AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT

New VW Crafter Van to Sport Axle Designed for Heavy Payloads

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Christophe Dominiak, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Dana

An engineering solutions company based in Maumee, Ohio, recently announced it will be supplying all-wheel-drive axle to the new, award-winning Volkswagen Crafter 4 Motion panel van.

Dana Incorporated manufactures the compactly designed Spicer® AdvanTEK®M180 axle at its Birmingham, England, facility. A key feature of the axle is its advanced electronic-locking differential.  As part of the complete system design, the four-pinion rear-locking differential incorporates an electric solenoid with an electronic position sensor to lock the wheels together for improved traction and stability.  Dana was responsible for ensuring the locking differential application software met Volkswagen’s stringent performance and demanding functional safety requirements.

“Our team worked closely with Volkswagen from start to finish to develop and launch the best solution for the all-new Crafter 4 Motion.  We are proud to be part of this vehicle, the 2017 International Van of the Year,” said Christophe Dominiak, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Dana. “The new axle on the Volkswagen Crafter is a great example of Dana’s leadership in efficient all-wheel-drive integration technologies and our ability to partner with our customers to provide them the solution they need to meet ever-changing market demands.”

The company also launched its Spicer® AdvanTEK® M250 rear axle – also manufactured in Birmingham, England – for rear-wheel-drive versions of the VW Crafter.  This axle is designed to handle heavier payloads while providing optimal traction and power density, even when the vehicle is fully loaded.

Dana supports the passenger vehicle, commercial truck, and off-highway markets, as well as industrial and stationary equipment applications.

 

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Belgian Bus Company to Build U.S. Factory

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Filip Van Hool, CEO at Van Hool

A Belgian manufacturer of buses, coaches, and industrial vehicles recently announced it will build a bus factory in Morristown, Tennessee. This will be Van Hool’s first production facility in the United States although its vehicles have been on the streets of North America since 1987. The plant is expected to produce state of the art buses and commuter coaches under the “Buy America Act”, which requires vehicles supplied to public authorities that are assembled in the U.S. to contain 70 percent of their parts from American suppliers and 100 percent American steel.

“We are excited to announce the next step of the Van Hool group’s global growth plans here in Morristown, Hamblen County, Tennessee. The investment of more than $47 million confirms the more than 30-year presence of Van Hool on the American market. Today we are looking forward to building a state-of-the-art bus factory in Morristown to provide the entire North American market with high-quality buses and commuter coaches for transportation agencies from 2020 onwards,” said Filip Van Hool, CEO at Van Hool.

Once the facility is operational in the first quarter of 2020, Van Hool will employ 600 and manufacture around 400 buses and commuter coaches annually for the North American public transport market. The groundbreaking ceremony for the new site will take place at the end of summer 2018.

Present at the announcement in Morristown, Tennessee, were Bill Haslam, Governor of Tennessee, and Bob Rolfe, Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development (TNECD).

 

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Steelmaker Increases Heat Treatment Capacity for Auto UHSS

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Kobe Steel Kakogawa works

A new continuous annealing line for steel sheet will be installed at a major Japanese steel manufacturer, the direct result of the growing demand from the automotive industry for ultra high-strength sheet (UHSS), according to the company.

Kobe Steel Ltd, headquartered in Chūō-ku, Kobe, recently reported that it will invest close to $470 million (50 billion Yen) in the installation of heat treatment facilities and cutting-edge equipment at its Kakogawa works, with an estimated production capacity of 240,000 metric tons per year, in response to automakers’ efforts to meet stricter regulations for fuel efficiency and collision safety by producing lighter car bodies with higher strength.

A new facility will combine a continuous annealing line with hot-dipped galvanizing and galvannealing equipment. The new production line and associated equipment will produce both cold rolled steel and hot-dipped galvanized/galvannealed steel, enabling the production of UHSS with high formability to meet customer needs. The passing process changes depending on the type of product being produced, either cold rolled steel or hot-dipped galvanized/galvannealed steel. When cold rolled steel is made, the steel undergoes heat treatment at the continuous annealing line. When hot-dipped galvanized/galvannealed steel is made, the steel first undergoes annealing and then galvanizing treatment by the galvanizing equipment.

Ultra high-strength steel (UHSS) has a tensile strength of 780 MPa or higher.

Together with the construction of the new line, which is expected to start up in February 2021, Kobe Steel will also increase the production capacity of its existing pickling and tandem cold mill and material handling equipment.

 

Photo credit: Automotive Engineering HQ

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Qatar Extrusion Supplier Switches to Gas Nitriding System

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A gas nitriding system configured for treating various sized flat and hollow dies used in the production of aluminum extruded profiles for the construction and transportation markets was installed in January 2018 for a Qatar-based company that manufactures and supplies mill finished and powder coated aluminum extruded products.

Qatar Aluminum Extrusion Company (Qalex) awarded a contract to Nitrex Metals, a nitrding/nitrocarburizing technologies and solutions supplier based in Québec, for the supply and installation of an NX-1015 potential-controlled gas nitriding system which Qalex sought to adopt new technological innovations in nitriding when equipment and die quality requirements could not be met with the existing fluidized bed nitrider.

The NX-1015 furnace has a load capacity of 4400 lbs (2000 kg), and while this is slightly larger than current production needs, the additional capacity will accommodate future growth, when Qalex adds a second extrusion press. The precise interaction between the furnace and advanced control system allows the atmosphere to be adjusted automatically, according to the recipe and parameters entered. Integral to the system operation, Nitreg® technology is customized and pre-tested for extrusion dies to ensure optimum results of the nitrided layer, as well as to obtain repeatable results and higher throughput per die.

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Amsterdam Auto Aluminum Supplier Increases North American Footprint

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An Amsterdam-based aluminum supplier recently announced the opening of its new automotive structures plant in San Luis Potosí, Mexico, to supply aluminum crash management systems and structural components to automakers in Mexico.

Paul Warton, president of Constellium’s Automotive Structures and Industry

Constellium’s new facility in San Luis Potosí houses the latest technology for forming, machining, welding, and heat-treating aluminum automotive components, along with a state-of-the-art quality lab, in order to respond to the automotive industry’s expectation that “more than 5 million vehicles will be assembled annually in Mexico by 2020, making it one of the largest markets for automobile production,” according to company officials.

“It is an exciting day for Constellium as we expand our footprint in North America to better serve our customers and become part of the growing automotive industry in Mexico,” said Paul Warton, president of Constellium’s Automotive Structures and Industry business unit. “The San Luis Potosí plant is well-positioned to serve multiple customers, and to provide advanced aluminum solutions as the industry trend to electric vehicles gains momentum.”

The Governor of the State Juan Manuel Carreras López was present at the grand opening, along with the Secretary of Economic Development of the Government of the State, Gustavo Puente Orozco; the delegate of the Secretary of Labor and Social Welfare Edgar Durón Puente; and Octavio Martínez Angulo, general director of the plant.

Last year Constellium opened a new plant in White, Georgia, to supply automakers in the southeast U.S., in addition to its existing location in Van Buren, Michigan. A new joint venture (Constellium-Can Art) plant near Windsor, Ontario, Canada, called Astrex, produces aluminum extrusions for Constellium’s automotive projects in North America.

 

 

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Steel Producer of Auto Components Poised to Restart Ohio Facility

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An Ohio-based provider of special bar quality (SBQ) steel recently announced plans to restart an idled facility, including its electric arc furnace, casters, and rolling mills, leading to over a thousand more jobs for the region.

Jaime Vigil, president and CEO, Republic Steel

Officers with Republic Steel reported that the company “is prepared to respond quickly to an anticipated uptick in demand across the nation” following the recently announced steel tariff.

Republic currently has open capacity at its melt shop at its headquarters in Canton and would restart its Lorain facility, which would provide more than a million tons of new production capacity to support the SBQ bar and coil and seamless tube round markets. The company anticipates that it would take a few months to hire and train employees and restart its idled equipment.

“Republic is more than prepared to support market demand that has been previously supplied by imports,” said Jaime Vigil, president and CEO. “We maintained our Lorain facility while it’s been idled waiting for the opportunity to restart and it appears that time is finally here.”

Republic’s products include hot rolled steel bars, cold finished steel bars, cold heading quality rod and wire and leaded steel bars which are used in axles, drive shafts, suspension rods, and other critical components of automobiles, off-highway vehicles, and industrial equipment. In addition to its headquarters in Canton, Ohio, and steelmaking capabilities in Canton and Lorain, Ohio, the company also operates value-added rolling and finishing facilities in Canton, Lorain, Massillon, and Solon, Ohio, and Lackawanna, New York.

Photo credit: The Center for Land Use Interpretation

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Heat Treaters Must Aim for Right Balance in Processing Stainless Steels

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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”

 

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Specialty Stainless Steel Heat Treat Facility Opens to Support U.S. Auto Supply Chain

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A Specialty Stainless Steel Processes (S³P) facility has opened in North Carolina to serve automotive, food processing, medical and oil and gas industries. U.K.-based Bodycote, a global provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services, recently announced the grand opening of its new site for S³P processes, which increase mechanical and wear properties in stainless steel without adversely affecting corrosion resistance.

Kent Abrahamsen, Senior Vice President, Bodycote Specialty Stainless Steel Processes

Bodycote reports that demand for S³P processes featuring Kolsterising® has grown across multiple markets including automotive, food processing, medical, and oil and gas among others in the United States. The new facility will support the manufacturing supply chains in the southeast region and will be accredited for both ISO9001 and AS9100 to serve the customer base.

“We are excited to respond to our customers’ requests to expand Bodycote’s geographic footprint and increase capacity to serve their growing demands,” stated Kent Abrahamsen, senior vice president, Bodycote Specialty Stainless Steel Processes. “Our new, larger facility in Mooresville supports the increasing demands for Specialty Stainless Steel Processes (S³P).”

Certain stainless steel applications present unique technical challenges to metallurgists and engineers. Bodycote’s S³P technologies treat stainless steel, nickel-based, and cobalt chromium alloys (including martensitic and precipitation hardened stainless steel materials) to improve resistance against surface wear such as galling, cavitation erosion and abrasive wear.

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Quebec Steelmaker Invests in Heat Treatment Equipment

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A major Quebec steel producer recently announced that investments of nearly CAD$70 million (US$54.2 million) will include replacing heat treatment equipment at two locations.

François Perras, chief executive officer, ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada

ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada will replace two reheating furnaces at its Contrecoeur-East wire rod mill and its Contrecoeur-West bar mill. These new furnaces, which aim to increase the company’s rolling capacity by 100,000 tons, will enable greater productivity, optimal energy use, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The work should extend until the first half of 2020.

“We are renewing ArcelorMittal’s commitment to Quebec,” said François Perras, chief executive officer, ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada. “Our choice to invest in the acquisition of high-performance equipment will help us accelerate our move towards high-value-added steel production, particularly for the automotive and construction industries.”

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High-Performance Electronic Differentials Integrated for General Auto Market

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An agreement to bring high-performance differentials and differential technologies from the premium market to the general market of passenger cars, light trucks, crossovers, SUVs was recently finalized between an American driveline and powertrain technologies engineering and manufacturing firm and a German supplier to premium European-based automakers.

Alberto Satine, President AAM Driveline

The expanded relationship between American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. (AAM), which serves automotive, commercial, and industrial markets, and Drexler Automotive GmbH, which manufactures high-performance limited slip differentials, racing transmissions, drive shafts, and wheel hub systems, immediately integrates electro-mechanical limited slip differentials (eLSDs) into the AAM TracRite family of differential products. These systems greatly improve vehicle handling and traction for all-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive vehicles. The system, used extensively in high-performance vehicles from premium OEMs, provides active torque control of the wheels by translating vehicle torque requests into accurate axle torque response.

“AAM and Drexler are partnering to offer the market mature differential technology that will allow the general driver new levels of excitement by taking handling and traction to new levels of performance,” said Alberto Satine, President AAM Driveline. “Combining AAM and Drexler’s design, engineering and manufacturing expertise will provide our customers with the highest-quality, most-advanced driveline systems.”

The system’s power-dense, four-pinion differential design supports axle modularity with open and eLSD differentials in the smallest packaging space. Additionally, the scalable clutch, actuation, and differential design of the technology drives a wide range of applications and vehicle segments.

Herbert Drexler, Drexler Automotive Founder

“AAM’s global scale and high-volume manufacturing capability make the company the perfect partner for Drexler,” said Herbert Drexler, Drexler Automotive Founder. “We look forward to engineering and developing differentials that meet the needs of our global OEM customers.”

TracRite Electro-Mechanical eLSD will go into production later this year.

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