A US provider of fuel and control systems for aircraft engines recently had its furnace control improved by a company who services the thermal processing industry, helping both furnace OEMs and equipment end users.
Woodward Inc., which develops and delivers motion control and integrated propulsion systems, recently had its vacuum furnace controls and automation platform upgraded by United Process Controls (UPC). The new generation controls provide streamlined reporting for NADCAP compliance as well as seamless integration with the company’s enterprise planning (ERP) system.
In addition to complying with NADCAP, the enhanced controls also meet AMS 2750E specification for thermocouple tracking. Now, the Protherm 710 controller tracks the thermocouple, its serial number, and usage history; identifies when a thermocouple needs to be replaced based on running hours, days in service, and temperatures reached; and alerts the operator when it’s time to change the thermocouple.
“The workplace at Woodward is top notch. Their commitment to ongoing improvements is an excellent example of a manufacturer understanding the potential of new technology to drive better overall equipment effectiveness, to maximize furnace availability, and to deliver well-engineered, quality products. UPC process controls and control systems add more automation and real-time visibility of production, which will ensure that furnaces continue to operate at maximum efficiency for years to come and at the same time uphold Woodward’s high quality standards of its operations and products,” said Jason Walls, UPC engineer responsible for the Woodward project preparations and start up.
Future upgrades of furnace controls and automation are planned at Woodward, and UPC will participate by supplying Protherm series and Atmosphere Engineering series process controllers and connecting them into the SCADA platform.
Building upon their collaboration begun last year, two aerospace titanium and alloy component suppliers recently concluded successful testing for optimizing alloy for performance.
Norsk Titanium (Norsk), which supplies aerospace-grade, additive manufactured, structural titanium components to Tier 1 client such as Boeing, partnered with QuesTek Innovations LLC and printed the additive manufacturer’s custom titanium wire in support of initial material properties testing.
Norsk’s patented Rapid Plasma Deposition™ (RPD™) process, which transforms titanium wire into complex components suitable for structural and safety-critical applications, is used in the aerospace industry. QuesTek, utilizing Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME), has been involved in projects to resolve materials issues across various alloy systems in additive manufacturing (Al, Mg, Cu, Fe, Co, Ni and Ti) to improve component performance by modifying chemical compositions and optimizing the heat treatments, or designing entirely new alloys.
Carl Johnson, Norsk Titanium, Chief Technology Officer
“QuesTek’s high-performance titanium alloy provides an opportunity for Norsk’s customers to optimize components printed with Norsk Titanium’s RPD™ process and opens doors for new applications,” said Norsk Chief Technology Officer Carl Johnson.
Norsk and QuesTek plan to perform additional testing, while working with aircraft and propulsion manufacturers on the improved business case the new alloy affords.
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, recently announced plans to invest $142 million in its Camden facility in Arkansas, supporting new construction and improving on existing facilities for products, new machinery, and equipment important to the defense of the United States and allies.
Lockheed Martin will expand its Camden, Arkansas, facility to include two new production buildings which will support manufacturing long range fires and PAC-3 missile defense capabilities, plus expanding current facilities, and hire more than 300 new people (artist rendering). (PRNewsfoto/Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin unveiled the plan at the Paris Air Show where company executives were joined by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson to celebrate the prospect of adding 326 new jobs by 2024.
“Lockheed Martin is a leading technology firm with facilities and clients around the world,” said Hutchinson. “Lockheed’s investment illustrates the fact that Arkansas continues to be a global player in the aero-defense industry.”
Frank St. John, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control
“Our facility in Camden is a highly efficient, high-quality center of excellence that contributes components and performs final assembly for products that are important to the defense of the United States and a growing number of allied nations,” said Frank St. John, executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “The facility has a long record of precision manufacturing and on-time deliveries, which is the reason we continue to invest in and expand our Camden Operations. This expansion will help ensure the availability, affordability, and quality of systems we build for our customers around the world.”
Camden Operations is Lockheed Martin’s Precision Fires operations center of excellence.
A clash of generations may be inevitable at family gatherings, but in the heat treat shop, everybody is on board with the changes that have developed over the last few decades: technological advances in equipment and processes, enhanced quality control, greater awareness for safety issues and green operations, among others. Peter Sherwin of Eurotherm by Schneider Electric traces the course the industry has taken out of the past and into the future. This article first appeared in Heat Treat Today’sMarch 2019 Aerospace print edition.
My first experience in a heat treat shop could be described as your grandfather’s shop—it was dirty and dusty, and you had to be alert to avoid danger. A handful of paper chart recorders were present, and tempering ovens were controlled by a dial indication of temperature, adjusted up and down to find out the current temperature. Only manual flow controls existed. Process temperature, times, and flow-rates were handwritten on small paper cards and stored in a filing cabinet.
Fast forward 15 years and the shop has clean processes, mostly vacuum-based equipment, and all automatically controlled process cycles. Shop floor instructions moved from paper to entirely computer-generated, an industrial transformation to the digital-age that took place in the 1990s and 2000s.
How We Got Here
So, what have the last couple of decades brought? Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing springs to mind. First, we had the painful hangover from the global recession in 2008-09 which, for the next half-decade, had everyone consumed with operating as lean as possible with only a slow trickle of investment. The last few years brought a healthy rebound in manufacturing and increased heat treat production requirements. However, this surge in activity and a continued make-do attitude did not allow the time or motivation to refurbish or replace aging equipment. Add to this the promise and “soon-to-be-fulfilled” prophecies of IoT and Industry 4.0, the coming of age of the electric car, and the resultant effects on heat treatment requirements, and all of these factors conspire to make the heat treater think twice about rushing into investing in new furnaces or upgrading the existing plant.
Your Grandfather’s Heat Treat Shop
The curse of this is watching the average life of equipment catch up with the average age of operators, and we are transported back to the dark ages of your grandfather’s shop.
Admittedly, this is an over-simplification of the current situation—not all plants are stuck in this rut. Contrary to the above, AMS2750D (released 2005) was a boon to European furnace OEMs and associated suppliers, and yet this was not a worldwide phenomenon because the U.S. received a “grandfathered” pass due to the heavy involvement and prior investment in meeting AMS2750C requirements.
Over this same recent period, the final aerospace customers (aerospace primes and engine manufacturers) have not rested on their laurels. A rise in the middle class in Asia has fueled a healthy increase in demand for passenger aircraft and allowed best-in-class suppliers to invest, innovate, and develop more energy-efficient aircraft. Younger airline brands in the Asian continent have been able to rapidly take market share by leveraging a lower cost base created mainly by engine technology improvements.
Engine Developments and Quality Control
The A320neo, available since 2015, incorporates new, more efficient engines and large wing tip devices called “Sharklets” delivering significant fuel savings of 15 percent, which is equivalent to 1.4 million liters of fuel per aircraft per year, or the consumption of 1,000 mid-sized cars. In addition, the A320neo provides a double-digit reduction in NOx emissions and reduced engine noise. [1]
The 737 MAX 8 reduces fuel use and CO2 emissions by 14 percent over the newest Next-Generation 737 and 20 percent better than the first Next-Generation 737s. Also, the 737 MAX 8 uses 8 percent less fuel per seat than the A320neo. [2, 3]
The GTF engine has met all performance specifications since entry into service. For example, the GTF-powered A320neo has achieved a 16% reduction in fuel consumption, a 75% reduction in noise footprint and a 50% reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions. [4]
Today’s Modern Heat Treat Shop
These significant recent engine innovations have been possible through the use of modeling software to aid fast development (versus slow in-field trials) and by maximizing the overall performance via a mix of standard and exotic materials. Future developments include evaluating the use of actual component properties (e.g., tensile test, hardness profiles, other material, etc.) rather than relying on industry averaged properties. These advancements could lead to substantial changes in shape design and associated weight reduction but would require more stringent processing control.
Nadcap accreditation and the SAE AMS2750 standard have been used to manage a specific quality output from the heat treat supply chain. Even with the expected release of AMS2750F, control tolerances are not anticipated to change dramatically. This situation could create tension between the ongoing innovation on the design-side and the slower-development in process equipment capability. Let’s hope this doesn’t result in a path back to individual prime requirements over-shadowing the unified AMS standard.
Heat Treating 101 for the Shop of the Future
So, it’s back to the heat treat shop and the conundrum of upgrading/updating equipment due to age, performance, capability, and now the added twist of potential changes in future customer requirements. What strategy should a heat treater undertake?
Refurbishment of existing equipment to help lower running costs and improve capability can usually occur with updating the control and automation system. By looking at the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) rather than just the “ticket” price of the upgrade, the payback for the investment can be in months rather than years. Control systems can improve the uptime of the equipment and precision control can positively impact quality results and even shorten process times in some instances. The relatively low payback time can ease the decision to invest.
Investment in new equipment requires a more detailed look at the customer base and changes within the external environment. To help with this uncertainty, some OEMs are starting to provide flexible financing solutions, including leasing. Control and automation suppliers are also doing their bit by designing control and recording instruments that can be enhanced by secure over-the-air software updates rather than requiring a complete change of hardware.
Conclusion
The shops of the past are looking less and less like the shops in most plants today, but it’s more than just physical changes that reflect a forward-looking operation. Today’s shop can leverage innovative thinking about cost of operations, improve the quality of communication with customers and suppliers, effectively use control systems, and be creative about equipment upgrades. These are changes that begin with an attitude adjustment—having the right view of the past and a broad vision for the future.
References:
[1] “Airbus, Indigo places order for 130 A320 neo”, https://www.airbus.com/newsroom/press-releases/en/2011/06/indigo-firms-up-order-for-150-a320neo-and-30-a320s.html
About the Author: Peter Sherwin, a Chartered Engineer, is business development leader with Eurotherm by Schneider Electric, recognized for his expertise in heat treat systems technology, IIoT, Industry 4.0, and SaaS/digital solutions. This article, which originally appeared in Heat Treat Today’sMarch 2019 Aerospace print edition and is published here with the author’s permission.
Georgia Southern University (GSU) in Statesboro, Georgia, recently purchased a horizontal front-loading vacuum furnace from a Pennsylvania based heat treat furnace manufacturer.
GSU plans to use Solar Manufacturing’s Mentor® furnace primarily for vacuum thermal processing research and development of various iron-based alloys, including additive manufactured parts.
The Mentor® includes a graphite shielded hot zone and heating elements, with a work zone size of 12″ wide x 12″ high x 18″ deep, and a weight capacity of 250 pounds. Solar Manufacturing reports that this furnace complies with aerospace specification AMS2750E to process in an argon or nitrogen atmosphere or in high vacuum in the 10-6 Torr range with a 6” Varian diffusion pump. The furnace incorporates a control system package with a large graphic touchscreen overview and can be programmed to control gas quench rate up to two bar pressure and achieve temperature uniformity up to 2400° F.
Dan Insogna, Solar Manufacturing
“We are pleased to provide a solution to GSU’s growing research and development efforts, and we know the Mentor® vacuum furnace will benefit the university with this research,” said Dan Insogna, Solar Manufacturing’s Southeast Sales Manager.
A vacuum brazing and heat treating company recently announced plans to expand its Greenville County, SC, operations to accommodate a new hot isostatic press. This equipment is designed to improve ductility and stress resistance of critical, high-performance manufactured materials.
Accurate Brazing, a division of Aalberts N.V., one of the largest heat treating and brazing companies in the world, is upgrading approximately 20,000 square feet of an existing facility in Greenville County to install the HIP. Since 1989, Accurate Brazing has provided heat treating and brazing applications to support aircraft, ground turbine and power generation markets. The company heat treats materials that include stainless steel, super alloys, copper and refractory materials.
Aalberts N.V. employs approximately 16,500 people at more than 150 locations in 50 countries around the globe. The $13 million expansion project is expected to create at least eight additional jobs and be complete in the second quarter of 2020.
"Accurate Brazing is a very important member of our business community and we are proud of their growth and success," said Greenville County Council Chairman and Board Member of the Greenville Area Development Corporation H.G. "Butch" Kirven.
A leading Tier One metal additive manufacturers for the aerospace and defense industry that produces multiple furnaces has officially opened the doors to its new 55,000 square foot advanced manufacturing facility, located in Hollywood, Florida. The new plant, which also serves as the company’s headquarters, recently celebrated its grand opening.
Sintavia LLC’s facility houses over $25 million of advanced manufacturing equipment including multiple furnaces, medium and large scale metal printers, EDMs, post-processing machines, and wet-booths. Some of the industrial engineering improvements of the building include separate manufacturing rooms segregated by alloy, a large-scale powder management system, an uninterruptible power supply, an inert gas farm, and a final production acceptance quality control room.
The new facility is capable of producing tens of thousands of parts representing in excess of $100mm of AM revenue annually. The expansion is anticipated to bring more than 130 new jobs for skilled employees and support staff to South Florida.
“This new facility is the first of its kind in North America to offer large-scale AM production coupled with a robust aerospace quality management system,” said Brian Neff, Sintavia’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “As we grow, it will serve as a template for future vertically-aligned advanced manufacturing facilities around the U.S. and the world.” Over 150 customers, industry partners, and government officials attended the opening.
Photo: (Business Wire) Multimedia Gallery URL and thefabricator.com
The quality department of a global manufacturer of aerostructures, composites, and metallic components for the aerospace industry recently obtained a new certification for carrying out heat treatment processes of aluminum alloys for Boeing programs.
Sofitec extends its special processes capabilities for American manufacturers with this certification, being able to develop the stretch forming activities included in commissions for aerospace heat treating.
A leading provider of metal additive manufacturing solutions recently announced that it has entered into an ambitious research and development (R&D) initiative with a metallurgist expert and one of the world leaders in high-performance steels, superalloys, titanium, and aluminum and a multinational aerospace corporation.
Sciaky EBAM®system
The goal of the R&D initiative between Sciaky, Inc., a subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries, Inc.; Aubert & Duval; and Airbus, and piloted by the Saint Exupéry Institute for Research in Technology (IRT) is to couple traditional metallurgy—high-power closed die forging—with emerging wire fed metal 3D printing techniques—in this case, Sciaky’s groundbreaking Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM®) process—to develop new processes for manufacturing titanium alloys aircraft parts.
The Production Engineering laboratory of the National School of Engineering in Tarbes, France, will serve as an academic partner for this project, also known as the Metallic Advanced Materials for Aeronautics (MAMA) project.
Scott Phillips, president and CEO of Sciaky, Inc
In this first phase, the project has global funding just under $4.8M (€ 4,2 M) of which 50% are supported by the French State as part of the “Investing in the Future” program (PIA – Programme Investissement d’Avenir), the other 50% being funded by its industrial partners.
“Sciaky is proud to work with the Saint Exupéry IRT, Aubert & Duval, and Airbus on this exciting project,” said Scott Phillips, president and CEO of Sciaky, Inc. “Industrial metal additive manufacturing technology continues to break new ground every day, and Sciaky is committed to keeping EBAM at the forefront of this movement.”
A vacuum heat treatment provider recently installed an all-metal hot zone vacuum furnace at their Souderton, Pennsylvania, location.
Solar Atmospheres
Solar Atmospheres added a third all-metal hot zone furnace for its climate-controlled room at its facility in Souderton, Pennsylvania. The additional furnace increases Solar’s capacity for processing sensitive materials such as PH stainless, nickel-chrome based superalloys, titanium, and ferritic and austenitic stainless steels.
Vacuum levels lower than 5 x 10-6 Torr can produce clean, bright results without contamination. Solar reports that the unique placement of isolation valves, an all-metal moly/stainless steel hot zone, and a stainless steel chamber in its new furnace allow it to attain the level of cleanliness mandated by aerospace and medical markets. The furnace also incorporates Solar Manufacturing’s latest SolarVac Polaris HMI control system for complete process automation.
Jamie Jones, President, Solar Atmospheres in Eastern PA
“The increasing demands for cleanliness levels in critical aerospace and medical applications, and the growth in these markets paved the way for Solar Atmospheres to add capacity through this investment,” said Jamie Jones, President of Solar Atmospheres in Eastern PA.
