We get it. You read all day: emails, memos, furnace monitoring screens. To give your eyes a break, Heat TreatTodaywanted to provide some grab and go visual resources. In this original content piece, check out some visuals to help you learn about the difference between Nitriding and FNC; discover how the U.S. is doing in the race to green steel production; and get an example of the type of numbers that are normal for a CQI-9 probe method A test.
In Heat TreatToday's August 2021 Automotive print edition, Lourenco Goncalves, chairman, president, and CEO of Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc. made a big statement: "The United States is the benchmark of the world in all things steel. Amongst all major steelmaking nations, we have by far the greenest emissions profile."
In a climate where the United States often gets a bad rap when it comes to environmental concerns, Lourenco's statement is hard to believe. But, the data below contradicts this bad reputation. Check out the graphic below to learn how the United States stacks up to other countries in steel production.
Ensuring heat treating equipment falls within CQI-9 standards can be tricky. According to Erika Zarazúa, regional purchasing manager at Global Thermal Solutions, probe method A may be the best way to identify variations in control systems.
If you're curious about how probe method A works, view the chart below (in both English and Spanish) for an example of the kind of numbers that are typical for this test method.
Table 1. Probe method A Tabla 1. Método de sonda A
These days, it seems like most heat treat shops are updating equipment or changing procedures to accommodate demands for ferritic nitrocarburizing. But how different are the two processes, really? When it comes to materials commonly processed, time cycles involved, and atmospheres required, where does the difference between nitriding and FNC begin? The chart below is a quick and easy guide to distinguishing the difference between these two hardening processes. Skim away or take a deep dive into the technicalities!
Erika Zarazúa, a 40 Under 40 Class of 2021 member, is a metallurgical engineer with over 18 years of experience in heat treatment operations and temperature measurement and has worked in multiple engineering, quality, and project roles in the automotive and aerospace industries. Erika currently holds the position of regional purchasing manager at Global Thermal Solutions.
Seeing behind the scenes of everyday processes, seeing the previously unknown "how," can be an "Aha" moment. Karen Gantzer, senior editor and associate publisher of Heat Treat Today, shares about two such "Aha" experiences for the Heat Treat Today team.
This article first appeared inHeat Treat Today'sAugust 2022 Automotiveprint edition. Feel free to contact Karen Gantzer at karen@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.
It was the summer between my junior and senior year at college. I had secured a sports internship at WLWT, a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The opportunity to experience many behind the scene and front of the camera exposures was invaluable and rewarding. One memory that has stuck with me all these years was the first time I saw the meteorologist’s segment from behind the camera while she was on the newscast. She was standing in front of a green screen with a monitor off to the side explaining weather fronts and forecasts. I stood there in wonder. It looked totally different from the station side of things and today, I can’t watch a weather segment without thinking of the blank green screen!
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Have you ever had that experience? Completely blown away by seeing a common or everyday product, process, or presentation whose behind the scenes production was, until the point you saw it, unknown to you. I suppose one could describe it as an “Aha” moment. Well, in early June, the Heat Treat Today team had one of those memory-making trips that we’ll not soon forget.
We had the privilege of visiting the fine folks at ThermTech in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Mary Springer and Chuck Hartwig along with their experienced team shared their expertise and insights as they led us on tours of their facility. How fun it was to see some of the industry vocabulary we put on paper come to life! To actually see everything from the fiery furnaces and the products being heat treated to the pre-furnace parts prep and huge baskets that are used, it was a moment that connected the industry words we work with to the actual processes. We will not forget the sights, smells, temperatures, kindness, and generosity of our time at ThermTech.
Heat TreatToday Team: Doug, Bethany, Lauren, Michelle G-P, Alyssa, Karen, Michelle R., Ellen
The next day, the Heat Treat Today team was graciously hosted by the Quad Graphics folks who print our eight annual magazines. Being divided into a few smaller groups, we each had our own
Quad expert who toured us through the vast and expansive printing facility. To see the incredible precision that it takes to get each magazine from our PDFs to the tangible copies you hold in your hands is truly a sight to behold. From the massive rolls of paper being stored wherever there is available floor space (and, yes, there is a paper shortage) to witnessing the inking, folding, and binding processes gave us all pause to: first recognize the importance for accuracy in our processes, and second to marvel at the many highly skilled individuals it takes to produce each issue. Truly “Aha” moments!
I’m thankful for the opportunity we had to experience these visits as a team and that we can still marvel and appreciate those once unknown processes.
When I view baskets when running errands that remind me of the ones at ThermTech, I’ll remember what and how they do what they do. And, it’s safe to say, when I look at any magazine on the rack, I will see all the machinations it went through from conception to publication. What a grand time to be alive!
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The Capi Group has boosted its nitriding/nitrocarburizing capacity with two heat treat furnaces to keep up with the rise in production and new orders from the industrial and automotive sectors.
Marcin Stokłosa Project Manager Nitrex Poland LinkedIn.com
The Italian gear manufacturer's order of Nitrex's large-capacity nitriding systems "is a continuation of our collaboration, and we look forward to strengthening this partnership further,” says Marcin Stokłosa, project manager at Nitrex.
The Capi Group owns four pit-type nitriding/nitrocarburizing furnaces of the same model type and larger size, which consist of Nitreg® and Nitreg®-C technologies, +/-3°C temperature homogeneity in the retort, and eco-friendly IN-500 exhaust neutralizer to support a clean and green operation.
The new Nitrex furnaces, which comply with the Aerospace Material Specifications (AMS) 2750 for pyrometry and 2759/10 for controlled nitriding, are integrated into the existing production line and connected to a closed-loop water cooling system. The latter is an environmentally friendly feature that recirculates a steady supply of cooling water to cool furnace elements.
The new systems have been operational for a few months.
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When was the last time the parts washer was cleaned? For many heat treaters, answering this question and keeping data on cleaning schedules and outcomes may not be at the top of their priority list. Learn how a data-driven approach to cleaning heat treated parts can have an impact well beyond the cleaning phase.
This Technical Tuesday article, written by Greg Steiger, senior account manager at Idemitsu Lubricants America Corp., was first published in Heat Treat Today's August 2022 Automotive print edition.
Greg Steiger Senior Key Account Manager Idemitsu Lubricants America
Introduction
For many years heat treaters have virtually ignored their washers. It was not uncommon for these washers to be dumped and recharged whenever someone thought about it. Often the question “When was the last dump and recharge?” was met with the “I don’t know” shoulder shrug or “When the parts were dirty.” So why do parts need to be cleaner than ever before? The easy answer is because it is what customers are demanding. The more difficult answer is because as quality standards have improved over the last several decades, the need for parts with tighter tolerances has also increased.
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Many readers will wonder what part cleanliness has to do with tighter tolerances. The answer is the quench oil residue that was once acceptable to leave on the parts affects the tolerances of the part. For example, a buildup of oil in the threads of a part will have an impact on how the part threads into its mating part. Cleanliness affects post heat treat processes such as plating and painting as many residues cannot be plated or painted over. Part cleanliness also influences the shop environment in a heat treat operation. A clean, oil free part will not produce smoke in temper like a part with oil residues will.
Furthermore, when asked how the washer was recharged the typical answer was to drain the cleaner solution and then replace the cleaner solution with fresh water and enough cleaner to bring the concertation to the desired level and then restarting the washer. There was virtually no thought to removing the sludge that had built up over the years since the washer was last thoroughly cleaned. Little time was spent mucking out the sludge, and even less time and thought were expended on determining if the spray nozzles were clogged or properly aimed at the load. When energy, labor, cleaner chemistry, and disposal costs were all very low, this was the typical method of operating washers.
Now (with labor, disposal, energy, and cleaner prices all increasing along with the nationwide labor shortage) is the time to change those old habits and recognize the preclean and post quench washers are two ways to improve part cleanliness and the bottom line. The method of change for these habits is to allow data to be the guide in operating the washers in a heat treatment operation. The data will determine what the optimal concentration range is to obtain the cleanest parts. The data will show when the soil loading in the washer is too high. The data will reveal the maximum tank life for the cleaner solution. In other words, data should be used to maximize the efficiency of the washers.
Basic Cleaner Chemistries
The term alkalinity in its most basic description is a pH above 7.0. At this pH, the cleaner efficacy is improved as is the overall rust protection of the parts in the quenched load and any mild steel used in the washer construction. All alkaline cleaners share several types of common raw materials. They are alkaline builders, surfactants, corrosion inhibitors, and sequestering agents. However, where the
cleaner chemistries differ is in the types of alkaline builders used to create the alkaline pH. Many older formulations and less expensive products use caustics, carbonates, phosphates, and silicates as their alkaline builders.
Figure 1. Hard residue of powdered alkaline builders Source: Idemitsu Lubricants America
While these are now commonly used in the liquid form, they are all powder based. The biggest issue with using powder based alkaline builders lies in the residue they leave behind when the water evaporates. These residues are the hard white residues seen in Figure 1.
Additionally, when the water evaporates from cleaners using these alkaline builders the residue can clog the spray nozzles within the washer cabinet. More recent formulations have begun using a product called an amine as an alkaline builder. Amines are liquids mixed with water. Therefore, when the water evaporates a liquid is still left behind. The film from an amine is more uniform, does not leave a powdery residue, and does not clog the spray nozzles in the washer cabinet. Additionally, amines have better buffering capabilities and help keep the pH of the cleaner in the mild pH range of between 9.0 and 10.5. When water is sprayed on a warm piece of steel, the water beads up and forms droplets.
The purpose of the surfactants in an alkaline cleaner is to prevent this from happening. The surfactants help the cleaner to wet out over the load more evenly. Surfactants also assist in the cleaning process by providing detergency to the cleaner. To provide short-term indoor corrosion protection, alkaline cleaners also have a short-term corrosion inhibitor formulated into the cleaner. This short-term protection is only intended to provide work-in-process protection. This protection is typically no more than a few days of protected indoor storage. Lastly, sequestering agents are used to allow the alkaline cleaners to be used in hard water. The sequestering agents chemically react with the minerals in hard water preventing them from precipitating out as hard water soaps and salts.
Alkaline cleaners can also be distinguished by those that emulsify the oils they remove and those that separate the oil they remove. In a typical dunk spray post quench washer, the load enters the washer and is lowered into the cleaner solution where the solution is agitated. The agitation allows the surfactants or detergents to provide the cleaning. During this period of agitation, the cleaner and quench oil combine to form a mechanical emulsion and potentially, a chemical emulsion. (The difference between a mechanical and chemical emulsion is a chemical emulsion is a more permanent emulsion and a mechanical emulsion stops when the mechanical agitation stops.) Once the mechanical agitation stops, a still period, or dwell, should then occur. This will allow the mechanically emulsified oil to separate from the cleaner solution. After this dwell period is over, an air knife or a set of nozzles will blow the oil layer into a separate chamber where the oil can be skimmed and removed from the cleaner solution. The elevator then brings the load up and out of the cleaner solution and into the spray cabinet. At this point it becomes highly imperative as much oil as possible is removed from the top of the cleaner solution. If the oil is not removed, the elevator will simply bring the load through a layer of oil, which is redeposited throughout the load. Once the load is in the spray cabinet, the cleaner solution is pumped through the spray nozzles onto the load. This spraying action is to remove any lingering soils and remaining oils. The solution pick-ups for these nozzles are typically in the middle portion of the dunk tank.
Designers of the equipment chose this spot because any free-floating oil will not be picked up and sprayed through the nozzles. For cleaners emulsifying oils the cleaner and oil emulsion is then sprayed and redeposited back onto the load. This will create issues in the temper where the water evaporates, and the oil left behind will create smoke and other vapors.
Figure 2. A 5% cleaner solution heated to 160°F was made of each cleaner to test oil separation abilities. Source: Idemitsu Lubricants America Corp.
For cleaners not emulsifying oils, the oil is not redeposited on the parts and the smoke and other vapors from emulsifying cleaners are greatly reduced or eliminated in temper. Figure 2 shows the difference between emulsifying and non-emulsifying cleaners.
While the source of alkalinity does not create smoke and other vapor issues in temper, the alkalinity source does create issues in temper and in the spray portion of the washer. In the temper, cleaners using alkaline builders such as caustics, carbonates, phosphates, and silicates will leave behind a white powder residue as seen in Figure 1. This residue is caused when the water in the cleaner solution evaporates and leaves behind the powder of the alkaline builders. Water evaporation in cleaners with powder alkaline builders will cause spray nozzles to clog and heating elements to foul. Cleaners using an amine as the alkaline builders do not have these issues. The difference in heating elements can be seen in Figure 3.
Selecting a Cleaner
Figure 3. Heating element comparison of an amine cleaner vs. powdered alkaline builder cleaner Source: Idemitsu Lubricants America
The proper selection of a cleaner can be the difference between a highly satisfied customer and a completely dissatisfied customer. The requirements for a cleaner are as follows:
• Part cleanliness that exceeds customer
expectations
• Long sump life
• No residue
• Ability to split quench oil from cleaner
• Rust-free parts
• Low foam
• Low to moderate pH
• Hard water stability
When selecting a cleaner, a heat treater typically has two opportunities to influence the overall part
cleanliness. The first opportunity lies before the heat treatment process begins with a precleaning step. The second opportunity is with the post quench cleaning operations. When choosing a cleaner for these operations it is important to know what soil will be removed during the cleaning. The answer to the post quench cleaning is obvious, a quench oil. However, the soils on the parts incoming to the heat treatment process vary greatly. These soils may include oil and water based rust preventatives, water soluble coolants, cutting oils, and mill oils.
Typically, the soils removed before the parts are placed into the furnace are easier to remove than the quench oil from the post quench washer. This allows for the same cleaner to be used in both operations. By using the same cleaner in both preclean washer and post quench washer, heat treaters don’t have to worry about purchasing two different cleaners or have the concern of mixing the cleaners by placing the incorrect cleaner in the wrong washer system.
Once the soils to be removed have been identified, the next criteria to look at in selecting a cleaner are the operating temperatures of the washer, the pH of the cleaner, and foaming characteristics of the cleaner. Typically, the foaming characteristics and the operating temperature of the washer are directly related.
The type of surfactants or detergent additive used in alkaline cleaners have a property called the cloud point. At operating temperatures below the cloud point, the cleaner will form a dense and heavy foam that inhibits the cleaning efficacy of the cleaner. At operating temperatures above the cloud point, the surfactants are soluble in water and work as detergents and do not create foaming. An operating temperature of 140°F–160°F is the ideal operating temperature to remain above the cloud point, maximize the efficacy of the detergents, and minimize foaming tendencies of the cleaner. The cloud point phenomena can be seen in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Demonstration of a surfactant cloud point Source: Idemitsu Lubricants America
The higher the pH the easier it is to clean many soils from the parts. The pH of a cleaner plays multiple roles in the parts cleaning process. A pH above 8.0 also helps provide corrosion protection on mild and carbon steels. However, as the pH climbs, skin sensitivity becomes an issue. At a high caustic pH such as 12 or above chemical burns on skin can occur. At lower pH levels of between 9 and 10.5, such as those provided by amine-based chemistry, skin sensitivity is greatly reduced.
Another advantage to amine-based chemistry lies in the lack of a perceptible residue that is often seen on parts after temper or around the washer itself. Figure 5 shows a typical part residue after temper from an emulsifying caustic cleaner. Figure 6 shows the residue found on a washer using a caustic cleaner.
Figure 5. Part residue using an emulsifying caustic cleaner Source: Idemitsu Lubricants America
Figure 6. Caustic alkaline cleaner residue Source: Idemitsu Lubricants America
In addition to leaving the residues seen in Figures 5 and 6, caustic cleaners also have the potential disadvantage of clogging spray nozzles when the water evaporates leaving behind the same type of residue in the spray nozzle. The clogged spray nozzles will then reduce the efficacy of not only the cleaner, but also the oil skimmer as well as the spray nozzles that are used to push the floating oil into the quenchant tank where floating oil is removed via an oil skimmer.
A cleaner should be compatible with hard water. In many areas the aquifers and wells where water is drawn from contain high amounts of minerals and salts. These hard water minerals and salts exacerbate any residue issues and create an ideal environment for rust and corrosion to begin. If the minerals and salts are left unchecked, they will eventually form chloride ions and mini voltaic cells. These mini voltaic cells are the beginning stages of the corrosion process. The sequestering agents in an alkaline cleaner will chemically react with the minerals and salts thereby not allowing the free chloride ions and the mini voltaic cells to form.
Using Data To Efficiently Operate a Washer
There are many reasons heat treaters dump and recharge their parts washers. The most common reasons typically are: “we dump the washer once a month because we always have”; “we dump the washer whenever the parts get dirty”; or “we never dump the washer.” Very infrequently is the answer “the soil loading is too high.” That is because to know what the soil loading is, the washer has to be operated by using data. Using data, heat treaters can optimize the efficacy of the cleaner solution, maximize the dump interval of the cleaner, reduce the amount of sludge in the washer, and lessen downtime.
The key in establishing a dump cycle is to know when the cleaner has reached its soil loading limit. Typically, this is around 2%. Soil loading is the amount of soil that is mixed in with the cleaner. The soil consists of a mixture of the soils removed, dissolved salts, and soaps along with anything else that makes its way into the washer. The 2% limit will be reached quicker in the post quench washer than in the preclean washer as more soil is removed in the post quench washer. In addition to soil loading, the proper data approach should also include the cleaner concentration by an alkalinity titration, concertation by Brix, tramp oil, cast iron chip rust test, and chloride level.
A brief explanation of each test and the reasons for performing the test are individually listed below.
pH
A good pH range is between 9.2 and 10.5. Within this range, most people coming into contact with the cleaner solution will not have an issue with skin sensitivity. At a pH above 10.5 skin sensitivity dramatically increases. As the pH begins to trend lower and eventually becomes acid below 7, the corrosion protection properties of the cleaner decline.
Concentration by Brix
This test measures everything that is dissolved within the cleaner solution. This includes salts, soaps, and removed soils. The Brix% is measured with a handheld refractometer reading in Brix%. The Brix% is then compared to a chart specific to the cleaner being tested. The Brix% will typically be higher than the concertation when tested via an alkalinity titration as the Brix% captures the amount of cleaner dissolved in water, along with salts, soaps, and removed soils. The concertation limits for the Brix% should have a maximum no more than 2.0% above the concentration by alkalinity.
Concentration by Alkalinity
This is a titration that can be performed in a lab or at the washer. A weak acid such as 0.1N HCl and an indicator such as phenolphthalein is used. The method and concentration multiplier depends on the specific cleaner used. Many methods count drops of acid used, while others use milliliters used to change the color of the indicator. The supplier of the cleaner will likely provide an initial concentration test kit and instructions on how to use the kit. A good concentration range for a preclean washer is between 2% and 3% and a post quench washer should have a concertation range of between 4% and 5%.
Soil Loading
The difference between the concentration by Brix% and concentration by alkalinity is the soil loading. This value should not exceed 2%. When the soil loading exceeds 2% it is time for a dump and recharge of the cleaner solution.
Tramp Oil
A tramp oil test measures the ability of the skimmer to effectively remove the quench oil from the top of the cleaner. This test is simple to run and can be run by most heat treaters. Simply fill a 100 ml graduated cylinder with the cleaner solution from either the preclean or post quench washer and allow the cylinder to stand idle for 20 minutes. Then simply read the amount of oil that has separated from the cleaner. A maximum level of 2% tramp oil shows the oil skimmer is effectively removing the tramp oi from the cleaner.
Cast Iron Chip Rust Test
Running the cast iron chip test requires dry machined cast iron chips and is best left to your cleaner supplier. The purpose of running the cast iron chip test is to ensure the corrosion protection formulated into the cleaner is not being depleted. This test uses a scale published by ASTM with a rating system of 0 to 5, where 5 is the worst and 0 is the best. To successfully pass this test a result of no more than 1 should be achieved. It is important to remember, cast iron chips have more surface area than a steel part and cast iron is also more porous and prone to oxidation than steel. Therefore, a test result of 1 is not a reason for concern.
Chloride
The chloride test is another test that is best left up to your cleaner supplier because the easiest way to test is through expensive instrumentation. The purpose of testing for chlorides is to prevent the situation for a mini voltaic cell to form. If the chloride level exceeds 150 ppm in a cleaner solution a mini voltaic cell can form and the corrosion process begins. As this process begins, the pH will begin to fall as will the corrosion protection of the cleaner.
In Table 1 several commercially available cleaners were tested and evaluated using the criteria above. The cleaners tested were both those that emulsified oils and split the oils. Testing also includes both amine-based and caustic-based cleaners.
Discussion
Imagine if the dump cycle went from four weeks for a post quench washer to 10 weeks for the same washer by using a data-driven approach described in this paper. The savings would not only be in the cost of the cleaner used but would extend to less downtime and more efficient use of maintenance as employees no longer need to clean out a washer every month. Customer expectations for clean parts have changed over the past years. What was acceptable as little as five years ago is no longer acceptable today. What hasn’t changed is the way preclean and post quench washers have operated. While it is difficult to assign an economic value to exceeding the cleanliness standards of customers, it is not difficult to assign an economic value to parts not meeting your customer’s standards. That economic cost can be as high as lost business. By using a data-driven approach the decisions made in how to operate a washer are no longer kneejerk reactions. Instead, these decisions have a historical data-driven approach to them.
About the Author: Greg Steiger is the senior key account manager of Idemitsu Lubricants America Corp. Previously, Steiger served in a variety of research and development, technical service, and sales marketing roles for Chemtool, Inc., Witco Chemical Corporation, D.A. Stuart, and Safety-Kleen. He obtained a BS in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago and recently earned a master’s degree in materials engineering at Auburn University. He is also a member of ASM. Contact Greg at gsteiger.9910@idemitsu.com.
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Vac-Met, Inc., a heat treater in the Midwest for 41 years, has been acquired by a North American commercial heat treater.
The addition of Vac-Met within the Solar Family of Companies will increase the total commercial vacuum heat treating and brazing facilities to a total of five (5) plants across the U.S. Their goals of providing commercial heat treating, primarily in a vacuum environment, aligns with Solar’s mission.
Joseph White will continue to head the day-to-day operations of Vac-Met’s nine (9) vacuum furnaces, while leading a team that he has built over the years. Joseph will report to Robert Hill, president of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA. Robert Hill states, "We look forward to continuing to provide unparalleled vacuum thermal processing services to Vac-Met’s valued customers while expanding Solar’s footprint. Solar is excited to support a dedicated and loyal employee base and welcome them to the Solar Team. Together, we will grow the business with unwavering commitment to honesty as our core value."
(Pictured left to right in the image above: Bob Hill, President, Solar Atmospheres of Western PA and Vac-Met; William Jones, Owner/CEO, Solar Family of Companies; Joe White, Vice President of Operations, Vac-Met)
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Heat Treat Today publishes eight print magazines a year and included in each is a letter from the publisher, Doug Glenn. This letter first appeared in Heat Treat Today's August 2022 Automotiveprint edition.
Doug Glenn Publisher and Founder Heat TreatToday
Many of us have worked in organizations where someone behind the scenes is an outstanding worker, never seeks the limelight, is always willing to help, is always cheerful, and is just simply a nice person. In my 30-some year work history, that person is Kathy Pisano.
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If you were fortunate enough to do business with Heat Treat Today's competitor, Industrial Heating, anytime between 1989 through the first quarter of 2022, you likely had the great privilege of dealing with Kathy. If so, you know what a pleasure she was to work with — the epitome of politeness and helpfulness. My favorite saying about Kathy is, “Look in the dictionary under ‘customer service excellence’ and you’ll see Kathy’s picture.” To this day, I hold Kathy Pisano as the gold standard of customer service, thoughtful salesmanship, and being a genuinely nice person.
Just recently, I learned that Kathy left Industrial Heating after over 35 years of dedicated and excellent service to both BNP Media, the company that owns Industrial Heating, and the heat treating industry. She left without fanfare, which may be the way she would have liked it, but far be it for me to allow Kathy to leave this industry without just a small amount of recognition — not nearly what she deserves, but at least a little bit!
Kathy Pisano: end of front row on right with the "Industrial Heating" team circa 2010-2014
Kathy and I worked together for 20 years, from 1994 until just shy of 2014 when I left BNP Media. Kathy was already working at Industrial Heating when I was hired to be their associate publisher in January of 1994. I was new to the publishing industry and Kathy, along with several others from the Industrial Heating team at that time, were exceptionally kind and patient. They helped me to learn the ropes. I vividly remember making some significant mistakes (one of them having to do with the printing of an industry map which turned out terribly), yet still I was embraced as part of the team by the likes of Kathy.
Before 1994, Kathy was hired to be the personal secretary to Chuck McClelland, the owner of Industrial Heating. In 1988 or 1989, Mr. McClelland sold Industrial Heating to Jim Henderson, the owner of Business News Publishing Company (now BNP Media). Dave Lurie, Jim Henderson’s right-hand person, quickly noticed Kathy’s potential for sales and moved her into an inside sales position.
That was a life-changing and fortunate move. Kathy found her niche and she continued in that same position until just months ago.
Kathy Pisano
Kathy grew up on Mt. Washington in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had the work ethic of a Pittsburgh steelworker: tough as nails, always diligent, always pushing forward even in the face of adversity. She is a glass-half-full type of person. The late Kelvin Spain from Radyne used to say something with which Kathy would agree — “If times are tough, we just have to work a little harder to get the business.” There was no moaning or complaining about tough times — only forward-looking hopefulness.
As with so many behind-the-scenes workers, Kathy’s impact on the heat treat industry can’t be measured. She has helped a huge number of companies promote themselves to the readers of Industrial Heating. Her kindness and helpfulness made countless lives more enjoyable and easier. And she had a wonderful time doing it.
For all of you who have known a Kathy in your lifetime, you know how important and undervalued Kathys are. I want you all to know that Kathy Pisano, although perhaps not a name you know, is one of those people. She’s made the North American heat treat market a better place and has enriched the lives of all the people with whom she’s communicated — especially mine.
Thank you, Kathy! Not only are we going to miss the fudge you brought to trade shows, but we’re also going to miss YOU! Here’s to many, many more “diamond days.”
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Heat Treat Todayoffers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry. Enjoy these 21 news bites that will help you stay up to date on all things heat treat.
Company Chatter
HarbisonWalkerInternational (HWI), a North American supplier of refractory products and services, announced that its new Alabama One (AL1) manufacturing facility for steel customers in the southern United States is on track to open before the end of 2022.
Solar Atmospheres of Western PA announced their newly designed vacuum oil quench furnace (VOQ) has passed startup protocol
On July 6, Solar Atmospheres hosted over 40 high school students enrolled in the Summer Engineering Institute (SEI) at Lehigh University. The SEI program is a two-week residential program. Students are nominated by faculty of local high schools, and the program specifically targets students who might have limited opportunities to study in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). They received a tour of the campus that emphasized cutting-edge technologies in heat treating and manufacturing.
Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT) announced the addition of UltraGlow® Induction Hardening at its location in Cullman, Alabama.
Pfeiffer Vacuum opened up a new 40,000 square foot facility May 13, 2022. This facility is located at 4037 Guion Lane, Indianapolis, IN.
New Solar Atmospheres of Western PA VOQ furnace
SEI students at Solar Atmospheres
Induction equipment now at AHT’s Alabama location
New Pfeiffer Vacuum system in Indianapolis
Personnel Chatter
Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT) announced that Chris Williams has joined as the new regional sales manager for its location in Cullman, AL.
Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) recently announced its 2022–2023 Board of Directors and Executive Officers. Serving as President is Jeff Valuck of Surface Combustion, Inc.; Vice-President is Brian Kelly of Honeywell Thermal Solutions; and Treasurer is Jeff Rafter of Selas Heat Technology Co. LLC. Scott Bishop of Alabama Power – a Southern Company assumes the Past President position.
IHEA welcomed to the Board of Directors Ben Gasbarre, the of Sales & Marketing for Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems, to the Board of Directors.
The Supervisory Board of Advanced Graphene Products has been formed, appointed by the Ordinary General Meeting on June 24, 2022. Peter Zawistowski, a graduate of the Częstochowa University of Technology, Kozminski University (MBA) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Executive Program in General Management), became the new chairman of the Supervisory Board. Peter has been the managing director of SECO/VACUUM operating in the American market since 2017.
The Plibrico Company, a supplier of monolithic refractories and installation services, is excited to announce and welcome Shawn Story as its new engineering manager.
Chris Williams, Regional Sales Manager, AHT
The 2022–2023 IHEA Board of Directors
n Gasbarre, Executive Vice President, Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems
Shawn Story, Engineering Manager, Plibrico Company
Kudos Chatter
Space-Lok, Inc. met the requirements of Nadcap accreditation and achieved approval for heat treating.
ALD Thermal Treatment, Inc.'s Port Huron facility received the General Motors Supplier Quality Excellence Award for outstanding quality performance for the 8th year in a row. Criteria for this award include zero official customer complaints for 12 months and quality performance of less than one defective part per million.
Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), a provider of heat treat services and metallurgical solutions, announced that it has renewed its Nadcap accreditation in heat treating (ion and gas nitriding) and passed its Aerospace Quality System (AC7004) audit. The company has also added additional AMS specifications to its scope: AMS2759/6 and AMS2759/12.
Braddock Metallurgical announced the renewal of a Nadcap accreditation at their Tampa, FL location. The administrator, , has also determined that the heat treater has gone beyond industry requirements and so earned Merit recognition.
SECO/WARWICK in India celebrated its fifth anniversary of its establishment in May, although they have been operating in that market since.
Metalex Thermal Specialties, a heat treat service provider, announced that it has achieved AS9100:2016 and ISO 9001:2015 certification for the quality management system implemented by its heat treating facility in Berthoud, CO.
Paulo’s Cleveland plant in Ohio has earned Honeywell approval for all HIP processing with no restrictions.
The MTI Educational Foundation announced that it awarded Eric Roth of Tucson, Arizona (University of Arizona) the $15,000 Founders Scholarship.
ITP Aero UK Limited was awarded their latest Nadcap certification for Heat Treating with full 24-month merit and accreditation length.
Maryam Razavipour, a senior engineer at Lumentum, was selected by the Heat Treating Society Board of ASM International for the 2022 HTS/Bodycote Best Paper Award for her paper, “Data-Driven Design Framework for Laser Heat Treatment Process of Cold Spray Coating.”
Nadcap accreditation for Space-Lok, Inc.
Supplier Quality Excellence Award for ALD Thermal Treatment, Inc.
Nadcap Merit recognition for Braddock Metallurgical Tampa, FL facility
Eric Roth, recipient of Founders Scholarship from MTI Educational Foundation
Maryam Razavipour, Sr. Engineer of Manufacturing Process Development, Lumentum
Heat Treat Today is pleased to join in the announcements of growth and achievement throughout the industry by highlighting them here on our News Chatter page. Please send any information you feel may be of interest to manufacturers with in-house heat treat departments especially in the aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy sectors to bethany@heattreattoday.com.
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Not every day is a wedding day, so what are the small goals that keep the needle moving forward? Karen Gantzer, associate publisher of Heat Treat Today, leans into this idea in her column about celebrating the "small wins" even as we rejoice in the grand moments of life.
This article first appeared inHeat Treat Today'sMay 2022 Induction Heating print edition. Feel free to contact Karen Gantzer at karen@heattreattoday.com if you have a question, comment, or any editorial contribution you’d like to submit.
Karen Gantzer Associate Publisher Heat TreatToday
Our youngest son will be getting married in two weeks and our third grandson is due to make his entry into the family in mid-May. These are huge celebrations to be sure, and Team Gantzer is excitedly anticipating these life-changing events with great joy.
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I’m sure we can all recall those worthy milestones that we recognized with the appropriate amount of fanfare and recognition. These celebrations are not only fun for the honorees but are also special for those doing the honoring. For the graduate or the one getting promoted, it’s an occasion to highlight the “how” and the “why” of the accolade. For the bride and groom, it’s the collective community sharing in the joy of love and family. The newborn child is representative of life and hope. And the celebration of a life well lived inspires us remaining to cherish each day, pivot if we need to, and look for the opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others.
These remarkable celebrations, though, have been paved with small nondescript victories — victories that may have come at a cost. But do we celebrate those small wins? Or ignore them because they’re not the prominent ones?
We surely don’t want to get into the mentality of the “participation trophy” that diminishes excellence and winners by celebrating every little jot and tittle of a project. But what about those rhythms that help to move the needle forward, whether it be the breakthrough in a particular relationship that was inhibiting growth or fine tuning a habit that needed attention and now will aid, instead of hinder, production? Don’t those deserve a happy dance, too?
"These remarkable celebrations, though, have been paved with small nondescript victories — victories that may have come at a cost. But do we celebrate those small wins?" --Karen Gantzer
Lately, I have been thinking of those small steps needed to make the big goals — earthly and spiritual — a reality and full of impact for not only ourselves, but also for others. It was a tribute, written by a granddaughter to the legacy of her Jesus-loving grandfather who recently passed away that gave me pause to consider how important the small things are in the journey. Here is a brief excerpt by Raechel Myers about Richard Pennington: “The legacy he leaves is the one I hope to someday leave as well: he was a man whose life and rhythms were shaped around his relationship with Christ. Certain things were fixed in his days and weeks and everything else had to earn its way in.”
“[And] everything else had to earn its way in.” I have read and re-read her tribute many times and I keep coming back to this one part. What/who is shaping my life? What things are fixed? And what is already in my life that should have had to earn its way in?
The answers to these questions are important as we set goals and prepare for success. Whether it’s a business or personal goal, remember to assess the small wins along the way and celebrate them as heartily as the major ones, for they bring life and contribute to a rich legacy.
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Heat Treat Radio host, Doug Glenn, and several otherHeat Treat Today team members sit down with long-time industry expert Dan Herring, The Heat Treat Doctor® of the HERRING GROUP, to finish the conversation about mill processes and production. Enjoy this third informative Lunch & Learn with Heat Treat Today.
Below, you can watch the video, listen to the podcast by clicking on the audio play button, or read an edited transcript.
The following transcript has been edited for your reading enjoyment.
Dan Herring (DH): When it comes to heat treating, the mill will do what we typically call ‘basic operations.’ They will anneal the material and, if you’ll recall, annealing is a softening operation (it does other things, but we will consider it, for the purpose of this discussion, a softening operation) so that the steel you order from the mill will be in a form that you can then manufacture a product from. You can machine it, you can drill it, you can bend it and things of this nature.
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There are various forms and various types of steel that can be ordered directly from the mill. So, the mill typically does annealing operations and normalizing operations. The difference between annealing and normalizing is that annealing has a slower cooling rate than normalizing does.
In the aluminum industry, we don’t talk about normalizing but talk about homogenizing. Homogenizing is to aluminum what normalizing is to steel; it’s a crude analogy, but it’s true. The mill can do other processes; they can do other heat treatments, they can do specialized rolling and things of this nature to give you enhanced mechanical properties. In today’s world, there is a lot of what we call “custom” or “specialty mills” that can manufacture very specialized products. There are mills that primarily make pipe and tube, there are mills that make primarily wire, there are mills that make primarily strip. There are some very customer-specialized mills out there. In general, a mill will produce most of the type of products that we see or use in industry (or the steel for those products), and they will make it in a form that is usable for the end user and heat treated to a condition where the end user can make a product with it. Now, obviously, once you make a product, you may then have to further heat treat that product, for example, to harden it or to give it certain characteristics that you need. We’ll talk about those things in later discussions about this.
What I did want to talk about is the types of steel that are produced by the mills. I’ll do this, hopefully, in a very, very broad context, but I think it will make sense to everybody. Again, metallurgists aren’t known too much for their creativity, so we start out with something called carbon steel. Very original. There is low carbon steel, medium carbon steel and high carbon steel. Low carbon steel has low carbon, medium carbon steel has medium carbon, and a high carbon steel has high carbon.
Now, to be more serious, a low carbon steel typically has less than or equal to 0.3% carbon, or less than 0.3% carbon. A medium carbon steel has between .3% carbon and .6% carbon, and a high carbon steel is greater than .6% carbon. An example of a medium carbon steel might be a 1050 or 1055 grade of steel. Those are commonly used for stampings, for example. So, all of your seatbelt, both the tongue and the receptacle are made of a 1050/1055 steel and they’re austempered to give them both strength and toughness so that in an accident, the buckle won’t shatter because it’s hard but brittle and it won’t bend abnormally and therefore release because it has inherent toughness.
So, there are various things you do with these carbon steels in the heat treat mill to enhance their properties. Carbon steels are used because they’re low cost and they’re produced in tremendous quantities. If you went to a hardware store and bought a piece of steel, it is very likely it will be a simple carbon steel.
On the other hand, we also make alloy steels and, interestingly enough, there are low alloy steels, medium alloy steels, and guess what, high alloy steels. Again, metallurgists are very creative with their names. But idea here is you get higher strength than a carbon steel, a little better wear resistance and toughness, you get a little better corrosion resistance, for example, you might even get some specialized electrical properties and things like this.
But low carbon steel, just to go back to that for a minute, as I said, is produced in huge quantities. Examples are steel for buildings, steel for bridges, steel for ships. We learned our lesson, by the way, with the Titanic; we got the steel right this time. The problem with that steel, by the way, was high in sulfur which embrittled it, interestingly enough, in cold water. So, when it hit the iceberg, the steel shattered because it was brittle because it had too much sulfur. But we learned our lesson.
Titanic, 1912 Source: Wikipedia
There are also various construction materials; anything from a wire that’s used in fencing to automotive bodies to storage tanks to different devices.
When you get into medium carbon steels, because they have a little better strength and a little better wear resistance, you can use them for forgings, you can use them for high strength castings. So, in other words, if you’re producing gears or axles or crank shafts, you might want to consider a medium carbon steel, or seatbelt components as we talked about.
Then there is the family of high carbon steels. Again, they can be heat treated to give you extremely high hardness and strength. Now, they’re obviously more expensive than medium carbon or low carbon steels, but when you’re making knives and cutlery components, (knives and scissors, for example), when you’re making springs, when you’re making tools and dyes. Railroad wheels are another example of something that might be made out of a high carbon steel. As a result of this, the type of product that your company is producing, means that you’re going to order a certain type of steel that you can use to make your product and give it the longevity or the life that your customers are expecting.
One of the things about steel that differentiates it from aluminum: Aluminum has a very good strength to weight ratio. But so again does steel, but obviously the strength to weight ratio, the weight is specifically much more, from that standpoint. But we can take steels that we produce from the mill, and we can do processes like quench and temper them. If we do that, we can make things like pressure vessels, we can make the bodies of submarines, for example, we can make various pressurized containers and things.
Stainless steel pots Source-Justus Menke at Unsplash.com
There are a lot of different things we can do with steels to enhance the products that we’re producing. Besides just low carbon steel or carbon steels and alloy steels, we then can go into the family of stainless steels, for example. Most people think of stainless steels as being corrosion resistant. I’ll warn you that not all stainless steels, however, are corrosion resistant; some of them can corrode in certain medias or chemicals, if you will. But with stainless steels, a good example of that is food processing containers or piping or things that will hold food or food products, and again, we can make with stainless steels a variety of different products. We can make different components for buildings, for example, or for trim components and things.
Besides stainless steels, of course, we can make tool steels. Now, tool steels represents a very, very high alloy steel. The alloying content of tool steels is typically 30 to maybe 50% alloying elements: molybdenum and vanadium and chromium and these types of materials. As a result, we can make a lot of dyes and we can make a lot of cutting tools, we can make taps and other devices that are used to machine other metals, if you will. So, tool steels have a lot of application.
But there are a lot of specialty steels that are made by the mills, as well. One example of that, that I like to talk about or think about, is spring steels because you can make various things like knives and scraper blades, putty knives, for example, besides cutlery knives. You can make reeds for musical instruments, the vibrating instruments in the orchestra, if you will. You can make springs and you can make tape measures, tapes and rules and things of this nature out of these various spring steels, if you will.
Depending on what your end-use application is, the bottom line here is that whatever your end-use application is, there is a particular type of steel that you should be using and there is a form of that steel that you can use. Again, those steels can be produced by a variety of different processes; they can be forged, they can be rolled, hot and cold rolled, again. And when I’m talking about hot rolling, I’m talking about temperatures in typically the 1800-degree Fahrenheit to 2200/2300-degree Fahrenheit range. When I talk about hot rolling, the metal is, indeed, hot, if you will.
By the way, roughly, iron will melt at around 2800 degrees Fahrenheit, just to give you a perspective on that, if you will.
The key to all this is that the form that is produced by the mill meets the needs of their customers and their customers’ applications. If you need a plate, for example, they will produce plate in various sizes and thicknesses.
Rolling direction Source: Barnshaws Group
By the way, just a quick note, and this is for all the heat treaters out there: Be careful of the rolling direction in which the plate was produced. We have found that if you stamp or cut component parts out of a plate with the rolling direction, or transverse or across the rolling direction, you can get vastly different properties out of the products. It’s amazing that you can get tremendous distortion differences from heat treated products depending on the rolling direction. If you’re stamping or forming out of a plate, you’re transverse or in line with the rolling direction. Most people don’t even think of that. They take the plate, they move it into the stamping machine, and they could care less about the rolling direction. Then, when the poor heat treater does his heat treating and distorts all the parts, the man comes back and says, “What’s wrong?”
By the way, that little example took only nine years of my life to solve. We had some, what are called, "springs" that are the backing on a knife. When you open a knife blade, there is a member that it’s attached to called a spring. Those springs were distorting horribly after being oil-quenched in an interval quench furnace. It happened to be a conversation around the coffee machine where one of the guys made the comment that, “You know, it’s really funny, we never had problems with distortion until we got that new stamping machine in.” Low and behold, in investigating it, the old machine took the plate in one direction, the new machine had to take the plate in a different direction and it rotated. . . . End result.
So, I guess for everybody listening, the key to this is that no matter what the material is that’s being produced, we need to use it sometimes in its cast form, we need to use it sometimes in its finished forms, which again can be bar and sheet and plate and wire and tube and things of this nature. And to get those shapes, we need to do things like hot and cold rolling, we need to do forging, we need to do operations like piercing to actually produce rings and things of this nature. So, although I didn’t go all the details about that, there is a lot of information out there about it. I wanted to set the stage for it to say that it’s the end-use application by the customer that fuels the type of steel being produced and fuels the form in which the steel is produced.
Perhaps as a last comment, on my end anyway, at this point, is the fact that a mill is a business just like anyone else’s business. We’re always looking for ways to cut costs, (not cut corners, but reduce cost), and mills have found that in the old days — and the old days weren’t necessarily the “good old days” — a mill made everything; they made all types of steel, they made all types of shapes and forms. But today, a lot of mills are saying it’s not economical to produce that particular type of steel or that particular form of steel, so we’ll leave that steel production to someone else, and we’ll only concentrate on high volume production.
You know, it’s very producing steel, a typical heated steel (and people will probably correct me on this), is somewhere in the order to 330,000 pounds of steel. So, if you’re a small manufacturer and don’t happen to need 330,000 pounds of steel, you have to go to a distributor and, more or less, maybe compromise a little bit to get the steel that you need. But the mills are producing large quantities of steel and very specialty steel grades, in general, today.
Doug Glenn (DG): It’s essentially specialization of labor so it helps keep each individual mill’s cost down, but it doesn’t have the variety it used to.
Let’s open up for questions, really quick. I’ve got one if nobody has one, but I hope somebody else has one. So, fire away if you’ve got one.
Carbon steel gate valve Source: Matmatch
Bethany Leone (BL): When you said that, Doug, my question jumped out of my head. I had 3 questions though but the ones I remember aren’t that important. One is — I recently visited an old blast furnace in Pittsburgh, Carrie Blast Furnaces; everybody should go, if you’re in the Pittsburgh area), so some of this sounds familiar. The second thing I was wondering is just how high can the carbon percentages go in carbon steels, .6%+, right?
DH: Yes, greater than .6%, and it’s not uncommon for carbon in various types of steels to go over 1%. It typically can go in certain tool steels and things higher than that. But one of the things that differentiates a steel from a cast iron is the percentage of carbon in the material. And carbon over 2% is considered a cast iron as opposed to a steel. Steel has a carbon percentage from .008 all the way up to 2%. That’s a great question and something to be aware of. When you buy a cast iron skillet, for example, you’re getting a material that has greater than 2% carbon in it.
BL: The other question I had is sort of more on the business end, if you know any of this, is- with the high energy that it takes to process iron, I imagine there have been efforts to try to reduce costs to produce energy that’s used to be a technology and innovation and especially right now with many people concerned with sustainability in those practices, are there ways that maybe even clients have influenced how businesses iron manufacturers in the iron manufacturing world have been trying to keep those environmental loads down, do you know?
DH: That’s a very intriguing question. I don’t have all the facts and information on it, but I’ll share a few things. As opposed to the production of aluminum, which is primarily using electricity, steel production uses typically natural gas. There were, in the old days, oil-fired equipment and things of this nature but today it’s typically gas-fired furnaces and things of this nature. Now, I have to be careful when I say that because some of the steel refining methods, (for example, the vacuum arc remelting furnaces and things of this nature), again, use carbon electrodes and use electricity, if you will, in the process. But essentially, what they’re trying to do is they’re trying to, for example, capture waste heat and reuse it to preheat different materials and processes and things of this nature, and they’re using methods that are trying to make the overall equipment more energy-friendly; if you will, better insulations, better fit of components than the old days when they didn’t care too much about if we got heat pouring out into the shop, we don’t care. Today, we really care about those things.
But steelmaking, again — for a different reason than aluminum — is a very energy intensive process; it uses a lot of energy to produce steel.
I’ll make a quick comment also, and I’m not saying this especially from anyone internationally who happens to be listening in to this: I’m not saying this is an “America only” comment, if you will, but in 1900, the largest industry, the largest company in the U.S. was U.S. Steel. United States Steel was the number one most profitable company in the country. If you think about it, throughout what would be the 20th century, steel and steel production has fueled, if you will, the American economy. We’ve since transitioned to other more angelic materials, if I can use that phrase; I won’t define it. However, who do you think produces over 50% of the world’s steel today? Anyone want to guess?
DG: The U.S.?
DH: No! China. And where is the manufacturing growth taking place? So, the production of aluminum, the production of steel, fuels manufacturing is my message here.
Yes, there are environmental consequences, but I often use the phrase and, again, this is not intended to be insultive to any one country, but for all the recycling, for all the energy saving, for all the environmental progress we can make in the United States, if we could reduce coal consumption in China (and India, of course), it would have major, major impact on the environment. And that’s not having 100-year-old steel mills, like we have here in the U.S., will go a long way, if you will.
DG: I’m going to give you 30 seconds, Dan, to answer one more question, okay? Here’s the question: Aluminum doesn’t rust, most steels do. Why is that?
DH: In simple terms, because aluminum reforms an aluminum oxide on the surface and that oxide is impenetrable, virtually, to further oxidation, whereas iron produces an iron oxide on the surface in the form of rust, it flakes off and you can reoxidize the surface. Now, there are steels — core10 is an example — self-rusting steels, that once they rust, they don’t reoxidize, but that’s the basic difference, Doug, between them.
DG: Perfect, perfect.
Alright guys. Thank you very much, Dan. I appreciate it. We’re going to get you on deck for another one here pretty soon on another topic, but we appreciate your expertise.
DH: Always a pleasure and, as I’ve said, I’ve reduced 3,000 pages into 30 minutes so hopefully people that are interested will read up more on these processes.
An international automotive conglomerate has selected a controlled atmosphere brazing line for their newly established factory in Mexico. The heat treat system will be used to process EV batteries.
5th CAB line for global automotive manufacturer
Piotr Skarbiński Vice President of Aluminum and CAB Products Segment SECO/WARWICK Source: LinkedIn
While this is the 5th CAB line that SECO/WARWICK has provided to the manufacturer, this specific heat treat system --- the EV/CAB line --- is designed with the electric vehicle (EV) sector in mind to braze large-size car battery coolers for the EV industry. The system includes a brazing furnace, convection preheating chamber, cooling chamber with air jacket, final cooling chamber, and control system.
"This is the customer’s first order outside the Asian market," commented Piotr Skarbiński, vice president of Aluminum and CAB Products Segment at SECO/WARWICK. He continued, saying, "We are glad [to] be involved in this project." SECO/WARWICK will commission this solution and execute the start-up on-site.
This solution is provided within the global context of increased demand for battery coolers due to the growing production of electric vehicles.
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We get it. You read all day: emails, memos, furnace monitoring screens. To give your eyes a break, Heat Treat Today wanted to provide some grab and go visual resources. In this original content piece, check out some visuals to help you learn about the difference between Nitriding and FNC; discover how the U.S. is doing in the race to green steel production; and get an example of the type of numbers that are normal for a CQI-9 probe method A test.
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