IMS Welcomes the Failure Analysis Society
June 2, 2016
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Hello IMS Members,
On behalf of the International Metallographic Society and its board of directors, I would like to welcome the new ASM affiliate, the Failure Analysis Society. The society is dedicated to advancing the important role failure analysis plays in the materials science industry. The new affiliate society emerged from an existing ASM committee that has offered failure analysis programming and content for more than 15 years. Currently, FAS has approximately 2500 members.
FAS will continue to provide collaboration, networking, and educational opportunities for materials science professionals. It will also continue to have its own technical programming at the annual Materials Science & Technology conference, and will continue to publish its own journal, the Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention. In addition, an online database of failure analysis case studies will be available in the future.
Metallographic evaluation, interpretation, and expertise are an integral tool to the world of failure analysis. There is a common bond between our two affiliate societies. Our members should welcome to the opportunity to collaborate with this new ASM affiliate society.
FAS is the sixth affiliate society launched by ASM, joining the Heat Treating Society, Thermal Spray Society, International Metallographic Society, Electronic Device Failure Analysis Society, and the International Organization on Shape Memory and Superelastic Technologies.
The FAS membership fee is $25 annually and also requires a membership to ASM International.
Sincerely,
Daniel P. Dennies, Ph.D., P.E., FASM
Director, International Metallographic Society
Director, Failure Analysis Society
On behalf of the International Metallographic Society and its board of directors, I would like to welcome the new ASM affiliate, the Failure Analysis Society.
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Rare earth elements extracted from coal ash
June 1, 2016
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Duke University, Durham, N.C., reports that its researchers used a common industrial extraction technique based on nitric acid to extract rare earth elements from coal ash that contains amounts ranging from 337 to 591 ppm, depending on location. They discovered that "roasting" the coal ash with an alkali agent before dissolving it with nitric acid enabled a significant improvement in extraction efficiency. Neodymium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, yttrium, and erbium were extracted from the burned coal.
The researchers took coal ash samples from power plants located mostly in the American Midwest that burn coal sourced from all over the country, including the three largest sources: the Appalachian Mountains, southern and western Illinois, and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana. The content of rare earth elements was then tested with hydrofluoric acid, which is much stronger and more efficient than industrial methods, but is too hazardous to use on a large scale.
"The Department of Energy is investing $20 million into research on extraction technologies for coal wastes, and literally billions of dollars worth of rare earth elements are contained in our nation's coal ash," says Associate Prof. Heileen Hsu-Kim. "If a program were to move forward, they'd clearly want to pick the coal ash with the highest amount of extractable rare earth elements, and our work is the first comprehensive study to begin surveying the options."
The study, published online on May 26 in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, showed that coal from the Appalachian Mountains contains the most rare earth elements. However, if extraction technologies were cheap enough, rare earth elements could be extracted from other sources as well.
www.duke.edu
Duke University, Durham, N.C., reports that its researchers have extracted rare earth elements from coal ash that contains amounts ranging from 337 to 591 ppm, depending on location.
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Novelis commissions $120 million aluminum finishing line in Oswego
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Novelis, Atlanta, Ga., has commissioned its third and newest automotive aluminum finishing line in Oswego, N.Y., where it will produce high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloy sheet for the body and cargo box of the all-new 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty lineup, helping to reduce overall vehicle weight by up to 350 pounds.
The line represents its latest investment of $120 million to expand the high-strength aluminum alloy supply for Ford F-Series trucks, America's best-selling truck for 39 years and best-selling vehicle for 34 years.
Over the past five years, Novelis has installed and commissioned three automotive finishing lines in Oswego, creating more than 460 jobs. This $400 million investment also includes the world's largest closed-loop recycling program, which processes roughly 25 million pounds of automotive aluminum scrap per month.
www.novelis.com
Novelis, Atlanta, Ga., has commissioned its third and newest automotive aluminum finishing line in Oswego, N.Y., where it will produce high-strength, military-grade aluminum alloy sheet for the body and cargo box of the all-new 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty lineup, helping to reduce overall vehicle weight by up to 350 pounds.
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Magna to build high-pressure aluminum diecasting plant in England
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Magna International of America Inc., Troy, Mich., announces plans to build a new world-class aluminum casting facility in Telford, England, to support Jaguar Land Rover, the country's leading vehicle manufacturer. Once production begins in 2018, Magna's high-pressure vacuum die casting process will be used to produce advanced lightweight aluminum castings — key building blocks in the next generation all-aluminum and multi-material vehicle architectures.
The new facility is expected to be approximately 225,000 square feet, and will create up to 295 jobs at full capacity. The UK Trade & Investment and the Automotive Investment Organization, along with financial support from the UK Government's Regional Growth Fund, helped to secure this project.
"We are excited to work closely with Jaguar Land Rover in the development of this project, which will bring the most advanced structural casting technologies to the UK," said John Farrell, President of Cosma International, an operating unit of Magna International. "As lightweighting continues to be a key technology driver, we are uniquely positioned to help automakers achieve optimal weight savings throughout the vehicle architecture."
Construction is expected to start in the autumn of 2016.
Magna, through its Cosma International operating unit, is one of the world's premier suppliers providing a comprehensive range of body, chassis, and engineering solutions to automakers around the world.
www.magna.com
Magna International of America Inc., Troy, Mich., announces plans to build a new world-class aluminum casting facility in Telford, England, to support Jaguar Land Rover, the country’s leading vehicle manufacturer.
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Solar builds 48-foot heat-treating vacuum furnace
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Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania, Hermitage, and Solar Manufacturing Inc., Souderton, Pa., are building the world's largest commercial heat treating vacuum furnace. The working hot zone of this high-vacuum furnace (which has three 35-inch Varian diffusion pumps) is 80 inches in diameter by 48 feet long, with a maximum operating temperature of 2400°F.
Thirty five points of temperature will be surveyed to within +/- 10°F per the stringent AMS 2750E specification. The robust U.S.-patented dual load car design will have the capacity to transfer up to 150,000 pounds of material in and out of the furnace. For dimensionally critical, near-net-shape jobs, the dual load car design will also have the capability to maintain the critical support needed at elevated temperatures to keep parts flat to within 0.030 inches.
All of the major components have been delivered and installed. The gas and water systems are in place. The remaining installation of all the electrical components and wiring will occur over the next several weeks. This multi-million dollar project is expected to be completed in June with the commissioning of the furnace into production in July of 2016. This unique piece of equipment will not only open up new production opportunities within the North American vacuum heat treating markets, but also internationally.
www.solarmfg.com
Solar Atmospheres of Western Pennsylvania, Hermitage, and Solar Manufacturing Inc., Souderton, Pa., are building the largest commercial heat treating vacuum furnace in the world.
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One Minute Mentor: Influence of Chromium on Ferritic Stainless Steels
May 26, 2016
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Ferritic stainless steels are quite similar in their mechanical behavior to carbon steel. The main influence of chromium is to produce some solid solution hardening. As noted, intermetallic phases may increase hardness (sometimes usefully) and decrease ductility, notch toughness, and corrosion resistance. For example, the graph shows the hardening effect of alpha prime.
Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels ⇒ Heat Treated High-Alloy Steels ⇒ Heat Treating of Ferritic Stainless Steels ⇒ Properties
Ferritic stainless steels are quite similar in their mechanical behavior to carbon steel.
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Titan H8 vacuum furnace heat treating system improves speed, reliability, and versatility
May 21, 2016
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Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., recently shipped a Titan vacuum furnace system with two-bar gas quenching and PdMetrics predictive maintenance software platform to a company on the West Coast, where it will be used to manufacture components and systems for the aerospace industry. The Titan H8 system provides a much-needed solution in the form of speed, reliability, and versatility of process capabilities, and it is also capable of meeting applicable AMS 2750E and Nadcap requirements.
This horizontal furnace features a 48 x 80 x 48-inch all-metal work zone, with a 6000-pound load capacity, and is capable of operating at temperatures up to 2500°F with ±10°F temperature uniformity.
A key feature of the system is its center elements option, which helps optimize the brazing process and ensures that high-quality parts emerge bright and clean. This heat-treating system is also equipped with a dual 20-inch diffusion pumping system for high pumping performance.
In addition, the system is integrated with Ipsen's PdMetrics software platform for predictive maintenance. Offering sophisticated monitoring of critical systems and key parameters, the PdMetrics platform gathers data, analyzes it, and provides real-time diagnostics that help improve the health and integrity of the equipment. Overall, this allows users to anticipate future furnace problems, refine operations, reduce unplanned downtime, and increase production.
Ipsen's line of Titan vacuum heat-treating systems can be found at facilities around the world, thanks to their ability to operate in most languages and offer various sizes and configurations, all within a small footprint. In addition, Ipsen's 360-degree support offers integrated heat treatment solutions for diverse needs through all stages of the system's life cycle, no matter the location – whether it is facilitating on-site installation, providing expert training and start-up assistance, or delivering responsive field support and spare parts.
www.IpsenUSA.com/TITAN
Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., recently shipped a Titan vacuum furnace system with two-bar gas quenching and PdMetrics predictive maintenance software platform to a company on the West Coast, where it will be used to manufacture components and systems for the aerospace industry.
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Advanced Heat Treat completes Phase I of plasma nitriding evaluation
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Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), Waterloo, Iowa, announces that it has completed Phase I of a grant to evaluate plasma nitriding for improved life of forging dies by generating a hard case on tribological surfaces. AHT, along with Ohio State University's Manufacturing Research Group, received a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration SBIR Program and the Defense Technical Information Center. The grant was issued in August 2015 to research "Plasma Enhanced Nanostructures for Improved Life of Forging Dies," and Phase I was completed on April 30th, 2016.
Forging die failure affects the entire economy of forging companies, including the cost of tooling, repair, press downtimes, and production lead times, to name a few. According to a recent survey, as the batch sizes increase, machine setup costs go down (economy of scale); however, tooling costs rise.
This technological challenge is the prime driver for this proposed research, where plasma-enhanced nanostructured surface treatments will be explored to increase die life by up to five times its current life. Plasma nitriding is widely used to generate a hard case on engineering surfaces for enhanced performance of many tribological components.
Recently, this process has found wider applications in advanced surfaces in aerospace, electronics, and power systems for corrosion protection. In addition, plasma nitrided surfaces are being investigated for the emerging areas of alternate power generation such as fuel cells, and in human implants. The potential impact of this research is not only in the current fields of application, but also in the emerging areas vital to the energy and industrial future of our country.
A summary of the Phase I findings was issued to the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for their review. Those interested in a full copy of the summary should contact Advanced Heat Treat Corp. at 319-232-5221 or submit requests online at www.ahtweb.com using a "quick contact" form.
www.ahtweb.com
Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), Waterloo, Iowa, announces that it has completed Phase I of a grant to evaluate plasma nitriding for improved life of forging dies by generating a hard case on tribological surfaces.
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Can-Eng installs T7 heat treatment system for HPDC aluminum auto structures
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Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd., Niagara Falls, Ontario, has completed the installation and commissioning of a T7 automated furnace line for the heat treatment of HPDC aluminum automotive structural components for an innovative all-electric automobile manufacturer located in California. The T7 system was designed for the thermal processing of components related to a family of parts for the launch of a new model.
The high-volume T7 roller hearth heat treating system includes a solution furnace with customized structural product fixtures, the Can-Eng Precision Air Quench (PAQ) system, an artificial aging system, and controls integrated into a Level II SCADA system. The PAQ system integrates a unique combination of recirculating air chambers, distribution nozzles, dampers, and directional ductwork that uniformly delivers conditioned quench media, leading to repeatable and uniform property and dimensional results. Quench parameters were developed for each component, as part of the component family, and once validated were integrated as part of the product recipe.
Can-Eng was chosen for this new light-weighting project because its flexible, cost effective heat treatment technology allows manufacturers to integrate new state-of-the-art processing systems into existing manufacturing cells, avoiding prohibitively expensive large-scale continuous processing systems capital costs.
Can-Eng focuses on the development of high volume continuous industrial furnaces for challenging applications and is the industry leader in the development of automated heat treating systems for the processing of thin-walled, lightweight aluminum automotive structural components.
www.can-eng.com.
Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd., Niagara Falls, Ontario, has completed the installation and commissioning of a T7 automated furnace line for the heat treatment of HPDC aluminum automotive structural components for an innovative all electric automotive manufacturer located in California.
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Furnacare opens advanced vacuum furnace hot-zone rebuild and service center
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Furnacare Inc., Spartanburg, S.C., announces the opening of its new vacuum furnace hot-zone rebuild and service center facility. Strategically located in the industrial growth area of the South East, the company is strongly positioned to service vacuum heat treaters in the United States.
Furnacare brings over 30 years of vacuum heat treat equipment experience to the industry, specializing in hot-zone rebuilds, control system upgrades, gauge and TC calibration, and vacuum-pump service and repair.
Company technology has improved customer ROI through fast response times, innovative approaches, and superior materials. Heat treaters considering the next vacuum heat treatment furnace hot zone overhaul, service, or new equipment purchase, are invited to discuss their requirements and learn about Furnacare's capabilities.
Customers make the most of any vacuum furnace by investing in high-performance materials and new functionalities. Furnacare is aimed at helping its customers reduce costs and maximize efficiency through the delivery of premium quality products that are personalized, technologically advanced, and durable over time.
http://www.furnacare.com
Furnacare Inc., Spartanburg, S.C., announces the opening of its new vacuum furnace hot-zone rebuild and service center facility, strategically located in the industrial growth area of the South East.
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