White House Announces ASM as Member of Lightweight Metals Institute
February 25, 2014
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President Obama is hosting an event at the White House today to announce new steps in a partnership with the private sector to boost advanced manufacturing and strengthen U.S. defense capabilities. ASM International's (Materials Park, Ohio) managing director Thom Passek will attend to represent the technical society at today's ceremony.
The President will announce two new manufacturing innovation institutes led by the Department of Defense and supported by a $140 million Federal commitment combined with more than $140 million in non-federal resources: (1) Detroit-area headquartered consortium of businesses and universities, with a focus on lightweight and modern metals manufacturing; (2) Chicago headquartered consortium of businesses and universities that will concentrate on digital manufacturing and design technologies.
ASM will be part of the consortium focusing on lightweight modern metals manufacturing. The $70 million award for the LM3I (Lightweight and Modern Metals Manufacturing Innovation) is going to the Edison Welding Institute (EWI), Columbus, Ohio, as the lead proposer. The new consortium will involve 60 members, including leading manufacturers of aluminum, high strength steel, and titanium, along with universities and laboratories involved in research and development of lightweight metals. The Institute will seek to accomplish advanced research through partnerships among key players in industries such as automotive, aerospace, defense, and energy. ASM's specific role within the consortium will be defined over the coming months.
President Obama is hosting an event at the White House today to announce new steps in a partnership with the private sector to boost advanced manufacturing and strengthen U.S. defense capabilities.
Aerospace sustainability study for industrial 3D printing
February 20, 2014
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EOS, Krailling, Germany, is collaborating with Airbus Group Innovations (previously EADS Innovation Works), Novi, Mich., to complete an environmental lifecycle comparison of two key production technologies, rapid investment casting and Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS).
The Airbus Group Innovations-EOS eco-assessment, applied to an Airbus A320 nacelle hinge bracket (a highly standardized part), attempted to include detailed aspects of the overall lifecycle: from the supplier of the raw powder metal, to the equipment manufacturer (EOS), and to the end-user (Airbus Group Innovations). Adapted from Airbus' streamlined lifecycle assessment (SLCA) and ISO 14040 series requirements data, the testing will serve as the basis for continued "Cradle-to-Cradle" study into other aerospace parts, processes and end-of-life strategies.
"We worked in a bold, new collaboration with Airbus Group Innovations on integrating business and ecological sustainability from sourcing through to product development," said Nicola Knoch, environmental and sustainability consultant to EOS. "There is now a valuable, holistic baseline established on our technology regarding the measurable costs, benefits and impacts of DMLS. This sets the groundwork for future technology developments in additive manufacturing and further studies."
As a first step, the SLCA was conducted on a generic bracket benchmarking the DMLS process with a conventional casting process used as the baseline. Comparing the lifecycle of a steel bracket (casting process) with the lifecycle of a design-optimized titanium bracket (DMLS):
The use phase has by far the biggest impact in terms of energy consumption and CO2 emissions over the whole lifecycle of the bracket.
CO2 emissions over the whole lifecycle of the nacelle hinges were reduced by nearly 40% via weight saving that resulted from an optimized geometry, which is enabled by the design freedom offered by the DMLS process and the use of titanium.
Most significantly, using DMLS to build the hinge may reduce the weight per plane by 10 kg, a noteworthy saving.
The second phase of the analysis focused on the manufacturing process for the design-optimized bracket using titanium as an ideal, common material—and, this time, benchmarking the manufacturing process of investment casting against that of DMLS via the EOSINT M 280 system:
The total energy consumption for creating the initial raw powder metal, then producing the bracket in DMLS, was slightly smaller than the equivalent cast process steps (with the higher energy use of DMLS limited to the melt and chill cycle of its manufacturing profile and offset at the same time by a significantly reduced build time). Casting in this comparison was burdened with the furnace operation of burning an SLA (stereolithography) epoxy model, which uses considerable energy and generates greenhouse gases.
The DMLS process itself used only the material actually needed to make the part—thereby eliminating waste from secondary machining and reducing consumption of titanium by 25 percent over the cast application.
"DMLS has demonstrated a number of benefits, as it can support the optimization of design and enable subsequent manufacture in low-volume production," said Jon Meyer, additive layer manufacturing research team leader, in his final report. "In general, the joint study revealed that DMLS has the potential to build light, sustainable parts with due regard for the company's CO2 footprint."
EOS, Krailling, Germany, is collaborating with Airbus Group Innovations (previously EADS Innovation Works), Novi, Mich., to complete an environmental lifecycle comparison of two key production technologies.
One day, Union College's (Schenectady N.Y.) Aerogel Team's novel way of making "frozen smoke" could improve some of our favorite machines, including cars.
"When you hold aerogel it feels like nothing—like frozen smoke. It's about 95 to 97% air," says Ann Anderson, professor of mechanical engineering. "Nanoporous, solid and very low density, aerogel is made by removing solvents from a wet-gel. It's used for many purposes, like thermal insulation (on the Mars Rover), in windows or in extreme-weather clothing and sensors."
Together with Brad Bruno, associate professor of mechanical engineering, Mary Carroll, professor of chemistry and others, Anderson is studying the feasibility of commercializing their aerogel fabrication process. A time and money-saver, it could appeal to industries already using aerogel made in other ways.
During rapid supercritical extraction (RSCE), chemicals gel together (like Jell-O) in a hot press; the resulting wet-gel is dried by removing solvents (the wet part). The remaining aerogel (dried gel), is created in hours, rather than the days or weeks alternative methods take.
RSCE, Anderson said, is also approximately seven times cheaper, requiring one hour of labor for every eight hours the other methods need. A good place for such a process, and Union aerogel, is the automotive industry.
"Our 3-way catalytic aerogels promote chemical reactions that convert the three major pollutants in automotive exhaust—unburned hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide—into less harmful water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide," Anderson said. "Because aerogels have very high surface areas and good thermal properties, we think they could replace precious metals, like platinum, used in current catalytic converters."
Indeed, the surface area of one 0.5-gram bit of aerogel equals 250 m2. "That's a lot of surface area for gases to come in contact with, facilitating very efficient pollution mitigation," Anderson said.
The team's work has received support from the National Science Foundation, the ACS Petroleum Research Fund and the Union College Faculty Research Fund.
One day, Union College’s (Schenectady N.Y.) Aerogel Team’s novel way of making “frozen smoke” could improve some of our favorite machines, including cars.
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.
