Harper’s carbon-fiber oxidation ovens reduce energy use and emissions
February 1, 2015
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Harper International Corp., Buffalo, N.Y., offers advanced carbon fiber oxidation oven technology to complement its furnaces for carbon fiber processing. State-of-the-art oven designs are available for tow-bands from 300 mm to greater than 4000 mm. Technology advancements enable faster oxidation through elimination of the chimney effect, improved velocity uniformity and range, assurance of temperature uniformity at a variety of flow rates, and optimal control of the reaction.
Harper's designs incorporate a multitude of improvements, including energy efficient designs. The most distinctive feature of Harper's cutting-edge design is the innovative atmospheric end seal. This seal design reduces fugitive emissions, increases the active volume of the oven, and offers reduced energy consumption over alternatives. The seals have independent adjustment of the top and bottom inside and outside slots. Each pass has an independent vent with adjustable draw control, and the exhaust plenum connects to a dedicated fan/VFD. As a result of these innovative design features, there is no vertical mixing in the seal, less air ingress, and virtually no process gas escape.
Harper's instrumentation improvements include a two-tier balancing methodology, responsive quench system and rapid cool down system, emissions monitoring, and inherently safer pressure relief system. Additionally, modular construction design enables up to a 90% reduction in labor versus similar field erection times into a full line pilot system (300mm).
Additionally, Harper's proprietary multiflow Research Oven offers parallel, cross, and down airflow directions in a single oven, which allows for true evaluation of different flow techniques. The oven's uniformity specifications meet or exceed best-in-class for each flow regime.
Although Carbon Fiber is predominantly produced from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and pitch, there is an increasing necessity for alternative, low cost and renewable precursors as the industry grows to applications such automotive. Harper has the unique ability to adapt our technology to process nontraditional precursors throughout the entire thermal process.
www.harperintl.com
Harper International Corp., Buffalo, N.Y., offers advanced carbon fiber oxidation oven technology to complement its furnaces for carbon fiber processing.
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Robot helps develop carbon composite structures
January 25, 2015
Source: ASM International
A robot named ISAAC, which features a versatile spinning head and a robust, acrobatic arm, will help NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va., create and test new composite structures faster, less expensively, and with more room for experimentation than ever before.
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SSAB Hardox Tube 500 high strength steel tube provides extreme wear resistance
Source: ASM International
SSAB, Sweden, has launched the Hardox Tube 500 range of tubular high strength steel that provides the same hardness and toughness as Hardox steel wear plate, but in tubular form.
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Femtosecond lasers make metals superhydrophobic
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Scientists at the University of Rochester, N.Y., have reportedly transformed platinum, titanium, and brass into superhydrophobic materials with femtosecond laser pulses. Superhydrophobicity makes a surface rust-resistant, anti-icing, and anti-biofouling, all of which could help make such devices more robust and easier to maintain. The superhydrophobic surfaces can also clean themselves, since water droplets repelled from the surface carry away dust particles very efficiently.
This work builds on earlier research by the team in which they used a similar laser-patterning technique that turned metals black. Dr. Guo states that using this technique they can create multifunctional surfaces that are not only super-hydrophobic, but also highly absorbent optically.
"This is the first time that a multifunctional metal surface is created by lasers that is superhydrophobic, self-cleaning, and highly light absorptive," said Chunlei Guo, a physicist at the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He made the new surfaces with his colleague and fellow University of Rochester researcher Anatoliy Vorobyev. The researchers describe the laser-patterned surfaces in an article, "Multifunctional surfaces produced by femtosecond laser pulses." It was published in the Journal of Applied Physics on January 20, 2015 (DOI: 10.1063/1.4905616). It can be accessed at: http://scitation.aip.org/content/aip/journal/jap/117/3/10.1063/1.4905616.
Dr. Guo says that one of the big advantages of his team's process is that "the structures created by our laser on the metals are intrinsically part of the material surface." That means they won't rub off. And it is these patterns that make the metals repel water.
The team is now planning on focusing on increasing the speed of patterning the surfaces with the laser, as well as studying how to expand this technique to other materials such as semiconductors or dielectrics, opening up the possibility of water repellent electronics.
www.rochester.edu
Scientists at the University of Rochester, N.Y., have reportedly transformed platinum, titanium, and brass into superhydrophobic materials with femtosecond laser pulses.
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Solar Atmospheres installs 1500-sq.-ft. climate-controlled room
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Solar Atmospheres, Souderton, Pa., has installed a new 1500 ft2 room in its shop that incorporates temperature and humidity controls, as well as a slight positive pressure environment. Adjacent to the room is a new state-of-the-art, all-metal hot-zone vacuum furnace, in which only the door protrudes through the wall. The furnace has the ability to isolate the quench system during the heat cycle, and features an all stainless-steel chamber and an oversize pumping system.
The furnace is capable of maintaining a vacuum level of 5x10-6 torr or lower, and has successfully processed sensitive materials unshielded without any surface contamination.
Early in 2015, an existing furnace will be modified and updated with state-of-the-art controls and added to this new area as well. Currently two laboratory furnaces also reside within the room, bringing the total number of furnaces in the area to four.
This new climate-controlled room will lower the risk of discoloration and foreign object debris, and will save time by eliminating the need to shield parts during heat treating.
www.solaratm.com
Solar Atmospheres, Souderton, Pa., has installed a new 1500 ft2 room in its shop that incorporates temperature and humidity controls, as well as a slight positive pressure environment.
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Constellium supplies high-strength aluminum structural parts to Ford F-150
January 20, 2015
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Constellium N.V., Amsterdam, provides Ford Motor Co. with aluminum structural parts for the Ford F-150 pickup truck in which high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloys are the primary build materials. Constellium is one of Ford's largest suppliers of these components for the F-150. To keep pace with increased demand, Constellium has doubled manufacturing capacity at its facility in Van Buren, Michigan.
The 2015 Ford F-150 delivers the industry's best towing and payload capability among full-size light-duty pickups, enabled by reducing up to 700 pounds of weight through the use of high-strength steel in the frame and aluminum alloys in the body.
"We are delighted to become one of Ford's largest supplier of high-strength aluminum structural parts for the groundbreaking F-150, and we see this as an important milestone in the expansion of our global automotive structures business," said Paul Warton, President of Constellium's Automotive Structures and Industry business unit.
"We believe that the automotive industry demand for aluminum will continue to grow as automakers seek to reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency. With our innovative and value-added solutions and the expansion of our component manufacturing capabilities in the United States, Europe, and China, Constellium is strongly positioned to help meet that demand worldwide."
www.constellium.com
Constellium N.V., Amsterdam, provides Ford Motor Co. with aluminum structural parts for the Ford F-150 pickup truck in which high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloys are the primary build materials.
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Harper vertical and rotary reactors support microelectronics research in China
Source: ASM International
Harper International, Buffalo, N.Y., has finalized a contract exceeding $3 million for high-temperature vertical and rotary reactors to support the East China Research Institute of Microelectronics (ECRIM).
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Bruker TriboLab’s modular platform enables a variety of tribology tests
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Bruker, Tucson, Ariz., has release the UMT TriboLab, the latest generation of the Universal Mechanical Tester (UMT) platform. TriboLab incorporates into a single, modular platform the full range of performance previously offered in several UMT models. It provides increased load capacity and higher torques, all with greater ease of use and less training required.
As with previous UMT models, the UMT TriboLab has a universal base that can be equipped with a range of drive modules to allow multiple, different tribology tests to be performed on one platform. The design of the new TriboLab emphasizes ease-of-use due to a tool-less drive exchange, and easier software and scripting capabilities. It offers higher performance in areas such as speed, torque, and data accuracy. The redesign of the product also offers enhanced modularity while simplifying configuration requirements.
Its TriboID feature automatically recognizes the attached modules, and reconfigures user menus based on the hardware installed. The system's new TriboScript software is controlled entirely through a user-friendly graphical interface, enabling even complex scripts to be created simply by dragging and dropping icons. The launch of the UMT TriboLab system also introduces a new line of dual-axis, Gold-Series force sensors with an ultralow noise floor and optional increased frequency response.
Michael Khonsari, the Dow Chemical Endowed Chair and Professor and Director of the Center for Rotating Machinery (CeRoM) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, added: "It is exciting to see a new generation of Bruker UMT coming to the market as we have several of its predecessors in our Center, and rely on them heavily. We are actively involved in collaborative projects with industry partners. Having the Bruker UMT in our Center enables us to perform various tribological tests precisely and efficiently, giving us confidence in reporting our results in archival journals."
www.bruker-nano.com
Bruker, Tucson, Ariz., has release the UMT TriboLab, the latest generation of the Universal Mechanical Tester (UMT) platform.
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Wall Colmonoy announces Modern Furnace Brazing School sessions
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Wall Colmonoy, Madison Heights, Mich., offers a spring session of Modern Furnace Brazing School May 5 to 7 at the Aerobraze Engineered Technologies Brazing Engineering Center in Cincinnati. Engineers, technicians, quality managers, production managers, and others will participate in "hands-on" practical applications while learning about brazing technology from the industry's leading brazing engineers.
For over 60 years, Wall Colmonoy engineers have been gaining practical experience on actual problems in brazing plants around the world. This three-day seminar offers knowledge and practical applications on:
Brazing Design
Metallurgical Aspects / Brazing Operation
Brazing Atmosphere and Furnace Equipment
Brazing Material Selection and Applications
Quality Control
The school preserves the tradition originated by the late Robert Peaslee, a brazing pioneer who invented the first nickel-based brazing filler metal. Unlike other classroom-only seminars, Brazing School attendees will tour the facility and see the actual brazing application on the shop floor. They will also have the opportunity to apply different forms of filler metal to supplied samples, have them vacuum brazed and discuss the outcomes. Wall Colmonoy's Leading Brazing Engineers have the technical know-how and practical experience to guide attendees through the brazing process from beginning to end production.
For seminar details and registration information, contact Jim Nicoll, Marketing Associate, at [email protected] or 248.585.6400, ext. 233.
www.wallcolmonoy.com
Wall Colmonoy, Madison Heights, Mich., offers a spring session of Modern Furnace Brazing School on May 5-7 at the Aerobraze Engineered Technologies Brazing Engineering Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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EFD Induction offers four-cylinder crankshaft hardening machine
January 14, 2015
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EFD Induction India will be displaying a crankshaft hardening machine model at the IMTEX show to be held January 22-28 in Bangalore. The show, officially known as the Indian Metalcutting Machine Tool Exhibition, is the largest event of its kind to be held in South and Southeast Asia. EFD Induction will be positioned in Hall 1A, Stand B106.
Each crankshaft hardening system is packed with features to help ensure optimum hardening results at minimal cost. The equipment on display is a miniature model of a recently delivered four-cylinder crankshaft machine. The system was equipped with five power sources, a hardening and tempering station, and an advanced PLC solution with real-time monitoring features.
As one of the world's largest induction heating companies, EFD Induction has a long-established presence in India and Asia. It has a major manufacturing facility in Bangalore. The Bangalore center plays a key manufacturing role for EFD Induction, supplying other factories with parts for further assembly. The center also designs and builds complete industrial induction heating systems for customers worldwide.
www.efd-induction.com
EFD Induction India will be displaying a crankshaft hardening machine model at the IMTEX show to be held January 22-28 in Bangalore.
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