Heat treating plays a critical role in the making of a mold base, notes an Austrian manufacturer of standard parts for mould bases and die sets in a recent process profile in ETMM-online.
An excerpt:
"Heat-treat[ing] all steel plates for stress relief . . . at approximately 580°C [1076°F] for 24 hours . . . creates optimal conditions for low-deformation processing of parts. . . . With stress-relieving heat treatment, the tension in the material is minimized without changes to the microstructure or strength. This is a great advantage during subsequent machining. If there was still tension in the material, it would, for example, cause deformation during sawing or milling. During stress-relieving, it is important to heat the plates slowly and consistently and then maintain this temperature for six hours."
With the recent reopening of its drawing mill in Hallstahammar, Sweden, a leading supplier of industrial heating technology and resistance materials expects to meet an increased global demand for heating, resistance and thermocouple wire.
Nicklas Nilsson, president at Kanthal
Kanthal, which is part of the Sandvik Group, recently expanded its capacity by reopening its drawing mill, which includes a new production line designed in a flexible way to secure a sustainable and cost-effective wire drawing.
“We want to support our customers to grow and stay competitive. To be able to do this, we must ramp up our production of Kanthal® wire to secure short and reliable lead times,” said Christoffer Saarnio, global supply chain manager (shown above). “With the new production line, we will be able to meet increased demand for many years to come.”
“We have produced Kanthal wire in Hallstahammar since 1931, except for the past five years,” said Nicklas Nilsson, president at Kanthal. “It’s great to close the circle and once again see the drawing mill up and running.”
A North American extrusion and forging grade billet producer recently announced plans to proceed with new aluminum remelt facilities for billet and slab ingot casting and related processes and services. This will involve new facilities, increasing the company’s existing 1 billion pounds per year capacity by 75%.
With this approval from the Giampaolo Group Management Board, Matalco increases capacity by 350 million pounds in Lordstown, Ohio, 180 million pounds in Canton, Ohio, 225
million pounds in Bluffton, Indiana (previously Alexin LLC), and 250 million pounds in Brampton, Ontario.
Tom Horter, president of Matalco USA Operations Photo credit: Light Metal Age
Earlier in the year, Matalco acquired Alexin LLC.
The catalyst for these investments is in response to the needs voiced by customers in under-served market geographies, their requirements for increased product breadth, and processing services for the vast and growing automotive fflat-rolled aluminum product supply chain and the product feature needs of specialty alloy aluminum billet markets.
“We are an established leader in the remelt aluminum business. Matalco’s four existing aluminum plants have the broadest product offering and flexibility for providing closed loop, scrap-based billet, and slab ingot products,” said Tom Horter, president of Matalco USA Operations noted. “The proven capabilities of our people, assets, and technologies provide the nucleus and granularity for understanding market challenges and generating the solutions to meet the
future supply chain requirements of our customers.”
Horter added, “The recent integration of Alexin into Matalco has provided the right base for new employee training and innovative product and process development enabling speed to
market in these growing niche areas, bringing to life the exciting business possibilities to attain the Giampaolo Group’s medium and long-term objectives for our businesses.”
Matalco has not announced the number of plants that have been approved, nor their exact locations.
“Our team has been working with state and local economic representatives in the Upper Midwest states of Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, and the southern states of Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky,” said Frank Mastrandrea, from the Giampaolo Group Management Board.
Induction heat treaters know that proper coil design is crucial to increasing longevity, improving production quality, and cutting costs. The authors of this paper on Coil Design Techniques (C. Yakey, V. Nemkov, R. Goldstein, J. Jackowski) draw on an extensive library of published case histories in induction coil design and performance evaluations and provide their own case study of an automotive CVJ stem hardening coil in order to demonstrate how the elimination of failure points and application of improved design guidelines can result in increased coil lifetimes, even in an inductor that in some circumstances can have a short lifetime.
An excerpt:
“The quality of an induction coil is a major determinant of the cost to produce induction heat treated components. Oftentimes, the difference between a well designed and manufactured inductor and a poor performing inductor is not readily apparent. However, a high-quality induction coil can lead to substantially lower component manufacturing costs and higher profitability for the induction heat treater.”
A refractory materials provider in Newark, New York, recently announced its acquisition of the assets of a refractory sales and service business, expanding its construction capabilities.
Dave Wetmore, URS president
With this acquisition of Hanyan-Higgins Company, Upstate Refractory Services Inc (URS) will continue to offer Plibrico refractory products across upstate, central, and western New York, in addition to providing uninterrupted service to Hanyan-Higgins customers. The purchase will also allow URS to expand into three new New York locations, including Syracuse, Albany, and Massena.
“We are delighted to have purchased the assets of Hanyan-Higgins Company,” said Dave Wetmore, URS president. “We’re proud to carry on their history of service and commitment provided to customers, and look forward to continued growth as a result of this purchase.”
Photo credit: Wayne County Industrial Development Agency
Adam Devine, CEO, co-founder, and head of R&D, Ranger Point Precision
A Texas-based manufacturer of custom-built, match-grade rifles and performance parts for rifles and pistols recently announced that superior vacuum heat treatment capabilities result in the expansion of its line of parts for Steyr Arms Inc. A-1 pistols.
Ranger Point Precision, based near Houston, Texas, reported that their advanced heat treating process and salt bath black nitride allows for the conversion of any 40 S&W pistols to a .357 Sig, delivering match-grade accuracy, increased durability, reduced chamber friction, and extended barrel life. The expanded line includes both standard and threaded options along with thread protectors and mini-comps for .357 Sig / 9mm calibers.
“We start with premium Douglas barrel blanks with precise rifling, then use minimum spec chamber reamers, and the most advanced methods for heat treating and salt bath black nitride to produce the best Steyr pistol barrel available on the market,” said Adam Devine, CEO, co-founder, and head of R&D, Ranger Point Precision.
Steyr .357 pistol barrels are vacuum heat treated to 42 HRC and salt bath black nitride coated, giving them a surface hardness above 80 HRC.
A global provider of industrial furnace controls and process automation solutions announced a new collaboration with a leading industrial gas company that combines the core competencies of each company into a comprehensive offering for heat treatment customers. Praxair Inc is based in Danbury, Connecticut, and produces and distributes atmospheric, process, and specialty gases and high-performance surface coatings. Customers will have access to Praxair’s gases, application technologies, and supply systems, along with United Process Control Inc’s portfolio of specialized industrial flow measurement and atmosphere control products. This continues the long-standing relationship between Praxair and Atmosphere Engineering Company, now a member of UPC, based in West Chester, Ohio.
The combined capabilities of the two companies will bring more end-to-end technologies for a broad spectrum of batch and continuous heat-treating processes such as carburizing, carbonitriding, neutral hardening, annealing, gas quenching, and heat-treatment applications under vacuum processing.
“The automotive and aerospace industries continue to expand requirements for heat treating,” said Steve Mueller, Praxair’s Associate Director of Business Development for Metals and Materials Processing. “We have a team approach in place, combining Praxair’s process know-how and expertise in industrial gases with United Process Controls’ specialized products. Together we meet customers’ requirements for high-quality heat treating with reproducible standards in their furnace operations.”
“This strategic agreement with Praxair reflects our commitment to offer the heat-treating industry a complementary and evolving portfolio of innovative technologies that help drive process efficiency and reliability. We look forward to working closely with Praxair in the coming years, as we strive to further increase our presence in North America,” said Paul Oleszkiewicz, President, UPC.
The largest U.S. steel producer and “mini-mill” steelmaker recently announced plans to build a rebar micro mill near Frostproof, Florida, in a bid to capitalize on the growing demand for construction steel. The facility will produce steel rebar from scrap metal.
Charlotte-based Nucor Corporation will invest $240 million in the steel plant in Florida. The company began construction on its second rebar micro mill project in Sedalia, Missouri, in November 2017.
“Nucor has always focused on growing our business to better serve our customers. We are building this rebar micro mill in a great and growing market where demand is strong and there is currently an abundant supply of scrap, a good portion of which is handled by our scrap business,” said John Ferriola, chairman, CEO & president of Nucor Corporation. “Consistent with our planned strategy of being a low-cost producer, this micro mill will give us a cost advantage over our competitors who are shipping rebar into the region from long distances.”
The rebar micro mill, which will produce steel rebar from scrap metal, is expected to have an estimated annual capacity of 350,000 tons.
Dave Sumoski, executive vice president of Merchant and Rebar Products
“We would like to thank the many state and local officials, leaders, and partners who have assisted us with the project,” said Dave Sumoski, executive vice president of Merchant and Rebar Products. “Identifying the right location is an essential part of our rebar micro mill strategy, and this part of central Florida met all the criteria we evaluate. We look forward to becoming a member of the community.”
A major fastener manufacturer in South America recently received delivery of an endothermic gas generator intended for heat treatment operations at the company’s Brazilian plant.
Jomarca, a Brazilian producer of fasteners for the furniture, tooling, construction, and do-it-yourself markets, purchased the Atmosphere Engineering™ EndoFlex™ generator from United Process Controls (UPC) in reaction to doubled carburizing operations and increased production capacity. Carburizing operations now include ten large continuous rotary retort furnaces that process over 2200 US tons (2,000,000 kg) of fasteners a month.
The high-capacity generator was integrated into the plant’s existing gas distribution system in the first quarter of 2018 and is supplying endothermic gas to all carburizing furnaces. The EndoFlex operates at a lower cost and mixes to more accurate ratios, aimed at maintaining a constant furnace atmosphere and a consistent gas quality at all times. The enhanced control capabilities of the EndoFlex allow for continuous control and monitoring of CH4, dew point, differential pressure, gas temperature, and retort burnout, as well as data logging, which is critical for troubleshooting and meeting regulatory requirements.
Mr. Eric Jossart (Sales Director, UPC USA), Mr. João Marques Castelhano (President, Jomarca), and Marcio Torres Boragini (General Manager, UPC Brazil). In the background is an Atmosphere Engineering™ EndoFlex™ endothermic gas generator installed at Brazilian fastener manufacturer Jomarca
Following up on the first installment of his series on “perfect vacuum sintering” (linked here), Andrea Alborghetti, technical manager of TAV Vacuum Furnaces and contributor to the company’s blog, provides an overview of the right insulation for a vacuum sintering furnace, an examination of hot zone design, the distribution of gas-flow, and the box for loading and unloading.
ofile in ETMM-online.
