Lucifer Furnaces supplies metal stamping company with heat treating furnace/oven

September 30, 2018
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Lucifer Furnaces, Warrington, Pa., has delivered a large dual chamber unit to a metal stamping manufacturer in the Midwest.  Model HL82-P24 is a hardening furnace over tempering oven, built as a space saving combination for multipurpose heat treating. The upper hardening chamber heats to 2300°F with 6.5” multilayer insulation throughout the chamber. Heat is supplied through heavy gauge, coil wound wire elements in easy-to-replace holders on sides, back and door of the furnace. 

The vertical lift, hand-crank operated door provides for smooth operation with a tight seal.  A heavy duty ceramic hearth plate protects floor elements and insulation.  The lower chamber tempering oven heats to a uniform 1200°F with a rear mounted high cfm fan circulating air past the side mounted heating elements.  A 16 gauge stainless steel liner forms the work chamber.  Both chambers are controlled with digital time proportioning temperature controllers with timers and alarms. 

Safety features on this unit include high limit controllers on each chamber which provide auto shut-down in the event of a high temp excursion.  Door switches are designed to shut off power and fan, protecting users from electric shock as well as heat hazards.   Both chambers are 18 inches high x 24 inches wide x 24 inches long.

www.luciferfurnaces.com

Abstract from Heat Treat Mexico Conference: Technological Advances in the Control of Nitriding and Nitrocarburizing

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Nitriding/Nitrocarburizing is a thermochemical surface treatment that can be carried out using a variety of technologies. A precise control of the atmosphere and the other parameters guarantees its success. This flexibility allows adapting the properties of the surface and diffusion layer according to demanding specifications.

Nitrex Metal Inc. has developed technologies that allow rigorous control of nitriding/nitrocarburizing parameters, improving quality and reducing manufacturing costs and defects such as deformation. By adapting the treatment to each specific need and material (carbon steels, high alloy tool steels, stainless steels), it is possible to meet the needs of various industries and fulfill specifications.

The presentation will focused on the technological advances in the control of the nitriding/nitrocarburizing mechanisms and the properties obtained in different applications and components.

Jack Kalucki, Nitrex Metal Inc.  www.nitrex.com

Steel Dynamics completes acquisition of Kentucky Electric Steel assets

September 23, 2018
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Steel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Kentucky Electric Steel, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Specialty Steel Works Inc., for $5.0 million. The acquired assets are located outside of Ashland, Kentucky, and are comprised of a rolling mill with an annual capacity of 250,000 tons. The operations were closed earlier this year by the prior owner, and Steel Dynamics plans to reopen the rolling mill in November 2018. The facility will be operated as part of Steel Dynamics' Steel of West Virginia (SWVA) operations, which is located within 20 miles of Ashland. The acquisition will provide product diversification for SWVA through the addition of flats and specialty alloy bars.

"KES has been a loyal customer of our SWVA and Roanoke Bar divisions," stated Glenn Pushis, Senior Vice President, Long Products Steel Group. "We believe that the complementary product offerings will provide value to our customers. We currently anticipate that roughly 100,000 to 150,000 tons of billets will be shipped each year from our long products steel mills to be further processed at Ashland, providing additional value-added capability and higher through-cycle utilization for our steel mills."

www.steeldynamics.com 

Surface Combustion: “Endothermic Atmosphere Monitoring and Control for Carburizing”

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Surface Combustion, Maumee, Ohio, announces that on Thursday, September 28th, at 3:30 p.m., Ben Bernard, VP of Global Sales, will present “Endothermic Atmosphere Monitoring and Control for Carburizing.” A bilingual speaker, Ben will be giving his presentation in Spanish and will be able to address questions in both Spanish and English. Having native Spanish speakers within sales, engineering, and aftermarket services at Surface is just another way that we bring value to our customer relationships.

“Surface is once again excited to support this bi-annual event. The inaugural conference in 2016 was well planned and well attended, and we are anticipating another great event by the ASM Heat Treating Society. Whether it’s on the expo floor, at one of the many social gatherings, or during technical sessions we look forward to connecting with you in Queretaro,” says  Mr. Bernard.

www.surfacecombustion.com

Ben Crawford appointed CEO and President of Contour Hardening

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Contour Hardening, Indianapolis, announces the appointment of ASM Heat Treating Society member Ben Crawford as its new CEO and President. Ben’s proven leadership abilities and more than twenty-five years of experience in the heat treat industry, will prove invaluable as Contour Hardening enters a new phase in the company’s development.

Contour Hardening, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, with additional operations in Silao, Mexico, is an innovation-driven company with a strong portfolio of products and services that significantly improve heat treat processing techniques for products across multiple industries around the globe.

The appointment of Ben Crawford follows the recent passing of Contour Hardening’s founder, CEO and President, John Storm.

Ben Crawford officially took the helm of Contour Hardening on July 30th. Prior to that, Ben was involved with three of North America’s largest providers of heat treat services: Bodycote, Bluewater, and Paulo. With those companies, Ben held a number of titles, including COO, Vice President and Regional Operations Manager and was responsible for directing up to $100 million in revenues, twenty-facilities and seven-hundred employees in three-countries.

When addressing his plans for Contour’s future, Ben Crawford said, “To lead Contour as a global provider of heat treat services is exciting. Contour Hardening has an extensive team of scientific problem solvers including metallurgical, controls, mechanical and electrical engineering”.

Asked about his strategy for Contour Hardening’s immediate future, Ben said, “With the installation of robotics, Contour Hardening will advance treatment applications with controlled and repeatable processing methods. Our recent award of General Motors- Supplier of the Year demonstrates our commitment to processing to the strictest standards by eliminating variation”.

Ben Crawford has proven track record of excelling in diverse management positions. We are confident that Ben’s background will be an asset for Contour Hardening going forward and extend a warm welcome to him.

www.contourhardening.com 

One Minute Mentor: Steel Selection for Heat Treated Parts

September 21, 2018
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In practice, it is difficult to separate part design from steel selection because the two steps are interdependent. In general, any steel grade that requires liquid quenching demands very conservative, careful design. In contrast, air-hardening (high-hardenability) steels tolerate some design and manufacturing aspects that could never be tolerated with a liquid quench.

When the required yield point or tensile strength is known, the minimum carbon content and necessary hardness can be determined from this chart. In the example, a selected yield point of 200,000 psi (point 1) is equivalent to a final hardness (after temper) of 48 HRC (point 2). The recommended as-quenched hardness should be at least five points higher, or 53 HRC (point 3). A minimum carbon content of 0.40% (point 4) is recommended.Selecting the correct steel is part of the overall design process in meeting the engineering requirements of a part. The step, of course, is determining the overall engineering requirements by the designer. For a given application, requirements may include a wide variety of characteristics in terms of properties (strength, toughness, wear resistance, etc.), part geometry, dimensional tolerances, and stresses within a part.

When service requirements include loading (tension, bending, torsion, fatigue), certain hardness values can be specified for critical locations on or in the part based on the approximate correlation of steel hardness with tensile properties.

When strength or the combination of strength and toughness cannot be met by steel in the as-rolled, forged, normalized, or cold-drawn condition, then quench hardening and tempering must be used to obtain the necessary properties. Carbon steel is always lower in cost, but processing conditions may require alloying to improve hardenability.

The cost of alloying is usually justified only to develop improved strength and toughness by quenching and tempering. There are exceptions, however. The most important exceptions are low-alloy steels that require forming or welding characteristics similar to those of low-carbon structural steels but with improved mechanical properties.

When quenched and tempered steels are needed to obtain strength and toughness requirements, the first step is to determine the minimum carbon to obtain the required hardness. Hardness is a function of carbon and the amount of martensite after quenching, and the minimum carbon to provide required strength with a microstructure of 95% tempered martensite is plotted in the figure. This percentage provides an optimum combination of mechanical properties. Whichever carbon content is selected above the minima shown in the figure, the corresponding 95% minimum martensite hardness shown should be required in the as-quenched parts.

Volume 4D, Heat Treating of Irons and Steels -> Heat Treatment Problems Associated with Design and Steel Selection -> Steel Selection for Heat Treated Parts