Vac Aero sells vacuum furnace to international airline
July 20, 2015
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Vac Aero, Burlington, Ontario, has sold a VAV6648 HV-2 vertical vacuum furnace to an international airline company. The furnace is designed to have rapid heating rates while maintaining tight uniformity at high vacuum levels. The furnace features metal elements and a graphite hot zone with a diameter of 66 in. and height of 48 in. The hot zone insulation package is mounted on a stainless steel support ring. The heavy-duty hearth is designed to support a uniformly distributed load of 4400 pounds.
The furnace, which is capable of meeting applicable AMS 2750E requirements, is also equipped with Vac Aero's advanced Honeywell HC900 interactive hybrid control package. It includes SCADA and complete network integration capabilities, as well as remote monitoring and control. Vac Aero's 50-plus years of experience operating its own heat treating facilities allows it to provide turnkey solutions to customers, including technology transfers as well as training, hands-on instruction, and collaboration.
www.vacaero.com
Vac Aero, Burlington, Ontario, has sold a VAV6648 HV-2 vertical vacuum furnace to an international airline company.
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Reptile skin patterns etched on steel parts reduce friction by 40%
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Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, have reportedly succeeded in reducing friction on steel parts by as much as 40% by etching surface patterns resembling those on the skin of reptiles. Christian Greiner and Michael Schäfer used laser surface texturing to etch oval-shaped, 50-μm long patterns on flat steel surfaces. They believe the work could help to minimize friction in tiny mechanical devices where lubricants cannot be used.
On certain reptiles, the scales protrude about 5 μm from the surface and overlap each other to form columns. In one pattern, the columns are isolated from each other, whereas in the other pattern, the columns overlap each other. After etching, the similarly patterned steel surfaces were slid across a smooth, dry sapphire surface at a constant speed of 0.1 m/s and a downward force of 2 N. Compared with a smooth steel surface, the isolated columns had 40% lower friction, whereas the overlapping columns had a 22% reduction.
The researchers think that their discovery could help to reduce friction in machines that cannot be lubricated, such as nanometer- and micron-sized devices in which lubricants tend to gum up moving parts, rather than help them move. Potential applications include reducing friction in the sensors in anti-lock braking systems, computer hard-disk drives, accelerometers in mobile phones, and machines that operate under vacuum conditions.
Unlike reptile skin, which has low friction when moving in only one direction, the new textured surfaces have reduced friction in at least two directions. Surfaces with unidirectional friction reduction could be used to create snake-inspired robots that would be useful for exploring extremely dusty environments on Earth or even in space. Dr. Greiner is currently trying to develop textured polymer surfaces that mimic the unidirectional nature of reptile skin.
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2015/jul/07/reptile-skin-inspires-super-slippery-steel-surfaces
www.kit.edu
Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany, have succeeded in reducing friction on steel parts by as much as 40% by etching surface patterns resembling those on the skin of reptiles.
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RTI to supply finished titanium structural parts to Airbus
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RTI International Metals Inc., Pittsburgh, announces that it has been selected to provide finished titanium structural parts to Airbus for its new A350-1000 aircraft program. RTI is to supply two final-machined structural titanium fuselage parts for the Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. The award from Airbus represents its first procurement of RTI parts manufactured entirely by RTI's vertically integrated supply chain.
Work to be completed by RTI includes providing titanium mill products, as well as extruding, forming, final machining, and managing external suppliers. A portion of the extrusion, forming, and machining will be carried out by business units acquired by RTI over the last three years. These facilities include RTI Advanced Forming Ltd. and RTI Extrusions Europe Ltd., both located in The United Kingdom.
"This award is representative of the vertically-integrated, value-added business opportunities available to RTI as a direct result of our commitment to the execution of our strategy to extend RTI's reach downstream, where we believe a majority of the incremental commercial aerospace industry growth opportunities lie," said Dawne S. Hickton, Vice Chair, President, and CEO of RTI. "In addition, our selection for this work further confirms the credibility and breadth of capability of RTI's vertically integrated supply chain, as well as our ability to build the strategic partnerships that are critical to successfully competing in today's commercial aerospace industry."
RTI International Metals Inc., Pittsburgh, announces that it has been selected to provide finished titanium structural parts to Airbus for its new A350-1000 aircraft program.
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Sinterite humpback brazing furnace enables copper brazing of stainless steel
July 15, 2015
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Sinterite, a Gasbarre Furnace Group Company, St. Marys, Pa., announces the recent installation of a 12-zone continuous belt humpback brazing furnace, the third furnace supplied by Gasbarre Furnace Group to the customer in the past three years. This newest furnace is a humpback muffle-channel heating chamber design that includes a Sinterite HyperCooler rapid cooling system and a 100% hydrogen atmosphere system.
The furnace is utilized for continuous copper brazing of stainless steel materials, and the rapid cooling capability of the HyperCooler provides for desensitization and control of copper braze flow arresting in the 304 stainless steel component assemblies.
The furnace is equipped with 24-in. mesh belt conveyor system, one-zone inclined entrance section, four-zone two chamber heating section (2100°F/1149°C capability), seven-zone exit cooling system, multiple zone atmosphere control system, and HMI control system.
In addition, the project included installation of a second HyperCooler system, retrofitted to an existing furnace, also to reduce sensitization of brazed 304 stainless steel.
www.sinterite.com or www.gasbarrefurnacegroup.com
Sinterite, a Gasbarre Furnace Group Company, St. Marys, Pa., announces the recent installation of a 12-zone continuous belt humpback brazing furnace, the third furnace supplied by Gasbarre Furnace Group to the customer in the past three years.
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Hydrogen bell furnace increases coil-annealing capacity of company in India
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Seco-Warwick Allied Pvt. Ltd., India, has commissioned the installation of hydrogen bell-type annealing furnace comprising two annealing bases for cold-rolled strip coils at Ahmedabad Strips Pvt. Ltd. (ASPL), India. The hydrogen atmosphere used in conjunction with a high-convection recirculation fan, promotes optimum temperature uniformity. This yields higher-quality crystalline structure, reduced decarburization, and homogeneous physical properties.
This furnace is rated for a batch capacity of approximately 80 MT. It is equipped with pulse firing control of the combustion system for better fuel efficiency, close temperature control, and an advanced instrumentation platform. Natural gas serves as the fuel.
ASPL is a repeat customer, operating a bell furnace previously supplied by Seco-Warwick Allied. With this new installation, the company expanded its production capacity, entering the elite league of cold-rolled steel strip producers with a hydrogen bell annealing facility in India.
www.secowarwick.com
Seco-Warwick Allied Pvt. Ltd., India, has commissioned the installation of hydrogen bell-type annealing furnace comprising two annealing bases for cold-rolled strip coils at Ahmedabad Strips Pvt. Ltd. (ASPL), India.
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Split-Zone Oxidation oven cuts cost of carbon fiber production
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Despatch Industries, Minneapolis, Minn., reports that it has developed a Split-Zone Oxidation oven with Novariance Technology that can significantly reduce oxidation cycle time for carbon fibers. By creating two discrete thermal profiles for the upper and lower half of the chamber, the temperature in the upper half of the oven can be increased by several degrees, advancing the rate of oxidation of the carbon fiber within the same process chamber. This will allow manufacturers to aggressively push the oxidation rate to reduce oxidation cycle time, and lower the cost of oxidized carbon fiber.
Novariance Technology, with its patent-pending orifice-plate nozzle structures, eliminates the side-to-side and directional variance inherent in conventional nozzle designs.
"The Split-Zone oxidation oven will lower process variability, widen the window to optimize heat transfer rates to a specific precursor, and double the effective number of zones of control," says Steve Oman, Despatch Industries General Manager of Carbon Fiber Business. "We estimated that a 25% cycle time reduction, or more, can be achieved with Split-Zone Oxidation technology." An animated video is available on the Despatch website to learn more.
www.despatch.com/oxidation.
Despatch Industries, Minneapolis, Minn., reports that it has developed a Split-Zone Oxidation oven with Novariance Technology that can significantly reduce oxidation cycle time for carbon fibers.
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Thermal Technology returns to private ownership
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Thermal Technology LLC, Santa Rosa, Calif., returned to private ownership on July 1. The company makes a wide variety of vacuum furnaces, ARC melting furnaces, hot-zone parts, OEM parts, and much more. It was formed in 1984 with the merger of two businesses, Richard D. Brew & Company, and Astro Industries. It became part of the GT Advanced Technologies family in May 2013.
"This return to a small-business format will give us the freedom, strength, and agility to support our customers at the highest level," says President and CEO David R. Hansinger. "With roots dating back to 1946 and the Richard D. Brew Company, the Thermal Technology brand has a long history of excellence as a furnace manufacturer and high-temperature expert.
"As a pioneer in the LED-sapphire and vacuum industries, we have served the renewable energy, electronics, and aerospace industries with metals, ceramics, glass, and emerging materials."
http://www.thermaltechnology.com
Thermal Technology LLC, Santa Rosa, Calif., returned to private ownership on July 1.
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LIFT project focuses on iron alloys in thin-wall castings
July 10, 2015
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Casting parts from molten iron is a well-established process that has been transformed recently by technological advances. LIFT, Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow, has chosen to investigate those innovations in melt processing as its first technology acceleration project. Grede Holdings, Southfield, Mi., and Michigan Technological University, Houghton, are the lead industry and research partners on the project, which will focus on reducing the amount of metal used in making an automotive transmission differential case.
"People don't often think of iron alloys as lightweight, so this first project shows how we are really changing the thinking about manufacturing in America," says Larry Brown, executive director of LIFT. "We expect that by working together through LIFT, collaborators will be able to accelerate the speed of turning their R&D into a production line process."
By integrating and implementing improved manufacturing methods with different available alloys, there is potential to decrease the wall thicknesses of ductile iron cast parts by up to 50%. That, in turn could save from 30-50% weight savings, depending on the load requirements of the part.
Jay Solomond, vice president of engineering and technology at Grede notes, "During early product development, parts are designed to meet the limiting performance criteria. This often results in parts being globally designed with extra material to meet the minimum requirements. However, this also often results in unnecessary weight to the overall part. We want to put the right amount of material just where it needs to be—and to replicate that on a scale for automotive production lines." Grede expects to do a significant amount of work on the project in its St. Cloud, Minn., foundry.
Associate professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Michigan Tech, Paul Sanders, says, "Iron alloys have high stiffness and good strength. We will optimize composition and cooling rate using Grede's new high precision molding machines to create thin-wall ductile iron components while maintaining desired microstructures and performance. We look forward to integrating upfront modeling with local cast properties to design optimized component geometries. We hope to bring this lightweight design methodology into production."
LIFT is one of six manufacturing innovation institutes announced to date and supported by the federal government. LIFT receives its funding from the U.S. Department of Defense administered by the U.S. Navy Office of Naval Research. Approximately 44% of the estimated $1.34 million costs for this melt processing technology acceleration project will be paid for by the federal government, the other 56% will be shared by industry and research partners.
"We expect to be seeing results from this first project in about a year. And with nearly 90 industry and academic partners in our consortium, we expect to be announcing more technology projects on a regular schedule, as well as important education and workforce development initiatives to make sure we have people well trained in the innovations we are generating," says Brown.
Grede will work with Michigan Technological University, others to bring thin-wall ductile iron castings to high-volume production.
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Ultra 76 Plus tantalum alloy resists corrosion in hot concentrated acids
July 8, 2015
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H.C. Starck, Newton, Mass., introduces the Ultra 76 Plus tantalum alloy, which is designed to combat aggressive hazardous-chemical corrosion in hot concentrated acids. The alloy is based on the Ta2.5W alloy, which improves corrosion resistance by minimizing hydrogen embrittlement, extending equipment life, and reducing downtime.
Ultra 76 Plus was designed by H.C. Starck's Fabricated Products Division. It enables increased concentrations and operating temperatures in HCI, H2SO4, and other acids. It can add value to a multitude of products, from heat exchangers, condensers, and coils, to thermocouple protection sheaths, pumps, distillation columns, boilers, and condensers.
H.C. Starck's high-tech materials — molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, niobium, and their alloys — are excellent choices for applications in high temperatures and severe environments. Tantalum, in particular, is widely used in electronics, chemical processes, and biomedical industries, where its alloys provide cost-effective, long service-life solutions for mission-critical components. In addition, it enables users to eliminate separate "Platinum Spot Welding" steps.
www.hcstarck.com
H.C. Starck, Newton, Mass., introduces the Ultra 76 Plus tantalum alloy, which is designed to combat aggressive hazardous-chemical corrosion in hot concentrated acids.
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Ajax Tocco PowerForge billet heater integrates entire induction heating system
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Ajax Tocco Magnethermic, Wickliffe, Ohio, recently shipped a 1300 kW PowerForge billet heating system to Bonney Forge Corp., Mt. Union, Pa. The PowerForge design integrates the entire induction heating system, including the water cooling system, onto a common base for a quick, efficient installation that conserves floor space. The system is designed to heat carbon steel billets to forging temperatures.
The system includes a coil shuttle table for automatic changing of the coils and frequency for differing billet sizes. A PLC with touch screen display featuring ForgeView Plus Software is also included. The unit is loaded by a vibratory bowl feeder.
Bonney Forge's decision was based on several factors: Ajax Tocco's total package fit their requirements; service, when required, is expeditious; and PowerForge provides versatility and multi-frequencies, as well as the ability to easily run a wide variety of parts.
Bonney Forge is an industry leader in marketing and manufacturing forged steel fittings and unions, branch connections, forged steel valves, cast steel valves, and specialty products.
Ajax TOCCO Magnethermic, a subsidiary of ParkOhio Holdings Corp., designs and manufactures induction heating and melting equipment for various industries.
www.AjaxTocco.com
Ajax Tocco Magnethermic, Wickliffe, Ohio, recently shipped a 1300 kW PowerForge billet heating system to Bonney Forge Corp., Mt. Union, Pa.
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