The leading global provider of jet and turboprop engines, parts and mechancial systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft recently submitted its final Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) proposal to the U.S. Army.
GE Aviation offers its XT901-GE-900 engine for the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP), the U.S. Army’s endeavor to re-engine its Boeing AH-64 Apaches and Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawks. The U.S. Army is also expecting the ITEP engine to meet Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft requirements for Future Vertical Lift (FVL).
Through continuous upgrades and technology advancements, GE has doubled the power of derivative engines in the T700 family over its lifetime and reduced its cost to the government by 50 percent. GE’s XT901 turboshaft design, manufacturing, assembly and testing will be supported by the following site locations: Lynn, Massachusetts; Auburn, Alabama; Huntsville, Alabama; Norwich, Connecticut; Newark, Delaware; Loves Park, Illinois; Jacksonville, Florida; Madisonville, Kentucky; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Muskegon, Michigan; Hooksett, New Hampshire; Asheville, North Carolina; West Chester, Evendale, and Dayton, Ohio; and Rutland, Vermont.
The leading manufacturer of rolled aluminum products recently broke ground on the expansion of its automotive aluminum manufacturing facility in Changzhou, China, where the facility will double its capacity of heat-treated aluminum sheet.
Satish Pai, Managing Director of Hindalco Industries, the parent company of Novelis Inc.
Novelis, Inc., hosted members of the community, customers and government officials in the groundbreaking ceremony launching the $180 million investment to increase capacity by 100,000 metric tons in order to better meet the growing demand for automotive aluminum in Asia. The facility will be equipped with a high-speed slitter and a fully automated packaging line. The project is scheduled to be complete in 2020 in order to align with key customer’s vehicle-launch plans.
“As market demand for lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles continues to grow, Novelis will play a critical role in supporting the next generation of automotive innovation and design,” said Satish Pai, Managing Director of Hindalco Industries, the parent company of Novelis Inc. “This expansion reinforces our steadfast commitment to our customers and communities, and reaffirms our continued confidence in this ever-growing market.”
A U.S. steel producer recently announced the completion of the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of a manufacturer of special bar quality (SBQ) alloy and carbon steel bar flats.
Glenn Pushis, Senior Vice President, Long Products Steel Group
The assets of Kentucky Electric Steel acquired by Steel Dynamics are located outside of Ashland, Kentucky, and are comprised of a rolling mill with an annual capacity of 250,000 tons. The operations were closed earlier this year by the prior owner, and Steel Dynamics plans to reopen the rolling mill in November 2018. The facility will be operated as part of Steel Dynamics’ Steel of West Virginia (“SWVA”) operations, which is located within 20 miles of Ashland. The acquisition will provide product diversification for SWVA through the addition of flats and specialty alloy bars.
“KES has been a loyal customer of our SWVA and Roanoke Bar divisions,” said Glenn Pushis, Senior Vice President, Long Products Steel Group. “We believe that the complementary product offerings will provide value to our customers. We currently anticipate that roughly 100,000 to 150,000 tons of billets will be shipped each year from our long products steel mills to be further processed at Ashland, providing additional value-added capability and higher through-cycle utilization for our steel mills.”
A leading metal additive manufacturing (AM) group based in Chicago recently announced that it will deliver large-scale metal 3D printing system to a supplier of highly engineered AM solutions.
Sciaky, Inc., a subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries, Inc. (PSI) will deliver an industry-leading Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM®) 110 System to Burloak Technologies, a division of Samuel, Son and Co., Limited, which delivers high quality, lightweight, fully functional additive manufactured parts for a range of industries including space, aerospace, defense, energy, medical, automotive, and transportation.
Peter Adams, co-founder and president of Burloak Technologies.
“Using traditional subtractive processes, such as forging and machining, the production of titanium parts of this size could take one year while generating a significant amount of waste,” said Peter Adams, co-founder and president of Burloak Technologies. “Our EBAM 110 system will allow us to manufacture the same large-scale titanium structural parts in a matter of days. We are already engaged with several aerospace end-users who have started the qualification process with us.”
Scott Phillips, president and CEO of Sciaky, Inc.
“Sciaky’s EBAM systems are the most widely sold large-scale metal 3D printing system in the world, having qualified parts on land, sea, air, and space applications,” said Scott Phillips, president and CEO of Sciaky, Inc. “The innovators at Burloak Technologies will leverage the numerous benefits of EBAM to produce faster and cheaper parts for their customers all across the globe.”
A July 2019 delivery is scheduled for this EBAM system.
This is the second of three articles by metallurgist Marc Glasser on three individual heat resistant alloys. This article will feature RA330®. Please submit your questions about heat-resistant alloys for Marc to editor@heattreattoday.com.
RA330® is a nickel alloy containing 35% nickel, 19% chromium, and 1.2% silicon. Over the years, it has become one of the most widely used wrought heat-resistant alloys due to the combination of its versatility, availability, properties, and cost-effectiveness.
The Chemistry of RA330
The chemistry of RA330 is shown below in Table 1.
There are several important benefits to this alloy including:
Oxidation resistance up to 2100°F
Usable creep resistance up to 1850°F
Utility up to 2100°F when there are no loads applied and some deflection can be tolerated
Resistance to many heat treating atmospheres including carburizing and nitriding
Sufficient nickel content to prevent sigma phase formation and embrittlement
The oxidation resistance of various alloys is shown in Table 2 below¹.
Table 2: Oxidation limits of various materials.
The oxidation limit for RA330 is higher than that of any stainless steel, comparable to alloy 600, and only exceeded by nickel alloys with much higher nickel content.
RA330 Creep Strength
Table 3² shows the creep strength required to produce 1% strain in 10,000 hrs.
The creep strength of RA330 is better than all heat-resistant stainless steel grades except RA 253 MA. It is comparable to alloy 600 but less than the higher nickel alloys 601, RA333, and RA 602 CA. When comparing the economics of RA330 with those of the more expensive nickel alloys, RA330 often has enough creep strength for many heat treating applications and is often the most economical option. There are companies who use RA330 above 1800°F and sometimes as high as the 2100°F oxidation limit. They compensate for the very low creep strength at these temperatures by using braces such as gussets or supports. These supports may be made of ceramic or a different alloy with significantly higher creep strength at this temperature.
Strength Variables and Value
One of the excellent attributes of RA330 is its ability to resist the various atmospheres used in surface or case hardening operations. Thermodynamically, the formation of nickel carbides and nitrides are not favored. With 35% nickel, RA330 has sufficient nickel content to resist carburization, nitriding, and combinations of both. The alloy is not immune to surface hardening, just resistant. The length of resistance time is a function of the process and process variables. For example, field experience shows that 310 muffles used in carburizing atmospheres can completely carburize in as little as 1 month, especially at high temperatures. After that, the material is brittle and can rupture easily. Often, the usable life will be between 1 and 3 months depending on process temperature. A corresponding RA330 muffle under the same atmosphere will last up to 1 year.
Stainless steels are subject to sigma phase formation and embrittlement. Sigma phase is an intermetallic phase that consists of iron and chromium. It precipitates between approximately 1100 and 1600°F. Sigma phase does not embrittle materials at these relatively high temperatures, but at room temperature, sigma phase can reduce charpy impact values to single digits. One sudden impact can cause catastrophic failure. RA330, with 35% nickel, has enough nickel to prevent sigma phase formation.
Applications of RA330
RA330 is available from stock in many product forms. In addition to the traditional plate, sheet, and round bar, RA330 is also available in expanded metal, pipe, and hexagonal nuts. Round bar can quickly be turned into threaded bar. The ability to draw on all these items from stock make RA330 the ideal alloy for maintenance and repair.
RA330 is resistant to thermal fatigue. This property lends RA330 to be the wrought alloy of choice for alloy fixtures and baskets that require quenching a least once a day.
For all of these reasons, RA330 is often an excellent choice for heat treating applications. It has good oxidation resistance, good resistance to case hardening atmospheres, no sigma phase formation, and thermal fatigue resistance. It is available from stock in many forms and sizes. RA330 may not always be the best solution, but often it is the solution that works best.
One of the few atmospheres in which RA330 is not a good choice is sulfur. Like other nickel alloys, the nickel forms a nickel-sulfur intermetallic at a low temperature. In such environments, a lower nickel stainless steel such as 309 or 310 is often a better choice.
RA330® is a trademark of Rolled Alloys.
1. Glasser, Marc, “Selecting an Appropriate Heat-Resistant Alloy,” Industrial Heating. September 2014: 59-65.
2. Condensed from “High-Temperature Environments: Alloy Properties,” https://www.rolledalloys.com/technical-resources/environments/high-temperature/
Marc Glasser is Director of Metallurgical Services at Rolled Alloys and is Heat TreatToday‘s resident expert in process metallurgy, heat treatment, materials of construction, and materials science and testing.
North America’s leading supply chain exhibition and conference for advanced ceramic and glass materials, manufacturing and technologies, is gearing up for their 2019 event, bringing together manufacturers and engineers from across the medical, automotive, electronics, aerospace and defense, and energy sectors to source new materials and technologies, network with like-minded professionals, and discuss the challenges and opportunities in the ceramic industry.
from Ceramics Expo 2018
Now in its fifth year, Ceramics Expo, to be held April 30-May 1, 2019, will once again host more than 300 leading global manufacturers and suppliers from across the supply chain. Running concurrently with the exhibition is Conference @ Ceramics Expo, where over 60 speakers will share their technical expertise in ceramics and provide real-world case studies, new technologies, and materials, along with information on industry trends.
Ceramics Expo provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity to hear the latest advancements in ceramic materials, technologies, manufacturing, gain an in-depth view of the ceramic materials markets, the latest innovations and R&D for commercialization, manufacturing and technological solutions, challenges and future requirements, alongside a 300-vendor supply chain exhibition.
The free-to-attend conference will run alongside the main exhibition and is specially designed for engineers and decision makers from OEMs and Tier 1s in the automotive, aerospace/defense, medical, electronics, industrial, energy, and communication industries.
Why you should attend the conference:
Gain a 360° view of the ceramic materials market: new material formulations, future material requirements of end-user markets and material challenges
Find solutions to technology development and implementation, cost reduction and scaling-up of manufacturing processes
Benefit from in-depth insights into new ceramic material properties, performance, applications, and efficiencies
Discover the latest innovative ceramic R&D for commercialization
Learn the latest innovative forming processes for unique geometries and high surface area parts
Optimize your manufacturing processes through microstructure and multiscale modeling
New for 2019:
Supply chain exhibition with 300+ exhibiting companies
Two-track manufacturing and applications conference
B2B meetings connecting exhibitors with key buyers
Complimentary networking receptions
Ceramics Expo 2019 will take place at the I-X Center, Cleveland, Ohio, from Tuesday, April 30, to Wednesday, May 1, 2019, with a gala reception and networking event for exhibitors and VIPs, on Monday, April 29.
For more information, visit Ceramic Expo 2019’s page: http://www.ceramicsexpousa.com/
The call for speakers is open. If interested, click here: http://www.ceramicsexpousa.com/conference/call-for-speakers
As representatives from the heat treat industry gather over the next couple of days in Indianapolis, Indiana, for Furnaces North America 2018, Heat Treat Todayis offering two new resources for attendees to peruse in between meetings or sessions — and for those not in attendance, there’s no need to feel left out because one of these resources is digital.
Today, Monday, October 8, 2018, Heat Treat Today launches its digital edition of the inaugural Heat Treat Today publication, with the physical edition to be distributed on Tuesday, October 9, 2018, at FNA.
While “the melting pot of the best minds in heat treating” brings you multiple opportunities for networking, valuable technical sessions presented by industry experts, and an exhibitor’s hall with over 170 suppliers ready to help you, Heat Treat Today promises to enhance your FNA experience with the following features:
Our inaugural 40 Under 40 Class of 2018, highlighting 40 enthusiastic, forward-thinking, skilled professionals who have made a mark on the heat treating industry before their 41st birthday (plus 10 Honorable Mentions)
101 Heat TreatTips — troubleshooting, preventative, green initiatives, safety reminders, time savers — from experts representing all facets of the heat treating industry.
A round-up of NewsChatteritems featuring personnel and company news, equipment transactions, acquisitions and expansions, and kudos — what have your colleagues been up to in the last few months?
A selection of Technical Tuesday articles that examine the how, what, why, and when of a variety of heat treating operations.
Heat Treat Shop — where the buying and selling begins
You don’t have to wait for the print edition to read the new Heat TreatToday publication!
Heat Treat Today is very pleased to present the inaugural 40 Under 40 Class of 2018. These enthusiastic, forward-thinking, skilled professionals are part of the reason the future of this industry is bright. We invite you to click to our newly unveiled page and read how this inaugural class is breaking barriers, saying yes to challenges, resolving the impossible, and reinforcing the culture of hard work and customer service.
Have a young professional in mind who should have been included? The nomination page will remain live to begin receiving submissions for the 40 Under 40 Class of 2019. Do it now!
And if you’re at FNA next week, visit us at Booth #505 and pick up a copy of the Heat Treat Today inaugural print edition with the 40 Under 40 featured, as well as 10 Honorable Mentions, and many more articles pertinent to our industry such as:
101 Heat Treat Tips
Samplings from our Technical Tuesday and News Chatter features
Heat Treat Shop listings
If you can’t make it to FNA, on Monday, October 8, 2018, a digital version of the print edition will be released online and through the Heat Treat Today e-newsletter.
Thanks to all those who nominated individuals for this inaugural 40 Under 40 Class of 2018.
An iron casting foundry located in Hubbard, Ohio, is expanding into aluminum casting with an aluminum slab and billet plant at its current site.
Ellwood Engineered Castings is investing $60 million to house its new Ellwood Aluminum division to serve customers in the aerospace and other industries.
A Baker’s Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current
Heat Treat Today offers News Chatter, a feature highlighting representative moves, transactions, and kudos from around the industry.
Personnel and Company Chatter
John Hubbard, P.E., has been awarded the 2018 Distinguished Alumni of the year award from Cleveland State University’s Washkewicz College of Engineering, which has provided a tradition of high-quality undergraduate and graduate education in engineering and engineering technology. Hubbard recently joined Calvert Street to form Thermal Process Holdings to create a new North American heat treating group.
Paulo is pleased to announce the promotion of two employees to new roles in the company. Scott Herzing, a 20-year company veteran who most recently was Manager of Project Engineering, will take over as Vice President of Engineering. And Jessica Sickmeier, who had been Director of Human Resources Development, has been promoted to Vice President of Human Resources.
Contour Hardening, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, is proud to announce the appointment of Ben Crawford as its new CEO and President. The appointment, which became official on July 30, 2018, follows the recent passing of Contour Hardening’s founder, CEO and President, John Storm.
The National Tooling and Machining Association, based in Cleveland, Ohio, has announced the appointment of Dean Bartles, PhD, as their new president, succeeding Dave Tilstone, who is retiring after serving as president since 2010. Bartles brings almost four decades of experience in the manufacturing sector, most recently as the director of the John Olson Advanced Manufacturing Center at the University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH). Previously, Bartles served as a president of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, president of the North American Manufacturing Research Institute, founding executive director of the Digital Manufacturing & Design Innovation Institute, and founding chairman of the Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition.
Kristopher R. Westbrooks was recently named as executive vice president and chief financial officer to succeed current CFO Christopher J. Holding at TimkenSteel Corp., based in Canton, Ohio. Westbrooks joined the company in this new role on September 24, 2018.
Jim Feltner, vice president of sales and marketing with FPM Heat Treating, in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, was recently honored with an Entrepreneurial Excellence Award from the Daily Herald Business Ledger, nominated by Tom Merrick.
Scott Herzing joins Paulo.
Jessica Sickmeier joins Paulo.
Ben Crawford, new CEO and President of Contour Hardening
NTMA new president Dean Bartles, Ph.D.
Kristopher R. Westbrooks, executive vice president and chief financial officer, TimkenSteel Corp
Jim Feltner of FPM Heat Treating honored with Entrepreneurial Excellence Award.
Equipment Chatter
A Warrington, PA, furnace manufacturer recently delivered a large dual chamber unit to a metal stamping manufacturer in the Midwest. Lucifer Furnaces built Model HL82-P24, a hardening furnace over tempering oven, as a space-saving combination for multipurpose heat treating. The upper hardening chamber heats to 2300°F with 6.5” multilayer insulation throughout the chamber.
A vacuum furnace heat exchanger cleaning process has been developed by Souderton, PA, company Solar Atmospheres, involving a 12-hour soak submerged in a suitable tub using a water base cleaning agent. Recirculated forced water jets wash out the accumulated dirt from deep inside the heat exchanger. It is then pressure washed and blown dry with nitrogen gas. The heat exchanger is cleaned to an as new condition and then returned to the user.
A global manufacturer recently purchased a second vacuum furnace from SECO/VACUUM, a SECO/WARWICK company, for its US-based manufacturing operations. This second furnace, a vacuum temper furnace for tempering and stress relieving metal parts, is part of the company’s new US-based manufacturing expansion and becomes a centerpiece in a new processing line for the company.
An electrically heated annealing furnace was recently shipped to a firearms manufacturer to be used for annealing an assortment of brass and bronze firearm caps. Wisconsin Oven Corporation provided this conveyor furnace with a maximum temperature rating of 1,400° F (760° C) and a normal operating temperature of 572° to 1,202° F (300° to 650° C).
Lucifer Furnaces LLC recently delivered a large dual chamber unit to a metal stamping manufacturer.
A vacuum furnace heat exchanger cleaning process has been developed by Souderton, PA, company Solar Atmospheres, involving a 12-hour soak submerged in a suitable tub using a water base cleaning agent.
A global manufacturer recently purchased a second vacuum furnace from SECO/VACUUM, a SECO/WARWICK company, for its US-based manufacturing operations.
Wisconsin Oven Corporation recently shipped an electrically heated annealing furnace to a firearms manufacturer.
Kudos Chatter
On 24 September, at the Grand Gala of the Business Leader 2018, SECO/WARWICK was awarded for the second time the statuette in recognition of the company’s strong market position. Katarzyna Sawka, Marketing Director of SECO/WARWICK Group, collected the award on behalf of the Company. “Business Leader” is the award that recognizes the best companies in Western Poland who conduct their business in a transparent and honest manner and their success is a regional trademark.
Pelican Wire was named Manufacturer of the Year in the Small Business category at the 2018 Manufacturers Association of Florida “MAF Exchange” conference and awards banquet. Selected from over fifty nominees spanning numerous industries and cities throughout the State of Florida, Pelican Wire also received this award in 2014.
Ohio Star Forge, a steel firm with heat treating, cold roll forming, and CNC machining capabilities, recently held a ribbon cutting for its expansion and celebrated its 30th anniversary at the company’s location in Youngstown, Ohio. Ohio Star Forge was originally a joint venture of Copperweld Steel and Japanese company Daido Steel.
Katarzyna Sawka, Global Group Marketing Director SECO/WARWICK, received the Innovation Leader Award on behalf of the company.
Pelican Wire was named Manufacturer of the Year.
Ohio Star Forge recently held ribbon cutting for its expansion and celebrated its 30th anniversary.
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 the editor at editor@heattreattoday.com.
