A Dover, Ohio, engineering consultant group and manufacturer of custom automated machine equipment recently broke ground on a 25,000 sq ft design and manufacturing facility to expand their operations.
Gemini Industrial Machine Group, LLC, expects to open the facility in the spring of 2019, according to Jason Johnson, president of Gemini.
“Basically, we build equipment for area manufacturers,” said Johnson. “So they come to us with needs in automation or specialized equipment inside their facilities. We take that, and our engineers get to work, design it. We build it. We test it — everything in-house. And then I deliver it as well. It can be something as simple as a custom metal bracket or a fully automated robot that can process 20,000 parts in a shift and run millions of parts annually.”
This is the first of three articles by metallurgist Marc Glasser on three individual heat resistant alloys. This article will feature RA 253 MA. Please submit your questions about heat-resistant alloys for Marc to editor@heattreattoday.com.
Alloy 253MA®, marketed in the United States as RA 253 MA®, is a unique stainless steel. It exhibits oxidation resistance to 2000°F. It has shown useful creep resistance in some high-temperature vacuum applications up to 2100°F. Since it is a stainless steel, it is more economical than heat-resistant alloys with higher nickel content. In addition, RA 253 MA exhibits higher creep strength than most heat-resistant alloys with higher nickel content. This alloy is one of the few alloys with measured creep strength up to and above 2000°F.
The Chemistry of RA 253 MA
The chemistry of RA 253 MA is shown in Table 1. The alloy contains additions of silicon and the rare earth metal, cerium, which together create a very adherent oxide up to temperatures between 1950°F and 2000°F. Furthermore, the nitrogen addition enhances the creep strength.
Table 1: RA 253 MA Chemistry
At first glance, RA 253 MA is similar to 309, in terms of chromium and nickel content. However, the silicon and cerium additions enhance the oxidation resistance and the nitrogen boosts the creep strength to more than triple that of 309 and 310 stainless steels at 1800°F. Above 1800°F, 309, 310, RA330, and 600 no longer exhibit usable creep strength, whereas RA 253 MA continues to exhibit usable creep strength up to temperatures of between 2000°F and 2100°F. Table 2 shows the creep properties (1% in 10,000 hours or 0.0001%) of RA 253 MA and other heat resistant materials.
Table 2: Creep Rates for RA 253 MA and Other Heat Resistant Materials
Average Stress, ksi, for 0.0001% per hour Minimum Creep Rate
The Implications in Light of the Performance
In practical terms, the implications of this performance include:
The ability to design parts and fixtures from thinner sections, thus reducing weights significantly, through proper engineering and design.
The ability to design and fabricate fixtures that can hold more weight per furnace load compared to a fixture of the same dimensions with a lesser alloy.
The relatively low nickel content of the alloy, allowing the material to be used successfully in OXIDIZING sulfur atmospheres.
RA 253 MA is best suited for high-temperature structural parts that will see oxidizing, inert, or vacuum environments. Other factors to be cognizant of when considering RA 253 AM include:
The alloy is a stainless steel and therefore subject to sigma phase embrittlement in the temperature range of 1150°F to 1600°F. This means that, over time, the intermetallic sigma phase can form. Sigma phase is quite brittle at room temperature. At operating temperature, the material is still ductile and usable. However, if sigma forms and the material cools to room temperature, care must be taken not to allow any shock impact. A sudden, hard impact from a forklift would be an example of such a shock impact that could break an embrittled basket. Once reheated to operating temperature, the brittleness is not a concern.
The oxidation resistance in wet (water vapor) environments decreases.
The alloy is not resistant to carburization or nitriding.
The alloy does not hold up in reducing sulfur environments.
Conclusion
In summary, RA 253 MA is an excellent choice for environments where a combination of oxidation resistance and superior creep strength are required. Its excellent creep strength allows for the fabrication of either lighter weight or higher weight capacity fixtures and components in high heat applications. Its high strength and higher nickel content compared to ferritic stainless steels make this grade worthy of consideration for automotive exhaust applications.
Even though RA 253 MA has a significantly higher price per pound than the current ferritic chromium-iron alloys, the high creep strength allows for lighter, thinner components, while nominal 11% nickel addition will provide for a more corrosion resistance than a ferritic alloy. Conversely, when RA 253 MA replaces a ferritic steel without making dimensional changes, the additional creep strength should result in a part with a longer life, which could reduce warranty costs. Finally, the higher oxidation limits can be utilized by design engineers to make a more efficient system, which can operate at higher temperatures.
253MA is a trademark material of Outokumpu.
Marc Glasser is Director of Metallurgical Services at Rolled Alloys and is Heat Treat Today‘s resident expert in process metallurgy, heat treatment, materials of construction, and materials science and testing.
Titanium nitride precipitates in a precipitation hardened HSLA steel. Image copyright: University of Nevada, Reno via The Balance
Source: Multiple (see below)
You may know it by one name — Precipitation Hardening, or by another — Age Hardening, or Particle Hardening. Whatever term you use, if you are employing this process to strengthen aluminum, titanium, or forms of alloys, the right balance between material and application will bring you the right results.
Precipitation hardening is a heat treating method used to strengthen metal components through the utilization of controlled release of solid impurities — or precipitates — to form precipitate clusters.
“The formation of these precipitates is accomplished by using a solution treatment at high temperatures prior to a rapid cooling process. The solution heat treatment results in a single-phase solution while the rapid cooling results in a stable material by preventing the creation and propagation of lattice defects. This greatly strengthens the metal matrix.
Precipitation hardening is typically performed in a vacuum, inert atmosphere at temperatures ranging from between 900º and 1150° F. The process ranges in time from one to four hours, depending on the exact material and the characteristics specified.” ~ The Balance
The process generally follows three steps (per AZO Materials):
Solution treatment at high temperatures
Rapid cooling
Heat treatment to induce precipitation
According to Bodycote’s website, where more information is given regarding the process details, the outcome varies depending upon whether a solution treating-only method is used or a combination of solution treating and precipitation age hardening.
Read more about the types of metals treated by precipitation hardening, techniques, industrial applications, and more:
Welcome to another episode of Heat Treat Radio, a periodic podcast where Heat Treat Radiohost, Doug Glenn, discusses cutting-edge topics with industry-leading personalities. Below, you can either listen to the podcast by clicking on the audio play button, or you can read an edited version of the transcript. To see a complete list of other Heat Treat Radio episodes, click here.
Audio: Heat Treat Radio: Laser Heat Treating with Laser Hard
In this conversation, Heat Treat Radio host, Doug Glenn, interviews two families who have been at their manufacturing game for multiple generations. Not long ago they joined forces to establish a new company — Laser Hard, Inc. — and to introduce one of the most cutting edge-heat treat technologies around today: laser heat treating. For many of you who have difficult-to-heat treat parts, whether it’s because of blind holes, or the fact that the part is too big to move, or perhaps you’d like to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, post-heat treat hard machining, you’re going to find today’s Heat Treat Radio episode on laser heat treating especially interesting.
Click the play button below to listen.
Transcript: Heat Treat Radio: Laser Heat Treating with Laser Hard
The following transcript has been edited for your reading enjoyment.
Click the image to connect to Heat Treat Radio
In this episode of Heat Treat Radio, let’s talk about one of the most cutting-edge heat treat technologies around today — laser heat treating.
Thanks for joining us. My name is Doug Glenn and I’m your Heat Treat Radio host and publisher of Heat Treat Today. You can find us on the web at www.heattreattoday.com or simply by Googling Heat Treat Radio. And here’s something new, Heat Treat Radio is now on iTunes! On the website, we update our heat treat content daily, and if you’re a manufacturer with an in-house heat treat department, you’re going to love our site.
Although it sounds Star Treky, laser heat treating is a pretty well-established technology, especially in Europe, but not so much in the United States. The applications are intriguing to say the least – as is the way it is being introduced into the United States – and as are the two families introducing it. One family – long time heat treaters. The other family – long time laser welders and laser cladders. Both minding their own businesses – literally – both thinking about ways to better serve their customers. These two businessmen were from the same small town in Pennsylvania, and they paired up to create a new company called Laser Hard.
And that’s where our story begins.
Introducing Doug Peters of Peters’ Heat Treating and Blair Learn of Phoenix Laser Solutions
Doug Glenn (DG): First, let me introduce you to the two patriarchs: Doug Peters of Peters’ Heat Treating, and Blair Learn of Phoenix Laser Solutions.
Both Doug and Blair are seasoned veterans in their respective industries, and both have children involved in their family businesses in Meadville, Pennsylvania – a mid-sized city about 40 minutes south of Lake Erie and 20 miles from the Ohio state border. These two patriarchs have known each other for years – primarily because Phoenix Laser had been sending heat treating to Peters’ Heat Treating.
Doug Peters, Peters’ Heat Treating Inc.
Peters’ Heat Treating started in 1979, and here’s Doug Peters with a short history of Peters’ Heat Treating.
Doug Peters (DP): We basically started because there was a need in the area for a commercial heat treater. I heard about it from clients of mine. I was in the insurance business and I finally got tired of listening to everybody saying that the place needed a good heat treater so we started one. That expanded to Erie in ’82, then opened the production plant on 13 acres up here in 2013.
Doug and his wife Jackie have three kids involved in their business: Christopher, who helps with IT and other special projects at the heat treat company, and then husband and wife team Diana Peters Wilkosz and her husband Andy Wilkosz who are both heavily involved in Laser Hard as well as the heat treat company.
The other patriarch in this picture is Blair Learn, father of three boys, Chris, Dave, and Mike, all of whom are owners of Phoenix Laser Solutions. Here’s Blair with a brief history of his family business.
Blair Learn, Phoenix Laser Solutions
Blair Learn (BL): So we started here in 2008, but we’ve been laser welding for 25 years. We used to have a design and build plastic injection mold hut. We would build high cavitation molds, and we needed a laser there to fix the day-to-day bumps and dings — you know, DCRs and stuff.
Besides the laser heat treating technology, which we’ll get to in just a minute, the thing that excites these two seasoned entrepreneurs is seeing their 20- and 30-something kids run with a new business. Doug Peters says it well.
DP: I think one of the things that’s most interesting to me is that the two patriarchs have stepped back and this company truly belongs to our sons and daughters.
DG: And who are these sons and daughters? Well, there are more than we have time to put in this podcast, but let me introduce them all to you now and then we’ll hear from just two of them.
Introducing Chris Learn and Andy Wilkosz of LaserHard, Inc.
Laser Hard, Inc:: Andy Wilkosz, Diana Wilkosz, Chris Learn, David Learn
On the Peters’ Heat Treating side of the business is, as I mentioned before, Diana Wilkosz, maiden name, Peters. Diana is the marketing brains behind Laser Hard and oversees marketing, HR, and finance for Peters’ Heat Treating. This is a good time to mention that Laser Hard can be found on the web at www.laserhard.com, a website undoubtedly put together by Diana and her team.
We’ll hear from Diana’s husband, Andy Wilkosz, in just a few minutes.
From the Phoenix Laser Solutions side of the business is two of the three brothers, Chris and Dave Learn. Dave is treasurer and Chris is president. Both of the patriarchs, Doug Peters and Blair Learn, are heavily involved in sales and oversight of the new company.
Now, let’s hear from Chris Learn.
Chris Learn (CL): Yeah, my name is Chris Learn. I’m the owner of Phoenix Laser. And I pretty much oversee the shop floor. Mainly on the laser welding side.
DG: And now, as promised, let’s hear from the spokesperson from the Peters’ Heat Treating side of the business – Andy Wilkosz.
Andy Wilkosz (AW): I’m Andy Wilkosz, vice president of Laser Hard. I also work for Peters’ Heat Treat.
DG: So these are the players. But what about the technology – laser heat treating. Pretty fascinating stuff. Listen as we go back to Andy as he discusses cutting-edge robotics and real-time, feedback-loop pyrometry that makes this laser heat treating system so much different AND BETTER than other laser heat treating systems.
AW: So, I was part of the team that worked on initial startup and all the initial projects associated with the robot and the laser system. Some of the things that set it apart from the traditional lasers and systems that are out in the marketplace now is this has the Fonhoffer Control System so there is onboard optical pyrometry which is a very strong tool for this. A traditional laser is almost like a guess-and-check type of method where you adjust the wattage, see if you achieved the hardness, and in this system, we have the optical pyrometry that has a feedback loop that reads the temperature of the part and then it can control which is really important as a part’s geometry changes. We are going to be able to have better repeatability and control for our customers’ parts. Now, obviously it’s always best if you get one set up part but if the customer just has one part, we are much more likely to get it right and not hurt their part with some of the hazards that could be associated with laser-like melting.
DG: Doug Peters expounded as well on some of the advantages of the Laser Hard heat treating system.
DP: You can locally heat treat parting lines. You can locally heat treat shear areas in a cut off die. You can, instead of having to heat treat the whole part — basically the strength, Doug, is that you can finish a part, we can locally heat treat and then you can put it to work. So the precise heat of a laser enables us to not have to temper everything. In Europe, as they employ this technology, they don’t temper much, if anything because they don’t need to, because of the way this works. Right now I can tell you that the main strength I see in this thing is the precise placement of the treatment, whether it be cladding or heat treating, and the areas that we can direct the beam that you cannot get at with any other technology or method of heating. So, in other words, if you have a blind hole that is two inches deep, I can put a beam into the bottom of the hole and I can harden just the bottom of the hole, and you can’t do that with induction or flame. And with traditional heat treating you are going to have the hard finish cost associated with the distortion as part of the base heat treating cycle.
DG: With laser, you can get in the hole, do the job, and be done with no additional post treatments.
DP: Exactly. And no post hard finish time either — which is huge. The majority of time in building a tool is generally in hard finish time.
DG: And finally, Chris Learn also had something to say about the advantages and application of laser hardening. Chris Learn…
CL: It’s heavily being used in the automotive industry for very large plastic injection tools. So they got this very large plastic injection cavity or core and they are just locally heat treating the parting line and the shut offs. Where before they would have to buy a more expensive material and you know, rough machine it, then heat treat the entire huge block and then finish machine it, you know, with hard milling or eem processes that are very expensive, where now they can just buy a cheaper material, finish machine it and then laser harden just the part you need.
Portability
One of the other benefits of this new laser heat treating service being offered by Laser Hard is its portability.
One of the other benefits of this new laser heat treating service being offered by Laser Hard is its portability. Andy Wilkosz commented on the unit’s portability and its potential application in the gear market.
AW: Another powerful aspect of this is we are hoping to really serve the gear market as well. Where in traditional heat treating, what you run is going to be limited on your furnace size. With this robot having the ability to move around — it’s on tank treads — and the range that it can articulate to, you are only limited by what you can get to. So we have the ability to do very, very large parts.
DG: I don’t know if you caught what Andy said. He said that the laser heat treating unit was on “tank treads.” Those tank treads along with a robotic laser heat treating or cladding arm allow the unit to move on-site to where the part is located and once there to move around the part as needed to do whatever process needs done whether it be heat treating or cladding.
As we left the Laser Hard offices and went into the shop to see the unit in action, I asked Chris Learn about the unit’s mobility as well – the ability to take that machine on-site.
CL: So I think the biggest reason for taking this piece of equipment mobile is if the workpiece is too large to transport. Or if it’s too expensive and too risky to transport. So, it’s a very high-cost situation that instead of taking the part here and having us manipulate it here at our shop, even though we have a ten-ton crane, some parts that we deal with are twenty tons, thirty tons. So, it’s a size restriction. Sometimes it’s going to make sense to take this on site.
DG: I next asked Andy to give us a brief explanation of how the unit works. Here’s Andy, and again, please pardon the background noise from the laser welding shop.
AW: Right now, we have a part chucked up in the rotary axis and with the laser scan technology that we have on the laser, it interfaces with the software on the computer and what Mason can do is, we’ll rotate the part, as he rotates the part, it requires image information through the scan and it will actually build a 3D model of the part and its geometry on the computer. Then once we have that on the computer, we can use the computer to draw and program the path of the heat treat or the laser hardening pattern – whether it be a spot or in this case it’s a round bar and what we are going to do is we are going to traverse the bar in a spiral candy cane/barber pole pattern so that you can harden the entire surface. The beam size is about, the max width is, we’ll say 850,000, it’s a little bit more than that but we’ll use round numbers. So if you want to harden an area larger than that, what you end up doing is making multiple overlapping passes.
DG: To actually see the equipment in action, you’ll have to link over to Heat Treat Today’s website and search for Laser Hard. We’ll have an article there with photos of the players and a brief video of the laser heat treating system in action.
This laser heat treating and cladding system has a real-time feedback loop that makes it possible to not guess at whether the heat treating process being run is being run correctly.
This laser heat treating and cladding system is portable and can go on-site to perform any process needed.
For large parts or for specialty parts where shipping is problematic, this laser heat treating system may be just the ticket you’ve been looking for.
The young team at Laser Hard, backed by the two industry veterans, are bringing an innovative new heat treating technology to the United States.
If you’re interested in knowing more about Laser Hard and the services they provide, feel free to visit their website at www.laserhard.com or contact me directly and I’ll put you in touch with one of the key players. More information, including photos of the Laser Hard team and the equipment, as well as a short video of the equipment in use, can be seen by visiting Heat Treat Today’s website and searching for Laser Hard.
Stop back at Heat Treat Today’s site frequently. We update the site daily with information pertinent to heat treaters with in-house heat treating departments, especially those in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors, as well as general manufacturing.
If you’d like to hear more Heat Treat Radio, you can do that in one of three ways:
You can Google “heat treat radio” – we’re the first thing that pops up,
You can visit www.heattreattoday.com and find “Heat Treat Radio” under the Resources tab,
Or, as I mentioned at the beginning of the podcast, you can find “Heat Treat Radio” on iTunes or on SoundCloud.
If you have a specific topic you’d like covered on Heat Treat Radio, please feel free to contact me directly with your suggestion. My email is doug@heattreattoday.com.
Heat Treat Radio podcasts are the sole property of Heat Treat Today and cannot be reproduced without permission and appropriate attribution.
This episode of Heat Treat Radio was produced and mixed by Jonathan Lloyd, Butler, Pennsylvania.
My name is Doug Glenn. Thanks for joining us.
Doug Glenn, Heat Treat Today publisher and Heat Treat Radio host.
To find other Heat Treat Radio episodes, go to www.heattreattoday.com/radio and look in the list of Heat Treat Radio episodes listed.
Welcome to another episode of Heat Treat Radio, a periodic podcast where Heat Treat Radio host, Doug Glenn, discusses cutting-edge topics with industry-leading personalities. Below, you can either listen to the podcast by clicking on the audio play button, or you can read an edited version of the transcript. To see a complete list of other Heat Treat Radio episodes, click here.
Audio: Heat Treat Radio: Laser Heat Treating with Laser Hard
In this conversation, Heat Treat Radio host, Doug Glenn, interviews two families who have been at their manufacturing game for multiple generations. Not long ago they joined forces to establish a new company — Laser Hard, Inc. — and to introduce one of the most cutting edge-heat treat technologies around today: laser heat treating. For many of you who have difficult-to-heat treat parts, whether it’s because of blind holes, or the fact that the part is too big to move, or perhaps you’d like to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, post-heat treat hard machining, you’re going to find today’s Heat Treat Radio episode on laser heat treating especially interesting.
Click The Play Button Below To Listen.
Transcript: Heat Treat Radio: Laser Heat Treating with Laser Hard
The following transcript has been edited for your reading enjoyment.
Click the image to connect to Heat Treat Radio
In this episode of Heat Treat Radio, let’s talk about one of the most cutting-edge heat treat technologies around today — laser heat treating.
Thanks for joining us. My name is Doug Glenn and I’m your Heat Treat Radio host and publisher of Heat Treat Today. You can find us on the web at www.heattreattoday.com or simply by Googling Heat Treat Radio. And here’s something new, Heat Treat Radio is now on iTunes! On the website, we update our heat treat content daily, and if you’re a manufacturer with an in-house heat treat department, you’re going to love our site.
Although it sounds Star Treky, laser heat treating is a pretty well-established technology, especially in Europe, but not so much in the United States. The applications are intriguing to say the least – as is the way it is being introduced into the United States – and as are the two families introducing it. One family – long time heat treaters. The other family – long time laser welders and laser cladders. Both minding their own businesses – literally – both thinking about ways to better serve their customers. These two businessmen were from the same small town in Pennsylvania, and they paired up to create a new company called Laser Hard.
And that’s where our story begins.
Introducing Doug Peters Of Peters’ Heat Treating And Blair Learn Of Phoenix Laser Solutions
Doug Glenn (DG): First, let me introduce you to the two patriarchs: Doug Peters of Peters’ Heat Treating, and Blair Learn of Phoenix Laser Solutions.
Both Doug and Blair are seasoned veterans in their respective industries, and both have children involved in their family businesses in Meadville, Pennsylvania – a mid-sized city about 40 minutes south of Lake Erie and 20 miles from the Ohio state border. These two patriarchs have known each other for years – primarily because Phoenix Laser had been sending heat treating to Peters’ Heat Treating.
Doug Peters, Peters’ Heat Treating Inc.
Peters’ Heat Treating started in 1979, and here’s Doug Peters with a short history of Peters’ Heat Treating.
Doug Peters (DP): We basically started because there was a need in the area for a commercial heat treater. I heard about it from clients of mine. I was in the insurance business and I finally got tired of listening to everybody saying that the place needed a good heat treater so we started one. That expanded to Erie in ’82, then opened the production plant on 13 acres up here in 2013.
Doug and his wife Jackie have three kids involved in their business: Christopher, who helps with IT and other special projects at the heat treat company, and then husband and wife team Diana Peters Wilkosz and her husband Andy Wilkosz who are both heavily involved in Laser Hard as well as the heat treat company.
The other patriarch in this picture is Blair Learn, father of three boys, Chris, Dave, and Mike, all of whom are owners of Phoenix Laser Solutions. Here’s Blair with a brief history of his family business.
Blair Learn, Phoenix Laser Solutions
Blair Learn (BL): So we started here in 2008, but we’ve been laser welding for 25 years. We used to have a design and build plastic injection mold hut. We would build high cavitation molds, and we needed a laser there to fix the day-to-day bumps and dings — you know, DCRs and stuff.
Besides the laser heat treating technology, which we’ll get to in just a minute, the thing that excites these two seasoned entrepreneurs is seeing their 20- and 30-something kids run with a new business. Doug Peters says it well.
DP: I think one of the things that’s most interesting to me is that the two patriarchs have stepped back and this company truly belongs to our sons and daughters.
DG: And who are these sons and daughters? Well, there are more than we have time to put in this podcast, but let me introduce them all to you now and then we’ll hear from just two of them.
Introducing Chris Learn And Andy Wilkosz Of LaserHard, Inc.
Laser Hard, Inc:: Andy Wilkosz, Diana Wilkosz, Chris Learn, David Learn
On the Peters’ Heat Treating side of the business is, as I mentioned before, Diana Wilkosz, maiden name, Peters. Diana is the marketing brains behind Laser Hard and oversees marketing, HR, and finance for Peters’ Heat Treating. This is a good time to mention that Laser Hard can be found on the web at www.laserhard.com, a website undoubtedly put together by Diana and her team.
We’ll hear from Diana’s husband, Andy Wilkosz, in just a few minutes.
From the Phoenix Laser Solutions side of the business is two of the three brothers, Chris and Dave Learn. Dave is treasurer and Chris is president. Both of the patriarchs, Doug Peters and Blair Learn, are heavily involved in sales and oversight of the new company.
Now, let’s hear from Chris Learn.
Chris Learn (CL): Yeah, my name is Chris Learn. I’m the owner of Phoenix Laser. And I pretty much oversee the shop floor. Mainly on the laser welding side.
DG: And now, as promised, let’s hear from the spokesperson from the Peters’ Heat Treating side of the business – Andy Wilkosz.
Andy Wilkosz (AW): I’m Andy Wilkosz, vice president of Laser Hard. I also work for Peters’ Heat Treat.
DG: So these are the players. But what about the technology – laser heat treating. Pretty fascinating stuff. Listen as we go back to Andy as he discusses cutting-edge robotics and real-time, feedback-loop pyrometry that makes this laser heat treating system so much different AND BETTER than other laser heat treating systems.
AW: So, I was part of the team that worked on initial startup and all the initial projects associated with the robot and the laser system. Some of the things that set it apart from the traditional lasers and systems that are out in the marketplace now is this has the Fonhoffer Control System so there is onboard optical pyrometry which is a very strong tool for this. A traditional laser is almost like a guess-and-check type of method where you adjust the wattage, see if you achieved the hardness, and in this system, we have the optical pyrometry that has a feedback loop that reads the temperature of the part and then it can control which is really important as a part’s geometry changes. We are going to be able to have better repeatability and control for our customers’ parts. Now, obviously it’s always best if you get one set up part but if the customer just has one part, we are much more likely to get it right and not hurt their part with some of the hazards that could be associated with laser-like melting.
DG: Doug Peters expounded as well on some of the advantages of the Laser Hard heat treating system.
DP: You can locally heat treat parting lines. You can locally heat treat shear areas in a cut off die. You can, instead of having to heat treat the whole part — basically the strength, Doug, is that you can finish a part, we can locally heat treat and then you can put it to work. So the precise heat of a laser enables us to not have to temper everything. In Europe, as they employ this technology, they don’t temper much, if anything because they don’t need to, because of the way this works. Right now I can tell you that the main strength I see in this thing is the precise placement of the treatment, whether it be cladding or heat treating, and the areas that we can direct the beam that you cannot get at with any other technology or method of heating. So, in other words, if you have a blind hole that is two inches deep, I can put a beam into the bottom of the hole and I can harden just the bottom of the hole, and you can’t do that with induction or flame. And with traditional heat treating you are going to have the hard finish cost associated with the distortion as part of the base heat treating cycle.
DG: With laser, you can get in the hole, do the job, and be done with no additional post treatments.
DP: Exactly. And no post hard finish time either — which is huge. The majority of time in building a tool is generally in hard finish time.
DG: And finally, Chris Learn also had something to say about the advantages and application of laser hardening. Chris Learn…
CL: It’s heavily being used in the automotive industry for very large plastic injection tools. So they got this very large plastic injection cavity or core and they are just locally heat treating the parting line and the shut offs. Where before they would have to buy a more expensive material and you know, rough machine it, then heat treat the entire huge block and then finish machine it, you know, with hard milling or eem processes that are very expensive, where now they can just buy a cheaper material, finish machine it and then laser harden just the part you need.
Portability
One of the other benefits of this new laser heat treating service being offered by Laser Hard is its portability.
One of the other benefits of this new laser heat treating service being offered by Laser Hard is its portability. Andy Wilkosz commented on the unit’s portability and its potential application in the gear market.
AW: Another powerful aspect of this is we are hoping to really serve the gear market as well. Where in traditional heat treating, what you run is going to be limited on your furnace size. With this robot having the ability to move around — it’s on tank treads — and the range that it can articulate to, you are only limited by what you can get to. So we have the ability to do very, very large parts.
DG: I don’t know if you caught what Andy said. He said that the laser heat treating unit was on “tank treads.” Those tank treads along with a robotic laser heat treating or cladding arm allow the unit to move on-site to where the part is located and once there to move around the part as needed to do whatever process needs done whether it be heat treating or cladding.
As we left the Laser Hard offices and went into the shop to see the unit in action, I asked Chris Learn about the unit’s mobility as well – the ability to take that machine on-site.
CL: So I think the biggest reason for taking this piece of equipment mobile is if the workpiece is too large to transport. Or if it’s too expensive and too risky to transport. So, it’s a very high-cost situation that instead of taking the part here and having us manipulate it here at our shop, even though we have a ten-ton crane, some parts that we deal with are twenty tons, thirty tons. So, it’s a size restriction. Sometimes it’s going to make sense to take this on site.
DG: I next asked Andy to give us a brief explanation of how the unit works. Here’s Andy, and again, please pardon the background noise from the laser welding shop.
AW: Right now, we have a part chucked up in the rotary axis and with the laser scan technology that we have on the laser, it interfaces with the software on the computer and what Mason can do is, we’ll rotate the part, as he rotates the part, it requires image information through the scan and it will actually build a 3D model of the part and its geometry on the computer. Then once we have that on the computer, we can use the computer to draw and program the path of the heat treat or the laser hardening pattern – whether it be a spot or in this case it’s a round bar and what we are going to do is we are going to traverse the bar in a spiral candy cane/barber pole pattern so that you can harden the entire surface. The beam size is about, the max width is, we’ll say 850,000, it’s a little bit more than that but we’ll use round numbers. So if you want to harden an area larger than that, what you end up doing is making multiple overlapping passes.
DG: To actually see the equipment in action, you’ll have to link over to Heat Treat Today’s website and search for Laser Hard. We’ll have an article there with photos of the players and a brief video of the laser heat treating system in action.
This laser heat treating and cladding system has a real-time feedback loop that makes it possible to not guess at whether the heat treating process being run is being run correctly.
This laser heat treating and cladding system is portable and can go on-site to perform any process needed.
For large parts or for specialty parts where shipping is problematic, this laser heat treating system may be just the ticket you’ve been looking for.
The young team at Laser Hard, backed by the two industry veterans, are bringing an innovative new heat treating technology to the United States.
If you’re interested in knowing more about Laser Hard and the services they provide, feel free to visit their website at www.laserhard.com or contact me directly and I’ll put you in touch with one of the key players. More information, including photos of the Laser Hard team and the equipment, as well as a short video of the equipment in use, can be seen by visiting Heat Treat Today’s website and searching for Laser Hard.
Stop back at Heat Treat Today’s site frequently. We update the site daily with information pertinent to heat treaters with in-house heat treating departments, especially those in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors, as well as general manufacturing.
If you’d like to hear more Heat Treat Radio, you can do that in one of three ways:
You can Google “heat treat radio” – we’re the first thing that pops up,
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This episode of Heat Treat Radio was produced and mixed by Jonathan Lloyd, Butler, Pennsylvania.
My name is Doug Glenn. Thanks for joining us.
Doug Glenn, Heat Treat Today publisher and Heat Treat Radio host.
To find other Heat Treat Radio episodes, go to www.heattreattoday.com/radio and look in the list of Heat Treat Radio episodes listed.
An international technology group recently signed a contract to acquire a Pittsburgh-area family-owned company that manufactures a wide range of shear knives, blades, liners, wear plates, and accessories for the metals producing, processing, and recycling industries.
Bill Rackoff, president of ASKO (Photo credit: Pittsburgh Magazine)
ANDRITZ, headquartered in Graz, Austria, views the acquisition of ASKO as a complement to its ongoing service offerings for the metals industry.
“The combination of ASKO’s broad line of industrial knives and wear parts, and Andritz’s global position and engineering leadership, reinforces the partners’ strategies to provide advanced technology services and maintenance products to the global metals industry,” said Bill Rackoff, president of ASKO. “Both companies’ business strategies are based on delivering technical solutions that enhance customer value. The result of coordinating with Andritz’s global resources and talented metals team creates expanded opportunities for ASKO’s customers and associates.”
ASKO, headquartered in Homestead, Pennsylvania, and founded in 1933, serves practically all renowned international metals production companies and delivers its products from four locations: Homestead, PA; Rock Hill, SC; South Holland, IL, and Amsterdam, Netherlands. The company’s announcement states that ASKO will continue to operate as a separate legal entity and the present ASKO management team all remain. Bill Rackoff will continue to serve as President of ASKO and Peter Rackoff as Chief Operating Officer. There are no changes to ASKO operations, channels of sale and distribution, or the employment status of ASKO associates.
Among other offerings, ANDRITZ is a globally leading supplier of services to the metalworking and steel industries.
With a recent contract to produce its lightweight High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers and associated hardware, a global security and aerospace company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, now has the equipment in the inventories of four international partners.
The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $218 million contract to deliver 18 HIMARS launchers to an unnamed international customer by December 2020. The HIMARS vehicles will be produced from the ground up at Lockheed Martin’s award-winning Camden, Arkansas, Precision Fires Center of Excellence.
HIMARS is a lightweight mobile launcher, transportable via C-130 and larger aircraft for rapid deployment, that fires Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) rockets and Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles. HIMARS consists of a launcher loader module and fire control system mounted on a five-ton truck chassis. A specialized armored cab provides additional protection to the three crew members that operate the system.
A steel fabricator based in Lansing, Illinois, recently announced plans to launch a new manufacturing plant in Lancaster County, South Carolina, to provide light gauge steel products to the construction industry in the area.
Synergy Steel Structures will manufacture steel studs, engineered floor and roof trusses and wall panels at the 32,000 sq ft facility.
An Irish engineering group specializing in the design, manufacture, and servicing of hard-rock drilling consumables has added two separate state-of-the-art heat-treatment lines as part of the group’s global expansion, both from a Michigan-based manufacturer of industrial furnace equipment for ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
Mike Jones, Benton Plant Manager, Mincon USA
Mincon Group plc purchased a complete batch style integral quench heat treatment line for its U.S. plant in Benton, Illinois, from AFC-Holcraft. The furnace, with an effective load size of 36″ x 72″ x 56″, tempering furnaces, washing and conveying equipment, controls system and accessory equipment, will be utilized for the heat treatment of components such as those used in heavy industries like mining and drilling.
In-house heat treatment processes were pioneered and have been perfected at Mincon’s headquarters in Shannon, Ireland, and now this new facility at the Benton plant will ensure consistency in the quality of drill bits it produces. The $2.5-million project was completed in April 2018 after 18 months, and Mincon Group expects it to help the company double its production volumes.
“We are excited by the possibilities presented by the addition of this key piece of equipment,” said Mike Jones, Benton Plant Manager, Mincon USA. “In addition to ensuring our USA plant produces superior quality drill bits, running our own facilities also shortens manufacturing cycle times and introduces flexibility when compared to using an outsourced heat-treatment solution.”
Tracy Dougherty, Sales Manager at AFC-Holcroft
Another smaller size line with an effective load size of 36″ x 48″ x 36″ will be delivered to Perth, Australia. Both batch furnace lines have features designed to reduce distortion of the products being processed.
“We’ve seen tremendous demand for on the part of manufacturers to continually improve control, quality, consistency and reduce distortion,” stated Tracy Dougherty, Sales Manager at AFC-Holcroft. “The addition of these batch furnace lines will allow Mincon to increase production using brand-new equipment that meets their need for high quality and productivity. We’re excited to be a part of their continued growth in the market.”
A supplier for aluminum extrusions based in Fond-du-Lac, Wisconsin, recently broke ground on an expansion which will include the installation of a new press line at its extrusion and fabrication facility.
At the new plant, Mid-States Aluminum Corp. will provide services in aluminum extrusion, and include machining, fabrication, anodizing, tooling and assembly capabilities to medical manufacturing, construction, and transportation industries.
