SEMs. In 1965, they built the first commercial SEM, the StereoScan (photo), with the Cambridge Instrument Company, a Zeiss predecessor.
With 50 years of continuous growth and development, the SEM has become ever more versatile, and is now firmly established as an indispensable tool for advanced research across many scientific disciplines. With new industrial applications emerging every year, the SEM is also a vital part of research & development, and quality control and analysis across an extensive range of industries.
From its early home in materials science, the SEM established itself in the disciplines of electronics, forensics, and archaeology. Over the years it has evolved into a key tool for food technologists, biologists, geologists and petrologists in the natural resources industries, adapting to fulfill the discrete requirements of these individual applications. Use of SEMs for process control and failure analysis is now widespread, with routine analysis on SEMs an integral part of the semiconductor and automotive industries, and manufacture more broadly.
Development still goes on: A direct descendant of the first microscopes produced in Cambridge in 1965 is the ZEISS EVO family. First launched in 2004, and widely accepted as the industry leading analytical platform, there are some developments soon to be unveiled for EVO offering more flexibility, ease of use, and further development of detectors. The new ZEISS Gemini SEM family comes with a novel optical design. Users achieve better resolution, especially at low voltage. With 20 times greater in-lens detection signal, they always acquire crisp images fast and with minimum sample damage.
http://www.photonics.com/Article.aspx?AID=20667
http://www.zeiss.com/semiconductor-manufacturing-technology/en_de/news-events.html
Carl Zeiss Microscopy Ltd., England, marked the 50th anniversary of the first sale of a commercial scanning electron microscope with an event in Cambridge.
Continue reading
Ipsen ships Titan H8 furnace to Saudi Arabia, the first outside the United States
Source: ASM International
Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., announces that it has made its first shipment of a Titan H8 furnace to a company outside the United States: A Titan H8 vacuum furnace was shipped to a facility in Saudi Arabia.
Continue reading
Metallurgist named CEO of Google
August 27, 2015
Source: ASM International
Google recently announced a corporate restructure and named metallurgist, Sundar Pichai as its new CEO.
Continue reading
“The Heat Is On:” New social event at Heat Treat 2015
August 26, 2015
Source:
The ASM Heat Treating Society, Materials Park, Ohio, is pleased to announce that a new social event will be held at Heat Treat 2015 in Detroit.
This party overlooking the waterfront will feature dinner, an open bar, "hot" fire-related entertainment, and much more. It will take place on Wednesday, October 21st from 7-10 pm. Cost will be $60 per person, and tickets are available to purchase when you register.
Kelly Thomas, Senior Manager of Global Events at ASM International, is looking forward to a memorable evening. "Since the Heat Treating Society started in Detroit, it's only fitting that we present the first Heat Treat Conference networking event there."
To register for "The Heat Is On," simply add it to your conference registration.
Organized by ASM International, the biannual Heat Treat Conference is recognized by industry, academia, and government professionals as the premier heat treating gathering in North America. This year it is taking placing in Detroit, a city with deep roots in heat treating and the birthplace of the ASM Heat Treating Society.
To register for Heat Treat 2015 and "The Heat is On," visit asminternational.org/heattreat
About ASM International
As the world's largest association of materials-centric engineers and scientists, ASM International is dedicated to informing, educating, and connecting the materials community. A member and volunteer based organization, ASM serves as a central resource that gathers the latest applied information from the field and disseminates it back to industry, academia, and government through published content, classes, conferences, expositions, and local chapter engagement.
To learn more about ASM International, visit www.asminternational.org.
About The ASM Heat Treating Society
HTS, an Affiliate Society of ASM International formed in 1994, is the world's largest network of heat treaters. HTS members work to provide events and services to serve their worldwide membership of captive and commercial heat treaters, equipment manufacturers, researchers, governments and technicians. HTS members have their own unique leadership and agenda to serve the global heat treating community, and are dedicated to: Bringing heat treaters together to discuss heat treating challenges; providing the technical information, knowledge and education needed by all heat treaters; serving as a central clearinghouse for information of value to heat treaters; and interfacing with all organizations that serve heat treaters.
To learn more about HTS, visit www.asminternational.org/hts3-new
The ASM Heat Treating Society, Materials Park, Ohio, is pleased to announce that a new social event will be held at Heat Treat 2015 in Detroit.
Continue reading
Materion to provide AlBeCast components to Lockheed Martin for F-35 jet
Source:
Materion Beryllium & Composites, Elmore, Ohio, announces that it has delivered the first finished AlBeCast aluminum-beryllium investment cast components to Lockheed Martin for the F-35 Lightning II Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS). These alloys are 25% less dense than aluminum and have four times the specific stiffness of aluminum, titanium, steel, and magnesium. They have higher damping capacity than aluminum, and a coefficient of thermal expansion almost 50% lower.
Aluminum-beryllium materials and castings provide favorable cost/benefit advantages for technically demanding applications such as EOTS that require a combination of ultra-low density, high stiffness, mechanical stability, and thermal properties.
The proprietary AlBeCast technology extends Materion's aluminum-beryllium product offering beyond its powder metallurgy-derived AlBeMet materials by offering rapid prototyping and solidification modeling to provide investment cast parts with short lead times at competitive pricing.
EOTS is a high-performance, lightweight, multi-function system that provides precision air-to-air and air-to-surface targeting capability. As the first sensor to combine forward-looking infrared and infrared search and track functionality, EOTS enhances situational awareness and allows aircrews to identify areas of interest, perform reconnaissance, and precisely deliver laser- and GPS-guided weapons. Lockheed Martin has delivered more than 170 EOTS for the F-35 Lightning II.
www.materion.com
Materion Beryllium & Composites, Elmore, Ohio, announces that it has delivered the first finished AlBeCast aluminum-beryllium investment cast components to Lockheed Martin for the F-35 Lightning II Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS).
Continue reading
CoorsTek Medical to expand production of CeraSurf alumina matrix composites
Source:
CoorsTek Medical, Fort Worth, Texas, announces a five-year, multi-million dollar capital investment program to support the growing worldwide demand for its ceramic hip replacement components and turnkey hip arthroplasty solutions. The investment funds a twenty-fold production expansion of CeraSurf alumina matrix composites.
The CoorsTek Medical's CeraSurf alumina matrix composite is both CE-compliant and substantially equivalent to the latest generation material used in ceramic hip implants today. Since 2011, more than 7000 CeraSurf hip balls and acetabular liners have been sold for distribution across key global markets
As the largest manufacturer of engineered ceramics, CoorsTek produces critical-duty products and components for 10,000 customers from its portfolio of more than 300 advanced materials. CoorsTek Medical provides specialized OEM medical device solutions designed around durable, biocompatible ceramic technology - delivering more than 1,000,000 components annually to the world's leading medical device manufacturers.
"As we engage medical innovators and key opinion leaders globally, they are applying the unique, high performance benefits of our ceramic materials to improve the longevity and lifestyle for more patients each year," explains Jonathan Coors, CEO of CoorsTek Medical. "Our valued partners deserve a choice and will be successful with a trusted partner who embraces today's dynamic healthcare economy. This investment demonstrates the CoorsTek Medical commitment to being that partner of choice for implant-grade ceramic materials which make lives measurably better."
www.coorstekmedical.com
CoorsTek Medical, Fort Worth, Texas, announces a five-year, multi-million dollar capital investment program to support the growing worldwide demand for its ceramic hip replacement components and turnkey hip arthroplasty solutions.
Continue reading
Allcast to add 29,000 square feet of aluminum die-casting capability
Source:
Allcast LLC, Allenton, Wis., announces a $14 million, 29,000-square-foot addition to its current aluminum diecasting facility in the Town of Addison. Construction of the first phase, a 14,420-square-foot foundry expansion, is expected to be completed by October. The company provides a variety of precision aluminum tool and die services, including casting capabilities ranging from 400 to 1800 tons, CNC machining, drilling, tapping, grinding, turning, heat-treating, deburring, and finishing. It serves numerous blue-chip companies in the lighting, automotive and transportation, recreational vehicle, consumer goods and equipment, and industrial markets.
"We are very excited to be able to continue to grow and expand our operations here in Washington County," said Mark Magnarini, Allcast president and chief executive officer. "Wisconsin has always had a rich history in manufacturing, including tool and die and high-pressure die-casting, which has allowed Allcast to develop a very talented and dedicated team of people here. When we assessed our options for expansion in other geographic locations, it was the combination of our team of people and the tremendous support we received from the state, county, and local resources that provided us with a clear competitive advantage to expand here at home in Wisconsin."
www.allcastinc.com
Allcast LLC, Allenton, Wis., announces a $14 million, 29,000-square-foot addition to its current aluminum diecasting facility in the Town of Addison.
Continue reading
Lake City acquires new vacuum furnace from VFS
Source:
Lake City Heat Treating Corp., Warsaw, Ind., announces that it has acquired a new vacuum furnace, bringing the company's vacuum heat treating line to seven. The furnace features 6-bar capabilities, with a variable-speed 200 HP cooling blower. The VFS Model HIQ3836-6 furnace can achieve vacuums of 10−6 torr and process temperatures up to 2400°F with a work load size up to 24 x 24 x 36 in.
With this new furnace, LCHT now offers nitrogen as well as argon quench. These capabilities allow the company to process customer requirements to exact specifications. Lake City provides heat treating services for the aerospace, medical, and other quality-critical industries. It specializes in bright aging, hardening, annealing, and stress relieving of many different alloys, including nickel, cobalt, and titanium.
It provides aerospace heat treating, medical heat treating, and other state-of-the-art vacuum heat treating services for quality critical industries. Stainless steel tempering and other bright processing technologies are also available.
www.lakecityheattreating.com
Lake City Heat Treating Corp., Warsaw, Ind., announces that it has acquired a new vacuum furnace, bringing the company’s vacuum heat treating line to seven.
Continue reading 