MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT

Paulo Announces New Plant in Monterrey, Mexico

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Heat treatment service provider Paulo has begun construction on a greenfield facility in Monterrey, Mexico.  The new plant will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017 and processing of heat-treatment will begin in the first quarter of 2018.  Paulo will initially occupy 50,000 sqft with expansion up to 110,000 sqft.  Monterrey was chosen for its robust manufacturing community with close proximity to major providers of automotive, agriculture, aerospace and other industrial components.

Paulo will continue to add equipment throughout 2018.  Initially, the plant will serve the automotive industry, processing parts manufactured in Mexico. Paulo will also leverage automation with multiple robotic loading cells to improve safety in material handling while leaning production steps.

 

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SSAB Modernizes Hot-Dip Galvanizing Line No. 3 at Finnish Facility

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Swedish specialty steel producer SSAB will modernize its continuous hot-dip galvanizing line No. 3 in Hämeenlinna, Finland. The upgrade essentially involves switching the old air-knife into a new air knife system from Duma-Bandzink with strip stabilization and the integration of an inductive booster in the furnace. The conversion measures will be implemented in cooperation with SMS group, Drever International and EMG Automation. The measures will be realized at the end of this year (2017).

The installation of a new Duma-Bandzink Jet-Pro air knife system with EMG eMASS® strip stabilization – in the so-called “Integrated Solution” – will help to save zinc and improve the quality of the coating. The line will be designed for strips between 0.4 to 3.0 millimeters thick and 650 to 1,550 millimeters wide. In the process section, the strips will be zinc-coated at speeds of up to 160 meters per minute. Inductive strip pre-heating to about 350 degrees Celsius will increase the capacity of the furnace.

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Italian Manufacturers Order Annealing Furnaces from Austrian Heat Treatment Supplier

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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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Joe Powell Comments on Marquenching and Austempering

/ MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS, QUENCHING TECHNICAL CONTENT, TEMPERING TECHNICAL CONTENT

Last week, we ran a news release about ThermoFusion in California expanding their heat treat capabilities to include marquenching and austempering (click here to see that release). In that short article, some comments were made about the aggressiveness of various quench methods and their effect on distortion and cracking.

Joe Powell, of Akron Steel Treating Company, Integrated Heat Treating Solutions, LLC, IQDI Products, LTD., and IQ Technologies Inc, one of the heat treat industry’s foremost experts on quenching, wrote in to help educate all of us a bit more on the finer points of quenching. Below are his comments. Joe can be reached at JoePowell@akronsteeltreating.com.

 

Doug,

In your recent article, you stated that Marquenching and Austempering use a “less aggressive” quench cooling rate, “and reduce distortion caused by rapid temperature change (thermal shock)” which is only half true.  The main mechanism that allow a molten salt quench to reduce distortion is the elimination of mixed phase cooling – there is no slow film boiling (gas) phase cooling mixed with the high-evaporative cooing phase of nucleate boiling, but only a single phase of all liquid convection cooling.   It’s the non-uniformity of cooling at the surface of the part that will distort or crack the part not so much the rate of cooling.

Joe

Joseph A. Powell, President
Akron Steel Treating Company

Integrated Heat Treating Solutions, LLC
IQDI Products, LTD. 
IQ Technologies Inc

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UPC Energizes Aging Carburizing Cell for Axle Gears Manufacturer

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A U.S.-based axle gears manufacturer recently commissioned hardware and software enhancements to add to their existing heat treat cell and automation.

Migration of legacy controls was not economically feasible, and after investigating options to boost equipment functionality, the customer opted to integrate a new PLC that bridges the gap between the heat treat cell and new robotic loading cell. The new control system installed by United Process Controls, Inc., (UPC) provides operators with a quick display of the furnace status, functions, and operational data of three AFC Holcroft carburizing pusher furnaces. Furnaces were similarly adjusted to liaise with the new robotic loader. In addition, material handling data from the registers of the old PLCs was transferred to the new robot cell to help increase the factory information system. UPC was also retained to program and connect the updated furnace controls, including the new conveyor line, and charge cars to the factory information system.

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Heat Treating Keeps Costs Down for German Tool Manufacturer

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Source:  ETMM

The Meusburger alignment process is shown here.

Heat treatment of standard parts allows a Bamberg-based contract manufacturer to provide in-house die and tool making that keeps costs low for customers. Metallform Bamberg GmbH, which specializes in the production of stamping and bending parts from the coil, dies, and welded and mounted assemblies, turns to Austrian stamping and machine company Meusburger for customized parts.

“[O]ur standard parts are heat treated for stress relief by default, which results in low warping and good subsequent machining properties,” notes Sebastian König, area sales manager for the central Germany sales region at Meusburger.

 

Read more: “Good Die Making Makes the Difference – Standard Parts Help in Doing So”

Photo credit: ETMM/Finus

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No Cal Heat Treat Services Supplier Adds Austempering, Marquenching Capabilities

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A brazing and heat treating services supplier based in Northern California has announced the expansion of process services to their heat treating line. ThermoFusion now offers marquenching and austempering, in addition to their annealing, hardening, vacuum, and hydrogen services, for clients in the aerospace, automotive, medical, energy and general manufacturing industries.

Marquenching and austempering use a less aggressive quenchant, reducing the cooling rate slightly, and reducing distortion caused by rapid temperature change (thermal shock).  In high carbon material, these alternative processes allow for the formation of bainite instead of martensite, which allows spring steels to remain “springy” as they get hard.

 

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European Drilling Tools Manufacturer Commissions Furnace System

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A European manufacturer of hard rock drilling tools recently contracted to purchase a gas nitro carburizing turnkey installation, complete with furnace, control system, and technology.

The selected technology and customized process recipes provided by Nitrex Metals Inc meet the customer’s technological requirements.

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Bearing Manufacturer Commissions Electrically Heated Furnace Line

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An electrically heated furnace line has recently been commissioned by a leading bearing manufacturer for its existing production line. Responsible for producing planet shafts and pump vane products, the line, supplied by Can-Eng Furnaces International, Ltd., features a compact 1,000 lb/hr atmosphere temper and soluble oil system for rust prevention.

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Voestalpine Expands 3D Metal Printing Activities to Asia and North America

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In April 2017, a new research center for 3D printing of highly complex metal components launched operations in Singapore, as part of an expansion project that will include two more production plants in Taiwan and Canada in August and the fall. At the same time, voestalpine, a global technology and capital goods group, is expanding metal powder production for additive manufacturing at its subsidiaries Böhler Edelstahl GmbH & Co KG, Austria, and Uddeholms AB, Sweden. These operations follow the successful start of the voestalpine Additive Manufacturing Center in Düsseldorf, Germany, in 2016.

In metal additive manufacturing—also known as 3D printing—digital design data is used to add material layer by layer in order to create highly complex parts with completely new forms and functionalities without any material loss. The base material is different types of processed metal powder. Metal-based additive manufacturing is expanding in sectors such as the aerospace, automotive, tool making, and medical industries that require very sophisticated custom products.

voestalpine Technology Institute Asia, set to open in August 2017 in Taiwan, is the Group’s third research center for metal additive manufacturing. In addition, capacity for high-tech printing for both research and commercial purposes is being built up in Toronto, the first voestalpine site for this manufacturing process in the NAFTA region.

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