Ipsen provides range of atmosphere furnaces for North American market
February 25, 2015
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Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., reports that since 2010, the company has successfully installed more than 50 atmosphere furnaces, as well as temper and auxiliary equipment throughout North America. Atmosphere furnaces provide the flexibility to carburize, nitride, and harden a wide range of parts with different materials, case depths, hardenability, and geometries.
These installations include single- and double-chamber sealed quench, vertical retort, pusher, and box furnaces. For example, Ipsen pusher furnaces drive parts through the full carburizing and nitriding processes, including preheating, washing, tempering and cooling, all in a fully-automated, "lights-out" system with customized layouts.
Ipsen has one of the largest installed bases of atmosphere furnaces in the United States – several thousand since its founding in 1948. – Ipsen continues to deliver atmosphere solutions that meet a range of customer needs. These installations were designed for a range of applications and industries – automotive, aerospace, commercial, and energy.
For Ipsen, a key part of innovating is listening to the specific needs and challenges of their customers and then providing ideal solutions that meet those needs. As companies are faced with constantly evolving requirements and processes, nothing is more essential than finding heat-treating equipment that provides the necessary solutions.
www.IpsenUSA.com/Atmosphere.
Ipsen, Cherry Valley, Ill., reports that since 2010, the company has successfully installed more than 50 atmosphere furnaces, as well as temper and auxiliary equipment throughout North America.
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Seco-Warwick commissions Vector single-chamber vacuum hardening furnace in India
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Seco-Warwick Allied Pvt. Ltd., India, reports that it has installed a single-chamber vacuum hardening furnace with high-pressure gas quenching capability for Jyoti Heat Treat Industries, at its fourth commercial heat-treatment unit in Pune, India. The Vector furnace with high-pressure gas quench is ideally suited for vacuum hardening under an oxygen-free environment.
Parts can be heated in vacuum as well as under convection with partial pressure. Quench pressure can be adjusted from 1.5 bar to a maximum of 10 bar. The Vector line furnace installed at Jyoti can also be used for additional processes such as vacuum annealing, normalizing, and tempering. The furnace has effective uniform hot zone size of 24x24x36 in., and load capacity of 1320 lb. The furnace complies with NADCA requirements and is equipped with an advanced PLC/HMI control system.
www.secowarwick.com
Seco-Warwick Allied Pvt. Ltd., India, reports that it has installed a single-chamber vacuum hardening furnace with high-pressure gas quenching capability for Jyoti Heat Treat Industries, at their fourth commercial heat treatment unit in Pune, India.
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AK Steel to invest $36 million in Research and Innovation Center
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AK Steel, West Chester, Ohio, announces that it will invest $36 million build a new world-class Research and Innovation Center in Middletown, Ohio. The 120,000 square foot facility will be constructed on a 15-acre site located in the Cincinnati–Dayton growth corridor along Interstate 75. It will replace the company's existing research facility that is located at another site in Middletown.
The new facility will be home to the company's approximately 75 researchers, scientists, and engineers who will carry out cutting-edge research, applications engineering, advanced engineering, product development, and customer technical services. The facility will also house pilot lines that simulate the company's steel manufacturing operations, ranging from melting and casting, to hot- and cold-rolling, to final finishing. The pilot lines are used for research, enhancing existing products, problem-solving in production, and experimentation for new and improved products.
"Our talented researchers, scientists and engineers are already working to develop such innovative products as next-generation advanced high-strength steels," says James L. Wainscott, Chairman, President, and CEO. "They also are developing high-efficiency electrical steels that will help the nation's electricity grid become more energy-efficient, and new stainless steels that offer superior corrosion resistance for a wide variety of applications. The new research and innovation center will enhance our capabilities to bring these products to the marketplace."
AK Steel said groundbreaking for its new research and innovation center is planned for the late spring or early summer of 2015. The project is subject to final state and local government approvals.
The company also announced two changes in executive leadership, effective immediately:
Eric S. Petersen, 46, has been named Vice President, Research and Innovation. Mr. Petersen was previously Vice President, Sales and Customer Service.
Scott M. Lauschke, 45, has been named Vice President, Sales and Customer Service. Mr. Lauschke joins AK Steel from his previous position as Vice President and General Manager of AFGlobal Corporation and spent 15 years at The Timken Company in a variety of leadership roles.
www.aksteel.com.
AK Steel, West Chester, Ohio, announces that it will invest $36 million build a new world-class Research and Innovation Center in Middletown, Ohio.
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American Specialty Alloys to build $2.4 billion aluminum mill complex
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American Specialty Alloys Inc., Baton Rouge, La., plans to develop a $2.4 billion mill and campus in Central Louisiana to provide aluminum for the automotive and aerospace industries. Plans include a melting and casting mill; hot- and cold-rolling mills for sheet and plate; and annealing, slit, and cut-to-length production lines. Mill specifications call for production of 1.3 billion pounds of aluminum per year at full operation.
ASA plans to construct its manufacturing facility at a 1200-acre mill complex owned and formerly operated by International Paper in Pineville, Louisiana. ASA expects to break ground later this year, with a targeted completion date of all facilities in 2020. ASA estimates development of the aluminum mill will generate 2,000 construction jobs.
ASA selected the former IP containerboard mill property in Pineville after evaluating competing sites in Texas, Alabama and Mississippi. Danieli Group has been selected to provide technology services and mill equipment, while Yates Construction LLC has been tapped to build the mill facilities. The company has secured additional partners to provide materials sourcing, fabrication and logistics services: Advanced Processes Inc., American Specialty Processing LLC, Columbus Recycling Corp. and others to be announced later. ASA already has begun hiring for professional roles associated with the Louisiana project. The company plans to begin significant hiring of production jobs for the aluminum mill in 2016.
www.asametals.com
American Specialty Alloys Inc., Baton Rouge, La., plans to develop a $2.4 billion mill and campus in Central Louisiana to provide aluminum for the automotive and aerospace industries.
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Intermetallic nanoparticles increase strength and ductility in alloy steel
February 16, 2015
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Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea, report that they have developed a lightweight steel by uniformly dispersing nanometer-size intermetallic compounds between and within the steel's grains. By adding nickel and heat treating an alloy of iron, aluminum, manganese, and carbon, they induced nanoparticles to form evenly throughout the steel. The photo shows that six specimens of the new steel weigh less than five specimens of conventional steel.
With this innovative approach, stronger and more ductile lightweight steels have been created, solving the longstanding problem of poor ductility caused by the formation of large brittle intermetallic compound particles. Besides being lightweight, this new steel possesses an excellent combination of strength and ductility.
The team plans to work with POSCO to produce its new product later this year, ushering in a new era of high-specific-strength steels that will be lightweight and strong enough to produce fuel-efficient vehicles and other transportation systems.
In the 5 February issue of Nature, materials scientist Sang-Heon Kim and colleagues at Pohang describe improving lightweight steel by altering how metal compounds are arrayed in an alloy. They report that the microstructure of their material is stronger and more ductile than titanium alloys.
The researchers think that their work could be useful for industrial steel making. But "even if it takes a long time before this can become a part of production, the novelty of the microstructure that forms could be very useful for thinking about how to construct new alloys," says Suveen Mathaudhu, a materials engineer at the University of California, Riverside.
www.posco.com
www.postech.ac.kr
Researchers at Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea, report that they have developed a lightweight steel by uniformly dispersing nanometer-sized intermetallic compounds between and within the steel’s grains.
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Solar Atmospheres wins renewal of Sikorsky approved-supplier status
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Solar Atmospheres Inc., Souderton, Pa., has received renewed approved-supplier status from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., with a two-year certification. Solar is approved to provide heat treatment of titanium, and carburizing grade materials and aircraft grade steels in accordance with various AMS and Sikorsky specifications. In addition to maintaining current approvals, Solar also gained full approval for laboratory testing, metallography, and micro-hardness testing for Sikorsky products.
"Solar Atmospheres has been Sikorsky-approved since the 1990s," says Mike Moyer, Director of Sales at Solar Atmospheres. "Over the years, Solar's investment in R&D and process development has attracted the attention of Sikorsky and other prime aerospace companies, resulting in an expansion of our work scope. Solar's Low Pressure Vacuum Carburizing process is a perfect example of our ever-expanding capabilities and subsequent approvals."
www.solaratm.com
Solar Atmospheres Inc., Souderton, Pa., has received renewed approved-supplier status from Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., with a two-year certification.
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Carbon control during sintering improves quality of MIM parts
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Linde North America Inc., Murray Hill, N.J., and Megamet Solid Metals, Earth City, Mo., a custom metal-injection-molding company, have shown that the quality of metal-injection-molded parts could be significantly enhanced by following Linde's advanced Sinterflex atmosphere control system. The system maintains the low CO+H2 concentration atmosphere necessary to stabilize carbon potential.
Using Linde's advance control system, Megamet was able to reduce the standard deviation of the carbon content in MIM parts. The Linde system also helps to reduce rejects and prevent rework due to carbon content variation, boost productivity, and increase the number of parts that are in specification.
According to Bruce G. Dionne, General Manager of Megamet Solid Metals, "Homogeneity and consistency in the furnace atmosphere are pivotal to the success of MIM manufacturing. The highest-accuracy carbon control is achieved by regulating the carbon potential at the sintering temperature to the value that will lead to the needed final surface carbon concentration in the sinter body upon cooling."
When compared to other manufacturing processes such as CNC machining and casting, MIM is a cost-effective option. This powder metal process provides the durability and strength of metals, along with the advantages of plastic-injection molding. In MIM, the final step is sintering, which is a high-temperature hardening process. This process is performed in a controlled atmosphere, and it involves application of heat below the melting point, which causes the high-density alloyed powders to fuse. During the sintering process, decarburization is avoided by the MIM parts due to the carbon-neutral atmosphere. Decarburization prevents the carbon content from meeting the specification.
www.lindeus.com
Linde North America Inc., Murray Hill, N.J., and Megamet Solid Metals, Earth City, Mo., a custom metal-injection molding company, have shown that the quality of metal-injection-molded parts could be significantly enhanced by following Linde’s advanced Sinterflex atmosphere control system.
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Vac Aero receives orders for three replacement hot zones
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Vac Aero, Burlington, Ontario, recently received orders for three complete all-metal hot zone refurbishments for customers in Florida, Connecticut, and Indiana. The companies are in the aerospace, medical, and commercial heat treatment industry sectors. The retrofit work is for two horizontal and one vertical furnace.
The hot zones feature unitized construction for easy removal and maintenance. The lightweight design's low thermal mass enables faster quenching and longer life. The heat shield package consists of one layer of 0.020 in. thick lanthanated molybdenum (Mola) sheet backed by one layer of 0.010 in. thick molybdenum sheet, and three layers of 0.014 in. stainless steel sheet.
The heat shield package is supported by a 14 gauge stainless steel assembly that also acts as a manifold to distribute the quenching gas uniformly throughout the workload. Built for rugged usage and low maintenance, Vac Aero hot zones feature unitized construction for easy removal and maintenance.
www.vacaero.com
Vac Aero, Burlington, Ontario, recently received orders for three complete all-metal hot zone refurbishments for customers in Florida, Connecticut, and Indiana.
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Alcoa invests $13 million to expand wheel manufacturing in Hungary
February 11, 2015
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Alcoa, Pittsburgh, has invested $13 million to expand its wheels manufacturing plant in Hungary. The larger facility doubles Alcoa's capacity to produce its Dura-Bright EVO surface-treated wheels compared to 2014 production levels. The expansion will enable Alcoa to meet growing European demand for its lightweight, durable, low-maintenance aluminum truck wheels.
Alcoa's Dura-Bright EVO surface-treated wheel is 10 times more resistant to corrosion primarily caused by road salts and weather elements than its predecessor, the Dura-Bright wheel with XBR technology. Unlike competitive surface coatings that can crack, peel, corrode and dull quickly, the Dura-Bright surface-treated wheel allows brilliant shine to last even after years of use, without the need for polishing.
Dura-Bright is not a coating, but rather a surface treatment that penetrates the aluminum and becomes an integral part of the wheel. Regular cleaning with commonly used truck cleaning products or with just soap and water will keep the wheels shiny, even after hundreds of washes and thousands of kilometers, reducing maintenance costs.
"This expansion positions Alcoa to capture increasing demand for our innovative aluminum truck wheels in Europe, including our easiest-to-clean wheels that look new longer, reduce maintenance costs, and increase payload and fuel efficiency," said Tim Myers, President, Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products. "Our investments in forged aluminum truck wheels support Alcoa's broader strategy to build out our value-add businesses and gain profitable share in growing downstream markets. Sales of aluminum truck wheels are expected to increase from 30 percent of global sales in 2010 to 50 percent in 2018."
Construction of the expansion was completed on schedule and will create 35 new permanent jobs in Hungary once the facility reaches full capacity. Demonstrating its support for the project, the Hungarian Government agreed to contribute $4.4 million through its Regional Operative Program, a government-led economic development initiative.
Under the pilot program with the regional Székesfehérvár city bus operator, a number of buses will be outfitted with Alcoa's wheels. Bus operators in other municipalities have realized up to five percent fuel savings after converting from steel wheels to Alcoa's forged aluminum wheels.
In addition, Alcoa's wheels are made from one piece of forged aluminum, making them lighter and five times stronger than steel wheels, increasing payload and fuel efficiency.
www.alcoa.com
Alcoa, Pittsburgh, has invested $13 million to double production at its wheels manufacturing plant in Hungary.
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NIST is recalibrating and restoring its million-pound deadweight machine
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The National Institute of Standards and Technology, Washington, reports that, for the first time in half a century, its one million pounds-force deadweight machine – the largest in the world – is being disassembled for cleaning, restoration, and recalibration. The first stage of the process, dismantling the top half of the three-story stack of weights, is now complete and the individual pieces are being cleaned in preparation for recalibration.
Customers who rely on this unique machine include U.S. aerospace manufacturers, U.S. military laboratories, and several top-end commercial force-calibration labs, which have performed hundreds or thousands of calibrations, all directly traceable to NIST.
Built in 1965, the deadweight system consists of a stack of 20 stainless steel discs a little less than ten feet in diameter when assembled. Their average mass is just over 50,000 pounds each.
In addition to cleaning and recalibration, some of the surfaces deep within the weight stack are being restored by minor machining to permit more free operation at those interfaces. Theorists are also modeling the stack to give researchers insight into the deflections where the stresses are highest.
Dismantling the weight stack took several weeks, because each piece had to be unbolted and carefully lifted with a series of cranes. Watch the video reel (at right) for highlights of the disassembly process.
www.nist.gov
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, Washington, reports that, for the first time in half a century, its one million pounds-force deadweight machine – the largest in the world – is being disassembled for cleaning, restoration, and recalibration.
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