Aerospace
Automotive
Medical
Energy
Manufacturing
Source: 3DPrint.com
Matt Sand, president of 3DEO, discusses the pros and cons of laser sintering and bulk sintering as applied to the 3D printing industry with a particular emphasis on sustainability and low-cost technologies.
Read more: “Metal 3D Printing: Laser Sintering vs. Bulk Sintering in a Furnace – Pros and Cons”
A definitive agreement to manufacture battery-grade graphite products at commercial scale has been reached between a major minerals processing company and a heating equipment supplier, both based in New York.
Great Lakes Graphite and Ashland Advanced Materials drafted the definitive agreement earlier in this quarter under which Ashland will provide Great Lakes with up to 10,000 tons per year of graphite purification capacity in the initial start-up phase. A requirement to scale up further, to 50,000 tons per year of graphite purification capacity, is anticipated for the subsequent phase. Further, Great Lakes Graphite and Graphene Laboratories executed a distribution agreement at the end of November which will boost the availability of high-quality carbon products to customers.
Along with product, process, and technology development efforts geared towards preparing for large-scale manufacture of advanced carbon materials, Great Lakes is partnering with Ashland Advanced Materials in the development of a continuous furnace design that will significantly increase the efficiency of the purification process. Ashland brings over thirty years of expertise in the thermal purification of graphite to this effort.
Great Lakes Graphite reports that it has conveyed the updated anticipated requirements to their Brazilian supply partner to ensure there will be adequate capacity along the supply chain to achieve targeted manufacturing levels.
Micronized graphite products are used by customers in a wide variety of industries for a wide variety of applications that include composite materials, electronics, batteries, lubricants, coatings and friction products.
Battery-Grade Graphite Partnership Includes Development of Continuous Furnace Design Read More »
A major engineering solutions group recently inaugurated a high-tech axle production facility in Toledo, Ohio, where the company will be able to provide support to automakers throughout the geographic region, but particularly those with light-vehicle programs, such as the Jeep Wrangler.
In addition to shoring up its passenger vehicle, commercial truck, and off-highway markets, Dana Incorporated expects the 300,000 sq. ft. facility to be supporting four vehicle programs and employing more than 350 people by 2020.
While the site of the new Dana facility was initially home to Willys-Overland Motors, which developed the original Jeep, the new Jeep Wrangler will be manufactured less than three miles away at FCA US LLC’s Toledo Assembly Complex.
“The investment in this new manufacturing facility supports Dana’s global growth and serves as the latest example of our commitment to the greater Toledo area, which has been our home for nearly 90 years,” said James Kamsickas, Dana president and CEO. “It is an honor for Dana to return manufacturing to the same historic site where Toledo’s automotive industry began more than a century ago.”
“Our new Toledo facility will integrate Dana’s best global manufacturing practices and advanced operating systems. The plant’s products will feature Dana’s latest technologies, and the location – in close proximity to our customers and our World Headquarters and Maumee Technology Center – will benefit our customers, employees, and shareholders,” said Bob Pyle, president, Dana Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies.
Ohio Axle Production Facility to Support Light-Vehicle Programs Read More »
Global aluminum producer Aleris recently announced the opening of its aluminum automotive body sheet production facility in Lewisport, Kentucky, which includes heat treatment and finishing capabilities, as well as a wide cold mill, and two continuous annealing lines. The company, which is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, launched the project in 2014 in response to the automotive industry’s demand for broader aluminum use in the production of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The Lewisport facility began shipping automotive products to customers in November.
Lewisport is Aleris’s first site in North America that is equipped with aluminum auto body sheet finishing capabilities and houses an automotive innovation center, which includes a state-of-the-art research and development center in Detroit.
“The opening of our new automotive facility in Kentucky marks the completion of a significant piece of our strategic realignment, which includes expanding our capacity and capabilities to serve the automotive industry and other high-value end uses,” said Aleris Chairman and CEO Sean Stack. “As an experienced supplier to automotive manufacturers in Europe, we look forward to partnering with customers more closely now in North America to bring them the most advanced auto body sheet products in the industry.”
Aleris Opens Kentucky Plant, Includes Heat Treatment, Annealing Capabilities Read More »
Multiple transactions involving the contracting, purchasing, selling, shipment and delivery of heat treat systems, equipment, or services have taken place over the past several weeks; here are some we hope will be of interest to Heat Treat Today readers.
Heat Treat Today finds the robust activity of heat treatment equipment sales and acquisitions an exciting topic to report on and would be interested in your supplier news tips. Please send any information you feel may be of interest to readers of Heat Treat Today to the editor at editor@heattreattoday.com.
Heat Treat Equipment Purchases — Recent Activity Read More »
Source: Kentucky I-71 Connected.com
A Ghent, Kentucky, steel production facility recently welcomed a Spanish delegation and state officials to the launch of its 11th expansion since 1990. The project, which was announced in March 2015, includes a new $150 million bright annealing line and a cold rolling mill.
Kentucky Steel Facility Inaugurates Bright Annealing Line, Cold Rolling Mill Read More »
The first set of twin furnaces working on a single pumping station have recently been developed and commissioned to a leading designer and manufacturer of vacuum furnaces for the heat treatment of metal parts.
BMI, a Tenova company, headquartered in Lyon, France, commissioned the B54R-TWIN – vacuum furnaces for tempering – to meet the customer’s specific request for equipment that optimizes energy consumption.
During a heat treatment cycle of the B54R-TWIN, the pumping phase lasts only 30 minutes. Therefore, it is more efficient to use only one pumping group for two furnaces, working alternatively on one furnace or the other. This not only reduces electricity consumption but also minimizes the maintenance costs of the pumps.
Earlier in this quarter, Tenova announced key contracts from Chinese steel producers for six electrical arc furnaces (EAF) Consteel® Evolution in response to Chinese steelmaking industries converting their steel shops plants with EAF technology. In order to improve the reduction rate of CO2 emissions promoted by Chinese government, Chinese steelmakers are starting to increase the share of electrical steel production in comparison to manufacturing using blast or basic oxygen furnaces.
Twin Vacuum Furnaces for Energy-Optimized Heat Treating Read More »
A global automotive and industrial supplier recently launched the company’s latest expansion, its U.S. center for advanced e-mobility development located at its existing Wooster, Ohio, facility.
Schaeffler Group USA Inc., which delivers high-precision components and systems in engine, transmission, and chassis applications, as well as rolling and plain bearing solutions for a large number of industrial applications, commemorated the facility’s 40th anniversary with a grand opening celebration and unveiling of the $60 million capital investment.
Already established as the center for Schaeffler’s torque converter product line, the newly renovated Wooster campus will equip employees with the capacity for the production of hybrid modules, the first of the electrification projects, which combines the electric motor with a hydrodynamic converter to yield a P2 hybrid solution. Beginning in 2018, the facility will produce the module for a major U.S. automotive manufacturer. The team is also engaged in pure electric vehicle technology development, including the production of Schaeffler’s e-axles.
“From 2007 to 2016, our automotive business has outpaced market growth by nearly double and we have expanded our manufacturing capacity in Wooster to keep pace with growth in our automotive transmission business, ” said Marc McGrath, president Automotive Americas, Schaeffler. “This latest investment, which builds upon our recent $36.5 million expansion of our Fort Mill, S.C. facility, prepares us for the production of future transmission technologies and further optimizes the facility’s vertical integration.”
Wooster, OH, Auto Supplier Facility Celebrates 40th with E-Mobility Expansion Read More »
A North American manufacturer of steel products recently announced that construction will begin on two new projects that will boost its capacity to meet demand for carbon and alloy steel products in its U.S. Midwestern and Plains markets.
Nucor Corporation, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, will build a full-range merchant bar quality (MBQ) mill at its existing bar steel mill located in Bourbonnais, Illinois. The MBQ mill will have an annual capacity of 500,000 tons and is expected to cost $180 million. The project will take approximately two years to complete. This project will allow Nucor to fully utilize the company’s existing bar mill by optimizing its melt capacity and infrastructure that is already in place.
In addition, the steel producer will build a rebar micro mill in Sedalia, Missouri, about 90 miles east of Kansas City. The new micro mill project represents at least $250 million in new investments, with the expectation of creating 255 full-time jobs, and anticipates start-up in 2019 pending the final approval and award of state and local incentives as well as required permits and regulatory approvals.
Nucor will be able to take advantage of abundant scrap supply in both locations.
No. American Steel Producer Announces Plans for Merchant Bar Mill, Rebar Micro Mill Read More »
Scientists at several research institutions recently reported a breakthrough in 3D printing a marine grade stainless steel — a low-carbon type called 316L — that promises high-strength and high-ductility properties. Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), along with collaborators at Ames National Laboratory, Georgia Tech University, and Oregon State University, published their findings online October 30, 2017, in the journal Nature Materials.
“Marine grade” stainless steel is valued for its performance under corrosive environments and for its high ductility — the ability to bend without breaking under stress — making it a preferred choice for oil pipelines, welding, kitchen utensils, chemical equipment, medical implants, engine parts and nuclear waste storage. However, conventional techniques for strengthening this class of stainless steels typically comes at the expense of ductility.
“In order to make all the components you’re trying to print useful, you need to have this material property at least the same as those made by traditional metallurgy,” said LLNL materials scientist and lead author Morris Wang. “We were able to 3D print real components in the lab with 316L stainless steel, and the material’s performance was actually better than those made with the traditional approach. That’s really a big jump. It makes additive manufacturing very attractive and fills a major gap.”
To successfully meet, and exceed, the necessary performance requirements for 316L stainless steel, researchers first had to overcome the porosity which causes parts to degrade and fracture easily during the laser melting (or fusion) of metal powders. Researchers addressed this through a density optimization process involving experiments and computer modeling, and by manipulating the materials’ underlying microstructure.
“This microstructure we developed breaks the traditional strength-ductility tradeoff barrier,” Wang said. “For steel, you want to make it stronger, but you lose ductility essentially; you can’t have both. But with 3D printing, we’re able to move this boundary beyond the current tradeoff.”
Using two different laser powder bed fusion machines, researchers printed thin plates of stainless steel 316L for mechanical testing. The laser melting technique inherently resulted in hierarchical cell-like structures that could be tuned to alter the mechanical properties, researchers said.
Wang called stainless steel a “surrogate material” system that could be used for other types of metals. The eventual goal, he said, is to use high-performance computing to validate and predict future performance of stainless steel, using models to control the underlying microstructure and discover how to make high-performance steels, including the corrosion-resistance. Researchers will then look at employing a similar strategy with other lighter weight alloys that are more brittle and prone to cracking.
Read more from the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory here: “Lab Researchers Achieve Breakthrough in 3D Printed Marine Grade Stainless Steel”.
3D Printed Marine Grade Stainless Steel “Better Than Traditional Manufacturing” Read More »