FEATURED NEWS

Superalloy for High-Temperature Turbines

  Source:  Engineering 360

Researchers at Ohio State University have found a way to deactivate “nano twins” to improve the high-temperature properties of superalloys that are used in jet engines.

The advance could speed the development of turbine engines of all sorts, including those used for transportation and power generation.

Read More:  Superalloy for High-Temperature Turbines by the Engineering 360 News Desk

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Dana Technologies Help Power Award-winning Vehicles, Engines

James Kamsickas, Dana Inc., Automotive Heat Treating

James Kamsickas, President and CEO of Dana Inc.

 

Dana Incorporated announced that several of its advanced technologies are incorporated into vehicles and engines that have recently received significant industry accolades.  Specifically, its technologies are utilized on the 2017 North American Truck and Utility Vehicles of the Year, the Motor Trend Truck of the Year, and six of the 2017 Wards 10 Best Engines.

The 2017 Honda Ridgeline and 2017 Chrysler Pacifica, named the North American Truck and Utility Vehicles of the Year at this year’s North American International Auto Show, incorporate Dana’s high-performing technologies into their powertrain assemblies.  The Honda Ridgeline features Dana’s Victor Reinz® cam cover module on its 3.5L V-6 engine, and Victor Reinz® heat shields are incorporated on the Chrysler Pacifica.

Motor Trend’s Truck of the Year, the 2017 Ford Super Duty, boasts a variety of Dana’s leading driveline, sealing, and thermal-management technologies.  Specifically, Dana supplied its Spicer® front and rear axles, as well as Spicer® propshafts, for the 2017 F-250 through F-550 models.

In addition, Dana supplies exhaust manifold, exhaust gas recirculation, and turbo gaskets; thermal-acoustical protective shielding (TAPS); and charge air, transmission oil, engine oil, and diesel fuel coolers for the Ford Super Duty 6.7-liter diesel engine.  Dana’s valve stem seals, transmission oil cooler, and plastic cam covers also are incorporated into the 6.2-liter gas engine.  Together, these technologies help the automaker meet industry demands by improving fuel economy and engine durability, and by reducing oil consumption, weight, and emissions.

Multiple Dana solutions were also integrated onto this year’s Wards 10 Best Engines.  Included among these are Dana’s Victor Reinz® exhaust manifold gaskets, which deliver peak performance and withstand temperatures up to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit.  Also, Dana’s Long-brand engine oil cooler helps to properly utilize energy and improve fuel economy while reducing emissions.

Dana technologies on the 2017 Wards 10 Best Engines include:

  • Chevrolet Volt 1.5L DOHC 4-cyl./Dual Motor EREV – Equipped with Victor Reinz TAPS and valve stem seals.
  • Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid 3.6L DOHC V-6/Dual Motor PHEV – Features Victor Reinz heat shields.
  • Ford Focus RS 2.3L Turbocharged DOHC 4-cyl. – Equipped with Long engine oil cooler and Victor Reinz cylinder head, exhaust manifold, and secondary gaskets.
  • Honda Accord Hybrid 2.0L DOHC 4-cyl./Dual Motor HEV – Includes a Victor Reinz cam cover.
  • Infiniti Q50 3.0L Turbocharged DOHC V-6 – Equipped with Long engine oil cooler.
  • Mercedes-Benz C300 2.0L Turbocharged DOHC 4-cyl. – Utilizes Victor Reinz secondary gaskets and TAPS.

“Having the honor of being a part of these industry-leading vehicles and engines speaks to the culture of innovation and customer service at Dana,” said James Kamsickas, president and chief executive officer of Dana.  “Every day we strive to develop technologies that will help our customers meet their performance and efficiency goals.  It is a privilege to have had the opportunity to help power these well-deserving award recipients.”

 

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Allied Mineral Products, Inc. to Acquire Pryor Giggey Co.

Allied Mineral Products, Inc. announces the intent to purchase Alabama-based Pryor-Giggey Co., a monolithic refractory and precast shapes company with plants in Anniston, AL and Chehalis, WA. The acquisition is expected to be completed by the end of January.

“Pryor Giggey’s workforce, product line and manufacturing locations in the U.S. will be great additions to Allied,” said Jon R. Tabor, Allied’s President and CEO. “This acquisition will allow Allied to be more agile in supplying customers in the Southeast and West coast while providing a new global platform for Pryor Giggey products. We will leverage our strengths to benefit both Allied and Pryor Giggey customers.” Allied plans to expand these facilities in the near future. It is expected that Allied will have the capability to ship Allied and Pryor Giggey products from all four of its North American facilities in the future.

“We are excited to join the Allied family,” said Mike Chieppor, President, Pryor Giggey Co. “Pryor Giggey’s high level of customer service, product offerings and reputation will fit perfectly with Allied and how they do business.”

The similarities between Allied and Pryor Giggey go beyond customer service and technical offerings. Both are ESOP companies (employee-owned) with strong cultures of employee ownership and have been in business for a combined 123 years.

Business will be conducted as normal for both companies in the near term.

Allied Mineral Products, Inc. was founded in 1961 and is a leading global manufacturer of monolithic refractories and precast, pre-fired refractory shapes with nine manufacturing facilities in seven countries, three precast shapes facilities and two research and technology centers. Allied sells its products in more than 100 countries. In the U.S., Allied manufactures at its headquarters location in Columbus, OH and in Brownsville, TX. Allied serves a wide variety of industries with innovative refractory solutions and exceptional service and support, backed by expert engineering and research teams and over 130 sales representatives. Allied is proud to be an employee-owned company.

Pryor Giggey was founded in 1948 and manufactures a broad line of monolithic refractories and precast shapes in the U.S. With manufacturing facilities in Anniston, AL and Chehalis, WA, the company serves industries including aluminum, foundry, power generation, cement and steel. Their diverse sales force covers the United States and Canada.

Allied Mineral Products, Inc. to Acquire Pryor Giggey Co. Read More »

GE Purchases Titanium Alloy from Kobe Steel

Kobe Steel, Ltd. announces that it has begun supplying titanium alloy forged material for shafts to IHI Corporation. The forged material certified by IHI is used in a large commercial jet engine manufactured by General Electric (GE). IHI is one of the joint development partners of the engine.

Rotating parts such as shafts and disks made of titanium alloy forged material must be of extremely high quality. These are some of the largest components used in aircraft jet engines. Kobe Steel launched development of the forged material three years ago and has recently received certification from IHI. Kobe Steel has begun mass-producing and supplying the titanium alloy forged material for shafts.

Kobe Steel is in charge of process design of the forged material for shafts, and its group company, Japan Aeroforge, Ltd. (or JForge) does the forging. Kobe Steel is responsible for the other processes as well and quality assurance.

Forge is a joint venture of Kobe Steel, Hitachi Metals and several other companies established in January 2011. Equipped with a 50,000 metric ton hydraulic forging press, one of the largest class in the world, JForge manufactures large forged material used in aircraft, where demand is anticipated to increase worldwide. Kobe steel and JForge will expand the titanium business for aircraft jet engines following the supply order from IHI.

Passenger jets in service worldwide are projected to increase from approximately 20,800 in 2015 to over 38,000 in 2035, according to Japan Aircraft Development Corporation, which promotes the development of commercial aircraft. As a result, demand is also anticipated to expand in related industries.

Kobe Steel will supply titanium forged products to the world aviation industry through the practical use of its excellent quality, advanced process engineering and design technology based on the extensive supply record to the aviation industry for many years, and additionally by using JForge’s advanced forging equipment, one of the world’s largest.

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Rolls Royce, General Electric and Lufthansa Invest in Poland

  Source:  ETMM

In the recent weeks, two huge investments in Poland have been confirmed. Not only will they help create several thousand new jobs but they should also have a positive influence on the country’s economy.

Read more:  International Giants Invest by Robert Ocetkiewicz and Rosemarie Stahl

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Just Throw Some Heat at It

Source:  Flame Treating Systems

Since a blog is usually some way for the author to try and educate readers about some topic, let’s start the New Year with busting some widely held misconceptions about heat treating in general, and flame hardening in particular.

Very often larger companies have inhouse staff engineers responsible for figuring out the machinery needed to process parts throughout the production line. These P.E.’s usually have good mechanical and spatial skills, but invariably lack the specialized knowledge of heat treating. We have heard more than once, after being called in to redesign a process that couldn’t be salvaged, the engineers didn’t think the heat treating process was that complicated. “You’re just throwing some heat at it,” we’ve heard again and again.

Read More:  Just Throw Some Heat at It by Flame Treating Systems

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Flame Treating Systems Orders Tempering Oven

Flame Treating Systems Inc in Durham, NC has purchased one natural gas fired draw batch oven from Wisconsin Oven to be used for tempering various steel parts. Flame Treating Systems Inc. provides customized flame hardening systems to customers along with in house flame hardening services. The addition of this tempering oven allows them to efficiently temper their customers’ parts in house.

The tempering oven has a maximum temperature of 1250°F and basket dimensions of 4’ W X 3’ H X 4’ L. Steel parts are loaded into the draw batch oven in the basket on two (2) stainless steel pier rails with the load capacity of 2,000 pounds gross. The recirculation system features a combination air flow arrangement that utilizes a 7,000 CFM @ 10 HP plug mounted blower. The combination airflow arrangement provides both horizontal and vertical upward airflow which maximizes heating rates and temperature uniformity of the product.

“We’re so glad to be able to temper parts in our own facility. We are starting to do a significant amount of flame hardening for customers in our shop now, so we needed a better solution than sending parts out for tempering. We installed the oven in the warehouse room adjacent to our 2000-lb. capacity spin flame hardening machine. Five days later it was in production, tempering batches of 800 lb. sprockets. That pretty much tells you what you need to know about the ease of installation. We’re looking forward to continuing to expand our services in the mid-Atlantic region for both localized hardening and tempering. Thanks, Wisconsin Oven.”  Mark Sirrine, President – Flame Treating Systems Inc.

Unique features of this tempering batch oven include:

  • 7,000 CFM / 10 HP recirculation system
  • Stainless steel pier rail hearth rated for 2,000 pounds
  • Industrial air heat burner rated at 450,000 BTU per hour
  • Motorized, modulating gas control valve
  • Flame detector and relay with alarm horn
  • Digital process timer
  • Digital temperature controller and high limit controller

Flame Treating Systems Orders Tempering Oven Read More »

Ipsen to Offer One-Day, Furnace Maintenance-Focused Seminars

With last year’s successful conclusion of customer seminars in California, Texas and Connecticut, Ipsen will begin 2017 by continuing to provide one-day, expert-taught classes throughout the United States. Ipsen’s next available seminars will occur on Wednesday, February 22 in Greenville, South Carolina and on Wednesday, March 1 in West Chester, Ohio.

During this one-day training, you will learn how to master the nuances of maintenance and Aerospace compliance. You will also be able to take part in an open-forum discussion on your specific maintenance challenges throughout the day.

Specific topics covered during the seminar include:

  • Vacuum and atmosphere furnace maintenance best practices
  • Optimizing operations with predictive maintenance
  • Achieving and maintaining Aerospace compliance

Ipsen has been providing training to the heat treatment industry for 30+ years, both on-site at Ipsen U and at customers’ facilities. This local seminar carries on the tradition of these trainings, teaching you best practices for regaining control of your equipment and offering insight into specific issues you might be experiencing on a daily basis.

The seminar is $60 per registration, including meals and handouts. Additional locations will also be available soon. Learn more and register now at www.IpsenUSA.com/Seminar.

Ipsen to Offer One-Day, Furnace Maintenance-Focused Seminars Read More »

Surface Engineering & Heat Treatment Industry Conference/Exhibition

The Surface Engineering Association is proud to partner with the Contract Heat Treatment Association (CHTA) and Wolfson Heat Treatment Centre as sponsor of the Surface Engineering and Heat Treatment Industry Conference. The conference will start with an introductory plenary session, leading to two separate streams, one devoted to advances in industrial heat treatment practice, and the other to surface engineering/metal finishing. Open to both members and non-members, the event will be accompanied by table-top exhibits and followed, in the evening, with a drinks reception and dinner.

Read More:  Surface Engineering & Heat Treatment Industry Conference 2017

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