ALD Vacuum Technologies, East Windsor, Conn., has developed SyncroTherm, a system that enables integrating heat treatment directly into the machining production line. The heat treatment of large batches is converted to treatment of single components, where parts are charged in one layer on one workpiece carrier. The flat-panel radiators installed in top and bottom radiate the heat directly onto each part, heating the “2D-charges” rapidly and homogeneously.
It is only a couple of molecules thick, and could not be thinner: the sheet of glass that scientists at the University of Ulm, Germany and Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., discovered by accident. This discovery was acknowledged as a world record with an entry in Guinness World Records 2014. “Although glass is indeed transparent, the individual silicon and oxygen atoms can be made visible under the electron microscope,” explains Ute Kaiser, professor of experimental physics at Ulm.
Metallisation, UK, has developed a durable non-slip thermally sprayed coating called 28E Arctec. It is a reinforced aluminum-based non-slip coating ideal for flooring areas, bridge decks, escalators, steel floors, and panels across a range of industries. It can be applied with a rough texture and has excellent non-slip properties, while being extremely hard and resistant to wear and corrosion. 28E Arctec is applied by the Metallisation arcspray process with the ARC 140 system.
GKN Sinter Metals, Auburn Hills, Mich., is planning a $10 million expansion of its Gallipolis production facility in southeastern Ohio’s Gallia County. Matt Daniels, manager of the plant in Gallipolis, Ohio, said the project is expected to add 50 full-time jobs and generate up to $20 million in additional sales for the company over the next 2-3 years.
U.S. Chrome, Stratford, Conn., announces that it will scale up commercial production of its family of TriCom electroplating technologies. TriCom-H is based on a composite microstructure of a cobalt-phosphorus alloy matrix with uniformly dispersed fine silicon carbide particles. Offering extremely high hardness and high wear resistance, it represents a drop-in replacement for hard chrome, without environmental drawbacks, according to company sources.
