Fort Wayne Metals develops high-strength CP Grade 4 titanium medical implant wire
February 19, 2014
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Fort Wayne Metals, Fort Wayne, Ind., introduces 4TiTude, the first medical implant wire to combine the benefits of pure titanium with the strength of Ti-6Al-4V ELI. Minimum tensile strength is 1172 MPa (170 ksi) in diameters up to 4 mm, and 1103 MPa (160 ksi) in diameters from 4 to 6 mm. This compares with 950 MPa or 138 ksi typical of cold worked CP Grade 4 titanium.
"Until now, implant designers working with titanium had to decide what was more important for their device: the strength of alloyed titanium or beneficial properties of commercially pure materials," explains Ric Snyder, Product Manager for orthopaedic and dental implant applications. "With 4TiTude, Fort Wayne Metals gives implant designers the best of both worlds. It's one material with no compromises."
4TiTude meets all requirements of ASTM F67 – it is commercially pure and will not release toxic aluminum or vanadium ions as Ti 6Al-4V ELI may. It is also expected to promote osseointegration and accept osseointegrative coatings such as hydroxyapatite or calcium phosphate. And it shows fatigue resistance equivalent to cold worked CP Grade 4 titanium.
"This will certainly help our customers push the boundaries of implant design – for example by developing smaller dental implants with thinner walls and creating less invasive solutions for patients with narrow bone ridges and limited space between teeth," says Mr. Snyder.
Fort Wayne Metals, Fort Wayne, Ind., introduces 4TiTude, the first medical implant wire to combine the benefits of pure titanium with the strength of Ti-6Al-4V ELI.
Vac Aero commissions horizontal vacuum furnace for South Korean university
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Vac Aero International Inc., Burlington, Ontario, recently commissioned a horizontal vacuum furnace at a major South Korean university metallurgical research center. The VAH5058 HV-8 furnace chamber is 36 x 36 x 58 in. long. It has a hot zone comprised of high-efficiency graphite felt, carbon composite, and curved graphite elements. It is equipped with a gas quench system capable of quickly cooling the workload from processing temperatures, at quench pressures of up to eight bar.
The furnace operating system is based on Vac Aero's versatile HC900 interactive hybrid control package with SCADA and complete network integration capabilities and remote monitoring and control.
Vac Aero International Inc., Burlington, Ontario, recently commissioned a horizontal vacuum furnace at a major South Korean university metallurgical research center.
Materion Corp., Mayfield Heights, Ohio, has introduced a bulk metallic glass product line based on zirconium. Also known as Vitreloy, or Liquidmetal alloys, they are now available from Materion in volume quantities. Bulk metallic glasses are amorphous alloys derived from unique alloy combinations whose disparate atoms retain a random structure when they solidify. As a result, these alloys can be formed into a finished product as if they were plastic.
Amorphous alloys have unique properties, including very high specific strength (often twice that of titanium and stainless steel), relatively high hardness (> 50 Rc), high elastic range (~2%), and unparalleled corrosion resistance. Amorphous alloys often enable lower production costs because they require fewer steps than conventional crystallline metals.
Liquidmetal Technologies Inc. Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., is a leading developer of bulk metallic glass technology. Materion is a Certified Liquidmetal Partner (CLP) for the production of BMGs. Materion's BMG alloys are also available for Liquidmetal and its licensees under their respective Liquidmetal alloy trade names, LM1b, LM105, LM601, and LM106a.
Ipsen ships 14 vacuum furnaces over the past two months
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Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., has shipped 14 vacuum furnace systems over the past two months, including several MetalMaster furnaces, both horizontal and vertical; Titan T tempering furnaces; a vertical aluminum brazer; a TurboTreater; and several other Titan furnaces.
The recipients of these furnaces are as varied as the countries in which they are located: an aerospace company; commercial heat treating companies; a medical device manufacturer; a turbo machinery computer aided manufacturer; an aeronautical and industrial engine manufacturer; a global provider of 3D printing machines and printed products; and a leading firearm manufacturer.
To serve customers in such varied industries, Ipsen designs and manufactures furnaces to handle varied processes such as debinding and sintering; tempering; vacuum carburizing; brazing and nitriding. These innovative thermal processing solutions are capable of meeting CQI-9, Nadcap and AMS 2750E and other applicable industry requirements. Ipsen also provides automation controls, operator and maintenance training, global engineering, responsive field support and spare parts to keep your equipment running at peak performance.
Ipsen offers a wide variety of heat treat equipment lines plus custom-built solutions. Some features that can be tailored to your specifications are: horizontal or vertical configurations; manual or automatic loading systems; custom load size/configurations; high pressure gas quenching; and control systems to support your stringent requirements.
Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., has shipped 14 vacuum furnace systems over the past two months, including several MetalMaster furnaces, both horizontal and vertical; Titan T tempering furnaces; a vertical aluminum brazer; a TurboTreater; and several other Titan furnaces.
Centorr offers lab furnace with a graphite hot zone and operating temperature to 3000°C
February 12, 2014
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Centorr Vacuum Industries, Nashua, N.H., introduces its Series LF vertical lab furnace with a graphite hot zone and operating temperature to 3000°C. It is a top loading multi-purpose furnace with vacuum or controlled atmosphere. This lab furnace is designed for vacuum or inert gas treatment of ceramics, reactive studies, and small-scale sintering studies.
It features a graphite heating element and rigidized graphite felt insulation and heat shields, as well as a graphite hearth plate and pins. Its double-walled, water-cooled 304L stainless steel chamber has a water-cooled 304L stainless steel hinged lid. The hot zone is four inches in diameter by five inches high, with rigidized fibrous graphite shields.
Renishaw builds 3D printed titanium bicycle frame that is 33% lighter than aluminum
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Renishaw, U.K., has collaborated with a leading British bicycle design and manufacturing company to create the world's first 3D printed metal bike frame. During the build process, a high-power ytterbium fiber laser selectively fused particles of a titanium alloy powder. Combining layer upon layer formed the finished 3D printed bike frame sections, which were then bonded together to make the frame.
Empire Cycles designed the mountain bike to take advantage of Renishaw's additive manufacturing technology, allowing them to create a titanium frame that would be both strong and light via topological optimization. The new frame is some 33% lighter than the original aluminum version.
Titanium alloys have a high ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of more than 900 MPa when processed by additive manufacturing, and near perfect density of greater than 99.7%. This is better than casting and, as any porosity is both small and spherical, it has little effect on strength.
The project's aim is to produce a fully functioning bicycle, so the seat post bracket was tested using the mountain bike standard EN 14766; it withstood 50,000 cycles of 1200 N. Testing continued to six times the standard without failure. The original aluminum alloy seat post bracket is 360 g and the hollow titanium version is 200 g, a weight saving of 44%. Renishaw originally agreed to optimize and manufacture the seat post bracket only, but after this proved successful, decided the whole frame was a practical goal.
Testing of the completed bicycle frame will continue, both in the laboratory using Bureau Veritas UK, and on the mountainside using portable sensors in partnership with Swansea University.
Renishaw, U.K., has collaborated with a leading British bicycle design and manufacturing company to create the world’s first 3D printed metal bike frame.
Allegheny Technologies acquires Dynamic Flowform for capabilities in the aerospace and oil/gas industries
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Allegheny Technologies Inc., Pittsburgh, has acquired Dynamic Flowform Corp., Billerica, Mass., which fabricates thin-walled tubular components in net or near-net shapes by a precision flowforming process. Multiple alloy systems are flowformed, including nickel-base alloys and superalloys, titanium and titanium alloys, zirconium alloys, and specialty and stainless alloys. Major markets are Aerospace and Defense, and Oil and Gas/Chemical Process Industry.
Some examples of Dynamic Flowform's major products include: airframe and jet engine components, and oil and gas drilling and completion tools from hollows.
"The acquisition of Dynamic Flowform is consistent with our strategy to create value by expanding our capabilities to produce specialty materials parts and components," said Rich Harshman, ATI's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Dynamic Flowform is a technology leader in the manufacture of unique parts and components using the alloy systems that are core competencies of ATI. The innovative and entrepreneurial Fonte family established Dynamic Flowform and has successfully operated and grown the business for nearly 40 years. We are pleased and proud to welcome Matt and Nick Fonte to the ATI team."
"This acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to ATI," he says. "We have identified significant growth opportunities for Dynamic Flowform's products, especially in the Aerospace and Oil and Gas markets. These opportunities are expected to benefit from ATI's existing global marketing and sales capabilities, and ATI's supply chain experience and relationships with OEMs."
Allegheny Technologies Inc., Pittsburgh, has acquired Dynamic Flowform Corp., Billerica, Mass., which fabricates thin-walled tubular components in net or near-net shapes by a precision flowforming process.
IBC Advanced Alloys to collaborate with Nu-Cast on Be-Al investment casting projects for aerospace
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IBC Advanced Alloys Corp., Vancouver, has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Nu-Cast Inc., Londonderry, N.H., to collaborate on new beryllium-aluminum investment casting projects and opportunities, initially for the aerospace sector. The goal is to increase manufacturing capacity and improve production efficiencies of IBC's proprietary near-net-shape beryllium-aluminum castings.
The two companies have identified opportunities for beryllium aluminum castings to support future growth. Nu-Cast has extensive experience with aluminum investment castings that will complement IBC's beryllium aluminum casting expertise. Pursuant to the MOU, the parties will initially evaluate and develop opportunities to expand IB-EMC's proprietary Beralcast alloys for aerospace applications.
The parties will also focus on joint business development initiatives aimed at increasing market share for IBC's castings, which offer significant cost savings and improved delivery times compared to the existing production methods.
"Nu-Cast has successfully served the aerospace sector for almost three decades and is an excellent complement to IBC's technology and corporate vision," said Don McKitterick, President of Nu-Cast. "By combining IBC's propriety and cost effective castings with Nu-Cast's manufacturing and marketing experience, we believe there is enormous potential for growth and we look forward to working with IBC on this opportunity."
Beralcast alloys can be used in virtually any high performance application requiring complex, lightweight and high-stiffness parts and can be substituted for aluminum, magnesium, titanium, metal matrix composites as well as pure beryllium or powder metallurgy beryllium-aluminum. Beralcast's principal alloys are more than three times stiffer than aluminum with 22% less weight and can be precision-cast for simple and complex three-dimensional stability. These high-modulus alloys are ideal for high-performance industrial and high-tech components, as well as for a wide range of aerospace applications.
IBC Advanced Alloys Corp., Vancouver, has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with Nu-Cast Inc., Londonderry, N.H., to collaborate on new beryllium-aluminum investment casting projects and opportunities, initially for the aerospace sector.
Aleris, Cleveland, Ohio, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Nichols Aluminum, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quanex Building Products Corp. Nichols is a leading producer of aluminum sheet for the transportation, building and construction, machinery and equipment, consumer durables, and electrical industries in North America. The acquisition includes two production facilities in Davenport, Iowa; a facility in Decatur, Alabama; and a facility in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The company has agreed to pay $110 Million in an all-cash transaction.
"Nichols has a long history of producing flat-rolled aluminum sheet products for customers in a number of key industries across North America and we look forward to continuing that long-standing tradition," says Steve Demetriou, Aleris chairman and CEO. "This acquisition is consistent with our strategy to expand our footprint and enhance our capabilities to ensure we are well-positioned to respond to projected growth in our key end uses as the economy begins to recover."
Upon the close of the transaction, Nichols will become part of Aleris' Rolled Products North America business, adding more than 500 Nichols employees to the Aleris team.
Aleris is a privately held, global leader in aluminum rolled products and extrusions, aluminum recycling and specification alloy production. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Aleris operates approximately 40 production facilities in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Aleris, Cleveland, Ohio, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Nichols Aluminum, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Quanex Building Products Corp.
Ametek acquires VTI Instruments for its high-accuracy test/measurement solutions
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Ametek Inc., Berwyn, Pa., announces that it has acquired VTI Instruments, Irvine, Calif., which manufactures a wide range of signal conditioning and switching instruments, data acquisition solutions, and integrated test systems for demanding electrical and structural testing applications where high measurement accuracy is critical. It joins Ametek as part of its Electronic Instruments Group (EIG), which produces advanced monitoring, testing, calibrating, and display instruments with 2013 sales of $2.0 billion.
VTI, acquired from an investor group led by Merit Capital Partners and Alerion Capital Group, has annual sales of approximately $38 million. "VTI is an excellent acquisition for Ametek. It is a market leader in high end data acquisition and precision instrumentation with deep technical expertise and applications knowledge," comments Frank S. Hermance, AMETEK Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The acquisition of VTI broadens our capabilities in the high end test and measurement market and provides us with additional technology differentiation, especially in the high-precision segment of the Aerospace market."
VTI has operations in Irvine, and additional facilities in Cleveland, Ohio, and Bangalore, India.
Ametek Inc., Berwyn, Pa., announces that it has acquired VTI Instruments, Irvine, Calif., which manufactures a wide range of signal conditioning and switching instruments, data acquisition solutions, and integrated test systems.
