ANNEALING NEWS

International Cutting Tool Manufacturer Increases Capabilities with Vacuum Tempering Furnace

Piotr Zawistowski
Managing Director
SECO/VACUUM TECHNOLOGIES, USA
Source: secowarwick.com

HTD Size-PR LogoAn international manufacturer of cutting tools purchased a vacuum tempering furnace. This North American-made, horizontal, front-loading furnace is purpose-built to accommodate the client's needs with an all-metal hot zone for clean vacuum processing. As with the earlier furnaces from the same supplier, one of which was installed at a different facility, the new furnace includes a convection fan and a pressurized gas quench for quick cooling.

This is the fourth Vector furnace solution provided to the client. "There is no stronger statement," states Piotr Zawistowski, president of SECO/VACUUM, "[. . . ] than the customer who continues to order more of the same technology from us year after year as they expand. We are privileged to be a part of their growth."

Maciej Korecki
Vice President of the Vacuum Furnace Segment
SECO/WARWICK
(source: SECO/WARWICK)

"This customer demands – and has come to expect from us – a complete range of benefits, including precision heat treat uniformity, consistency from one workload to the next, and fast processing speeds along with low energy consumption," noted Maciej Korecki, vice president of the Vacuum Furnace Segment at SECO/WARWICK Group.

This single-chamber vacuum heat treating furnace is a good solution for machine tool manufacturers and is available with curved graphite elements or an all-metal hot zone. Additionally, it can be used for most standard hardening, tempering, annealing, solution heat treating, brazing and sintering applications.

International Cutting Tool Manufacturer Increases Capabilities with Vacuum Tempering Furnace Read More »

Box Furnace for Annealing Firearm Barrels

Medium-Sized Floor-Standing Box Furnace
Source: L&L Special Furnace Company

HTD Size-PR LogoA leading Midwest manufacturer of custom firearms and rifles will use a medium-sized floor-standing box furnace for annealing gun barrels for rifles.

This is the second furnace from L&L Special Furnace Company that the manufacturer has acquired. This model is the L&L Model XLE 3636, which has a work zone of 34” wide by 30” high by 32” deep. It is designed for use with inert blanketing gas for atmosphere control to minimize surface de-carb.

Other features include a programmable flow panel with regulator and two flow meters for high and nominal flow rates along with a visual flow indicator light are included. There is a high-temperature air-cooled fan with packing gland to maintain the case seal integrity. A cast alloy hearth provides a good flat work platform for the fixturing of parts.

Honeywell controls and a Yokogawa recorder enable temperature control and chart representation of the furnace cycle. The power control is a series of solid-state relays and the furnace is constructed in accordance with NFPA86 compliance for safety.

 

 

 

 

 

(photo source: Vidar Nordli Mathisen at unsplash.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Annealing Furnace for Aerospace and Defense Manufacturer

A roller hearth tube annealing furnace was recently installed and commissioned at an aerospace and defense products manufacturer. This manufacturer fabricates the most critical precision tubular products, and the high temperature roller hearth furnace quench anneals superalloy tubing for their drawing operation.

(photo source: Abbott Furnace Company)

Additionally, the electrically heated furnace is atmosphere tight and is operated with an argon protective atmosphere. The high-speed roll drive quickly transfers the tubing from the furnace to the water-spray quench.

The furnace, provided by Abbott Furnace Company, allows the manufacturer to increase production, processing a greater number of tubes between tubing draws. “On a daily production basis," says Mr. George Ray, chairman of the manufacturing company, "the Abbott Furnace is 300% more efficient than the previous furnace.” He indicates that with the +/- 5 F furnace temperature uniformity and the uniform water spray, the new furnace also provides better uniformity of hardness than the retired furnace.

(photo source: Abbott Furnace Company)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Annealing Furnace Contracted for Belgium Plant

A Belgian stainless steel producer recently contracted with a plant supplier to the metallurgical industry to provide an annealing and pickling line for stainless steel cold strip.

SMS group will deliver the line to Aperam Stainless at its Genk plant in Belgium. Production start is scheduled for 2020. With this investment in state-of-the-art and future-oriented plant technology, Aperam will enlarge its product range by material grades for the most demanding applications and improve lead time and flexibility to meet the market demand.

The line will be equipped with a horizontal Drever annealing furnace and a multi-stage pickling section in addition to a four-high skin-pass mill stand and a side trimmer. The new annealing and pickling line will be the fourth one SMS group is going to install at Aperam’s Genk site.

The line will process both austenitic and ferritic grades.

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Annealing Furnace Updated for Shanghai Pipes, Fittings, Flanges Supplier

Kurt Yang, Shihang Export Manager

A leading manufacturer and supplier of cupronickel (CuNi 90/10 & CuNi 70/30) pipes, fittings, and flanges based in Shanghai, China, recently updated its annealing furnace to improve physical properties of copper nickel pipes, flanges, and fittings.

Through this upgrade, Shanghai Shihang Copper Nickel Pipe Fitting Co., Ltd., aims to improve performance and surface finish of all Shihang seamless copper nickel pipes (less than 419mm OD).

“Our focus is to manufacture seam welded and seamless copper nickel pipes that meet the dynamic needs in all applications,” said Kurt Yang, Shihang Export Manager. “Therefore, as a company, we must upgrade our manufacturing plant, to increase our capacity and capability for the growing demand of CuNi 90/10 and CuNi 70/30 pipe systems.”

With the new annealing furnace, Shihang strictly controls most physical and chemical properties of copper-nickel pipes. The furnace accurately controls the annealing temperature, thereby hardening and removing all internal stresses in Shihang copper nickel pipes. By upgrading the annealing furnace, Shihang will attain a better surface finish of copper-nickel pipes, thereby increasing the aesthetic value; even during the annealing process, the new furnace will not alter the chemical composition of the copper-nickel pipes.

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Heat Treaters Must Aim for Right Balance in Processing Stainless Steels

 

Source: Paulo

 

Heat treatment of stainless steels calls for striking the right balance between effective corrosion resistance and maintaining machinability and formability. An analysis of the types of stainless steels and the annealing process was recently published to examine how different alloys respond to various forms of heat treatment.

 

Read more: “How Heat Treating and Annealing Stainless Steel Impacts Corrosion Resistance and Polishing”

 

Heat Treaters Must Aim for Right Balance in Processing Stainless Steels Read More »

Tubing Manufacturer Purchases Annealing Line for Stainless Steel, Nickel Alloy Tubes

 

Source: ExpoMetals.net

 

A supplier of plasma-based heat and surface treatment solutions to the metals industry has delivered a high-speed annealing line for precision stainless steel and nickel alloy tubes for a producer of small size precision tubing.

 

Read more: “Plaismait Delivers High-Speed Annealing Lines for Stainless Steel Tubes”

Tubing Manufacturer Purchases Annealing Line for Stainless Steel, Nickel Alloy Tubes Read More »

Aleris Opens Kentucky Plant, Includes Heat Treatment, Annealing Capabilities

Sean Stack , Aleris Chairman and CEO

Global aluminum producer Aleris recently announced the opening of its aluminum automotive body sheet production facility in Lewisport, Kentucky, which includes heat treatment and finishing capabilities, as well as a wide cold mill, and two continuous annealing lines. The company, which is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, launched the project in 2014 in response to the automotive industry’s demand for broader aluminum use in the production of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Lewisport facility began shipping automotive products to customers in November.

Lewisport is Aleris’s first site in North America that is equipped with aluminum auto body sheet finishing capabilities and houses an automotive innovation center, which includes a state-of-the-art research and development center in Detroit.

“The opening of our new automotive facility in Kentucky marks the completion of a significant piece of our strategic realignment, which includes expanding our capacity and capabilities to serve the automotive industry and other high-value end uses,” said Aleris Chairman and CEO Sean Stack. “As an experienced supplier to automotive manufacturers in Europe, we look forward to partnering with customers more closely now in North America to bring them the most advanced auto body sheet products in the industry.”

 

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Kentucky Steel Facility Inaugurates Bright Annealing Line, Cold Rolling Mill 

 

Source: Kentucky I-71 Connected.com

Left to Right: Cristóbal Fuentes, CEO of North American Stainless; Bernardo Velázquez, CEO of Acerinox; Matt Bevin, Governor of Kentucky; Rafael Miranda, Acerinox Chairman of the Board

 

A Ghent, Kentucky, steel production facility recently welcomed a Spanish delegation and state officials to the launch of its 11th expansion since 1990. The project, which was announced in March 2015, includes a new $150 million bright annealing line and a cold rolling mill.

Read more: “With Dedication of New Production Line, North American Stainless Celebrates Growth, Commitment and 36 New Jobs in Carroll County”

Kentucky Steel Facility Inaugurates Bright Annealing Line, Cold Rolling Mill  Read More »

Italian Manufacturers Order Annealing Furnaces from Austrian Heat Treatment Supplier

Two major Italian manufacturers have ordered bell annealer furnaces to expand their existing lines.

Leading bolt manufacturer, Fontana Luigi S.p.A., based in Veduggio, has commissioned an expansion to an existing HICON/N2® bell annealer facility for heat treatment of non-pickled steel wire coils. Both phases will be nearly identical in design to ensure flexibility between the facility components to achieve maximum throughput capacity. The start of production is scheduled for July 2018 for the new phase.

Ori Martin S.p.A., an electric furnace steel mill facility in Brescia, purchased the supply and installation of an additional gas-fired HICON/N2® bell annealer facility to heat treat unpickled steel wire coils in a controlled nitrogen process atmosphere. The clear inside diameter of the new facility, which will go into operation May 2018, is 4,050 mm, with a stack height of 2,500 mm.

Austrian heat treatment supplier Ebner provided and installed the equipment for both companies.

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