AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS

A Hot Ride: Motoring Around a Heat Treating Plant

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Plant tours are all the rage these days, but a heat treating company in the United Kingdom takes the concept to a whole new level — to several levels, in fact.

In a new video, twelve times Trial World Champion, trial motorbike rider extraordinaire Dougie Lampkin takes on the Wallwork Group’s Manchester heat treatment plant in a thrilling two-minute ride, where no obstacle is too high – or too hot!

“We had seen Dougie’s work before, not least Red Bull’s F1 factory, and thought that it would be an exciting and engaging way to show a brief glimpse into the world of metal heat treatment,” explained Wallwork sales manager, Howard Maher.

Wallwork is headquartered in Bury, Greater Manchester, and also has plants in Newcastle, Birmingham, and Cambridge. The company provides metal heat treatment, vacuum brazing, and hard coatings services to aerospace, motorsport, medical device and other precision industries.

“Dougie is a high-profile, professional motorcycle sportsman, so this also fits nicely with our autosports market and by association other industries such as aerospace that share the same requirements,” Howard added.

Dougie’s professional career has spanned over 25 years, lifting his first trophy in 1991, collecting silverware up to 2017 and he is still looking for even more in 2018. Awarded an MBE in 2001, his autobiography, Dougie Lampkin – Trials and Error, was launched on May 17th this year.

“We are really pleased with the video and it was a pleasure opening up the works to Dougie’s special way of riding. And our health and safety guy is able to relax now it is all done!,” Howard concluded. The two minute video can be viewed below or at the Wallwork website.

 

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Casthouse Expansion in Czech Republic Includes Heat Treating Processes

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An Amsterdam-based producer of aluminum semi-products recently expanded its casthouse capacity with the purchase of a continuous homogenizing plant, including a helical ultrasonic testing station and billet saw for aluminum extrusion billets.

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

Constellium Extrusions, which customizes aluminum extrusions primarily for automotive and industrial applications, placed the order for the new furnace for its Dĕčín, Czech Republic, facility with Hertwich Engineering, an SMS group company. With this added capacity, the plant will broaden its product portfolio to include sections for Crash Management Systems and for new aluminum applications for hybrid and electric vehicles.  With a capacity of nine tons per hour, the new homogenizing furnace is considerably larger and more powerful than the plant for three tons per hour delivered in 2016. It is scheduled to go into operation in the first half of 2019.

The Dĕčín plant is part of the multinational Constellium network and is one of the leading manufacturers of aluminum extrusion products in Europe. The plant is particularly important as an integrated manufacturer and processor of hard and soft alloys as well as a supplier of extruded, partially drawn tubes, bars, seamless and non-seamless profiles. The increasing demand, especially from the automotive industry, has prompted Constellium to expand the Dĕčín plant in several investment stages.

The new homogenizing capacities are part of the current program, which is aimed at expanding extrusion capacity. For this purpose, a further extrusion plant including a casthouse is planned, for which Hertwich will supply the entire heat treatment in the form of a continuous homogenizing furnace.

 “As the auto industry increasingly turns to lightweight, high-strength aluminum, Constellium’s expansion in Decin will support rising demand for hard and soft alloy profiles and bars from automotive customers across Europe,” said Paul Warton, president of Constellium’s Automotive Structures and Industry business unit. “This new activity is expected to increase Decin’s total extrusion capacity to 96,000 metric tons per year.”

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Heat Treatment Integral to New Alum Facility in Kentucky

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Heat treatment processes are among the operations planned at an automotive aluminum sheet manufacturing facility in Guthrie, Kentucky, where a gathering of business and government officials celebrated a groundbreaking this week.

Steve Fisher, president & CEO, Novelis Inc.

Representatives from Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, were joined by local and state officials to recognize the investment of a 400,000 square foot, $305 million facility that will create approximately 125 jobs and produce annual nameplate capacity of 200,000 metric tons. The facility will include heat treatment and pre-treatment lines for use in vehicle parts such as body-in-white, hoods, doors, lift gates and fenders. Novelis will begin producing automotive aluminum at the site in 2020.

“The increased adoption of aluminum in cars, trucks and SUVs, coupled with more automotive manufacturing plants in the southeast makes Guthrie a strategic location to serve our customers,” said Steve Fisher, president and CEO, Novelis Inc. “With the strong, highly-skilled workforce in Kentucky, we believe our culture and commitment to building a sustainable world together will have a lasting and positive impact on this community.”

The significant positive impact of tax reform in the U.S. reinforces Novelis’ decision to expand at this time. A favorable economic environment has enabled Novelis to recently finalize key contracts totaling approximately $60 million for engineering plans, site preparation and state-of-the-art equipment for the greenfield facility. Senator Rand Paul, Congressman James Comer, Governor Matt Bevin and Senator Mitch McConnell’s staff were present at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Paul Banks, a 25-year veteran of the aluminum rolling industry, will oversee the project as Plant Manager, having previously served as Unit Manager at Logan Aluminum, a Novelis joint venture in nearby Russellville, Kentucky.

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Plating Services Grow with Help from Automakers

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Source: ThomasNet.com

 

Tony Uphoff at ThomasNet.com breaks down how a Bureau of Labor Statistics report on job growth in the Fabricated Metal Products manufacturing sector during the month of March heralds good news not only for the overall durable goods industry but for fabrication shops turning out countless different metal parts and components for OEMs, contractors, and Value Added Resellers. Since “a great number of those metal parts will typically need some type of surface finishing, such as a coating or plating, for things like decorative appeal, durability, corrosion resistance, friction reduction, and more,” heat treaters may be able to spot upward trends on the horizon.

An excerpt:

“There’s increased sourcing demand for Plating using the specific metals of silver, copper, brass and bronze, zinc-nickel alloy, tin, cadmium, chromium, and hard chromium. . . . [M]any of the potential customers [buyers] are connecting with are within the automotive industry. In fact, according to a report by Grand View Research, auto manufacturers are the largest revenue segment for the overall metal plating industry and are increasing their reliance on metal plating to protect more automotive parts than in the past.”

 

Read more: “Auto Manufacturers Drive Demand for Plating Services”

Photo credit: Greystone, Inc.

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Lightweight Vehicle Frame Draws Attention from Car Aficionados and U.S. Defense

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Source: Light Metal Age

 

1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray

The classic Corvette makes an appearance again in Heat Treat Today‘s Best of the Web feature, this time as a test model for a project that targets development of alternative lightweight vehicle frames.

A growing market demand for alternative lightweight vehicle frames in the custom car market is driving technology “to design a lightweight frame that could be easily morphed into virtually any wheelbase, vehicle length and width without requiring additional tooling,” reports Light Metal Age, and not only are classic car enthusiasts interested, so is the U.S. Department of Defense.

An excerpt:

“Beyond replica cars, this frame can be adapted for military applications, as a number of companies working with the Department of Defense have identified the need for a lightweight frame to be used in military vehicles to effectively lighten loads and increase fuel economy.”

First to unveil an innovative lightweight vehicle frame for the aftermarket, based on testing that involved the 1963-67 Corvette (C2 second generation design), was the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center.

 

Read more: “Manufacturing Technology Center Unveils Lightweight Vehicle Frame”

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Street Rod and Classic Cars Get New Life with Heat-Treated Parts

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Source: ClassicCars.com

 

Between rounds of heat treating, re-shaped leaves are oil-bathed. Photo credit: ClassicCars.com

Heat treating serves a critical role in the restoration of street rod and classic cars, and a leading manufacturer of leaf and coil springs based in Detroit, Michigan, recently demonstrated the re-temper and re-arch process that brings renewal to first-generation Chevrolet Corvettes, which can be particularly difficult to restore due to the type of steel used in production only up until the mid-1960s.

Eaton Detroit Spring keeps 24,000 original manufacturer spring blueprints to aid in the manufacturing leaf and coil springs for the street rod and restoration industries.

An excerpt from the article at ClassicCars.com:

“Company president Mike Eaton — his grandparents founded the firm, explained, ‘We had a customer in this morning who happens to be the designer of the original Corvette suspension who I have known for years. He brought in a couple of sets of C1 rear springs to be reconditioned. Even though we do a lot of these, there are a lot of ’Vette owners who don’t know we offer it.'”

Read more: “A Little R&R Can Revitalize First-Gen Corvette Leaf Springs”

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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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