A steel and metals manufacturer based in Irving, Texas, which processes materials and services through a network of facilities that includes electric arc furnace (EAF) mini-mills and micro mills, recently dedicated a new micro mill in Durant, Oklahoma.
Barbara Smith, chairman, president, and CEO of CMC.
This is Commercial Metal Company’s second micro mill in Durant, supporting CMC’s processing and supply of steel and metals to a wide range of industries, including energy, construction, refractory, and transportation. The new technologically advanced facility will use a continuous manufacturing process which melts, casts, and rolls steel from a single uninterrupted strand, resulting in higher yields and lower energy consumption.
“We look forward to providing our customers with high-quality product combined with CMC’s outstanding service,” said Barbara Smith, chairman, president, and CEO of CMC.
Dr. Bill Stry, senior process technology engineer at Harper International
A global leader in complete thermal processing solutions recently extended the carbon fiber production capabilities of several cutting-edge material industries across multiple sectors by building and installing oxidations ovens.
Harper International, based in Buffalo, New York, offers thermal and velocity uniformity through the design and manufacture of carbonization technology and equipment for carbon fiber production. The company’s 3-meter wide, center-to-end parallel flow production oxidation ovens include integrated tow guidance and energy recovery, integrated roll stands with precision tow tracking, and low energy consumption per kilo of fiber.
Artist drawing of the thermal processing line of oxidation ovens being built by Harper International
“Our technology advancements provide rapid startup and stable oxidation, improved air velocity and thermal uniformity at a variety of flow rates, and optimal control of the reaction ultimately enhancing fiber quality,” said Dr. Bill Stry, senior process technology engineer at Harper International.
A Vermont-based ceramics solutions specialist and manufacturer recently announced in a white paper the introduction of a new direct-pressure, sintered silicon nitride powder-to-part component manufacturing process to be applied in a wide variety of industries.
Superior Technical Ceramics released the results of the heat treating process that provides a high-performance, cost-effective material solution as an alternative to both reaction-bonded silicon nitride and hot-pressed silicon nitride, and which the company expects to meet the demand from manufacturers looking for a material with a high strength-to-weight ratio, which compares favorably even with metallic nickel-based “superalloys”.
An excerpt:
“Silicon nitride (Si3N4) is a strong, lightweight, and commercially important non-oxide ceramic material. . . . Raw silicon nitride powder has a gray color and is typically fabricated by exposing pure metallic silicon powder to high-temperature nitrogen gas under pressure, although naturally occurring deposits have also been found as small inclusions in certain meteorites. Fully sintered (dense) silicon nitride has a dark gray to black coloration and component surfaces can be ground to a smooth polish. It is often utilized in demanding applications in which strength, wear resistance, fracture toughness, and dimensional stability are all required at high temperatures and/or in corrosive environments.”
A new HD (high definition) spray technology was implemented and successfully commissioned in the two-strand slab caster of a global steel producer in the last quarter of 2017.
SMS group retrofitted the two strands of the vertical bending caster at ArcelorMittal Bremen one after the other and put them back into operation within one month of one another. The goal of the retrofit was to improve secondary cooling and slab quality.
At ArcelorMittal Bremen, 220-millimeter-thick steel slabs are cast with a maximum width of 2,670 millimeters.
“We are very satisfied with the HD spray technology,” said Kai Küstner, project manager for the caster retrofit at ArcelorMittal Bremen. “The SMS group team was very committed and supported our trusting cooperation. This enabled smooth commissioning.”
The HD spray system developed by SMS group is a scalable water distribution and control system. Compact HD spray boxes fitted close to the spray nozzles, and not in the water distribution room, take over the function of control valves, reducing the required interconnecting pipework. Pneumatically operated pressure control valves and the related automation system form the centerpiece of the HD spray system. The secondary cooling water is distributed and controlled only just before the cooling nozzles.
ArcelorMittal Bremen produces over 3.5 million tons of flat steel every year.
A Russian manufacturer of hydraulic cutting tools and rescue and emergency equipment recently extended its range of services by offering commercial heat treatment through its newly created subsidiary, TVN2.
SPRUT expanded its operation with a BMI double chamber vacuum furnace (B64TH for oil and gas quenching) and a second furnace for tempering and low-pressure nitriding (B54RN). This led to the launch of TVN2 to carry out the vacuum technology heat treatments, offering repeatability of results and giving the company control of the manufacturing process. With its own metallurgical laboratory on site, SPRUT, through TVN2, is able to offer hardness and microstructure analyses as additional services.
Following several months of nothing but relatively good news, this month’s IHEA Executive Economic Summary Report shows some numbers dipping. As Chris Kuehl, the economist behind the report, states in his monthly in-depth analysis, “This month there is good news in bad data and some bad news in the good data. It is not always about whether an index is climbing this month or not. Sometimes it is the overall trend line and how it compares to what it might have been some months ago.”
Auto and light truck sales continue to be strong.
Every month, Dr. Kuehl, through IHEA, provides not only raw data that is of specific interest to the heat treating industry, but he also provides insightful analysis of what the numbers mean and why readers should care.
Dr. Chris Kuehl, economic analyst for IHEA, prepares the monthly IHEA Economic Trends Index.
The April report showed an increase in roughly half of the index numbers, including a surprisingly strong automobile and light truck sales index which, according to Kuehl, “continues to shock analysts as there is an assumption that the market is already saturated. It seems not to be the case as the consumer still has a desire for new wheels and if the current hike in gas prices accelerates there may soon be a new desire for those fuel sippers.”
Steel consumption continues to be weak.
Along with auto and truck sales, some of the other indices that also continued to climb were industrial capacity utilization, capital expenditures, and durable goods shipments.
Falling indices included the purchasing managers index, new home starts, and steel consumption.
Anne Goyer, Executive Director of IHEA
For a look at the complete report, contact Anne Goyer, Executive Director of the Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA).
A German heat treat aftermarket supplier recently reached a cooperation with a European heat treating manufacturer for the production and distribution of heat treat systems for precision fine casting industries.
Linn High Therm GmbH and SAFED Suisse SA, a company of the Aichelin Group, announced the joint project in early 2018, wherein Linn High Therm GmbH will license the production of smaller heat treatment systems for watch, jewelry, and microsystems technology from SAFED’s product range. The agreement states that SAFED will take over the distribution of these products as well as the distribution and service of the products of Linn High Therm GmbH in Switzerland, France, Italy, and partly Germany through the existing sales and service network.
Both companies are experienced in the development and construction of electrically heated heat treatment plants. Linn High Therm GmbH specializes in the production of industrial and lab furnaces/ kilns, microwave furnaces, sample preparation units for spectroscopy, induction heating systems, precision fine casting systems and customer-specific systems. SAFED Suisse SA, based in Delémont, Switzerland, provides installations for the watchmaking and micromechanical industries.
Photo: Antoine Cantenot of SAFED Suisse SA and Horst Linn of Linn High Therm GmbH
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.
