IHEA recently released its monthly Executive Economic Summary for January 2018.
The Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA, www.ihea.org) recently released its monthly Executive Economic Summary for the month of January, the first release of 2018. The report, available in-full for IHEA members, indicated that 2018 is off to a very strong start with all but three indices moving strongly upward. PMI and New Automobile/Light Truck Sales along with one other index moved slightly downward while nearly all others moved positively including Capacity Utilization and Capital Expenditures.
Anne Goyer, Executive Director of IHEA.
In addition to reporting on 12 or more indices important to the thermal processing industry, this monthly IHEA report offers insightful analysis of each indices’ impact on the industry. The report, funded and syndicated by IHEA, is available, in-full to IHEA members.
To receive a full copy of the report on a monthly basis, please contact Anne Goyer, Executive Director of IHEA.
ASM International recently posted an instructive article on the effect of aging temperature on impact energy and yield strength on AF 1410 steel, complete with a helpful graph displaying maximum and minimum results on both at various temperature ranges.
Steve Metz, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Applied Products, Inc.
A Michigan-based company that specializes in austempering heat treatment technology recently announced expansion plans that will include a 51,000-square-foot heat treatment plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
The new location for Applied Process, Inc., will contain six furnaces and is expected to be fully operational in the 3rd quarter of 2018 to serve their customers in the automotive, agriculture, aerospace, heavy truck, railroad, mining sectors, as well as the military, throughout the Midwest and South. The company’s plants in Livonia, Michigan, and Oshkosh, Wisconsin, will remain in operation, the latter housing the world’s largest integral quench batch austempering furnace which is capable of austempering parts up to 20,000 lbs. in weight.
Rusty Rainbolt, plant manager, Applied Products, Inc., Fort Smith
“The additional capacity in Fort Smith will allow us to continue to offer industry-leading levels of customer service, quality and turn time,” said Steve Metz, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Applied Process, Inc.. “The new facility will allow us to expand into new markets and serve a broader geographic customer base.”
Rusty Rainbolt, who has been with Applied Process for three years on the sales team, will be plant manager at the Fort Smith site.
The European heat treatment industry is benefitting from a SAFED laboratory in Mödling, Austria, that includes a test plant with a cast link belt furnace suited for bright annealing, hardening under protective gas atmosphere, carburisation or case-hardening, artificial aging, as well as tempering, in which, at temperatures of up to 1,100ºC, steel components can be treated under any desired composition of protective gas atmosphere.
A manufacturer of advanced semi-trucks recently announced the company has selected Buckeye, Arizona, for its hydrogen-electric semi-truck manufacturing headquarters facility.
Trevor Milton, CEO and founder of Nikola Motor Company
Trevor Milton, CEO and founder of Nikola Motor Company, was joined by Arizona Governor Doug Ducey and other state and company officials to reveal the plans for a new 500-acre, one million square foot facility that will house R&D support for the manufacture of hydrogen-electric vehicles, electric vehicle drivetrains, vehicle components, energy storage systems, and hydrogen stations. Development is projected to begin by the end of 2019.
“We will begin transferring our R&D and headquarters to Arizona immediately and hope to have the transition completed by October 2018. We have already begun planning the construction for our new zero-emission manufacturing facility in Buckeye, which we expect to have underway by the end of 2019,” said Milton.
“Nikola Motor Company’s selection of Arizona demonstrates that we are leading the charge when it comes to attracting innovative, industry-disrupting companies,” said Governor Ducey. “This incredible new technology will revolutionize transportation, and we’re very proud it will be engineered right here in Arizona. I thank Nikola’s CEO Trevor Milton and his entire team for this significant investment in our state.”
Pictured: From left are De Thompson V, president and CEO of Thompson Machinery; Jeff Earle; Trevor Milton, CEO of Nikola Motor Co.; Allan Wainscott; Steve Lainhart, vice president of Energy and Transportation at Thompson Machinery; Frank Young; Mike Thrower.
A USAF C-69, the military version of the Constellation
In the aerospace industry, heat treating is an essential step in the manufacturing process. Stress reduction on metal parts to improve the strength and fatigue life of aircraft components is critical to ensure parts stand up to the demands and specifications of aerospace applications. Every aircraft we see in the sky today contains precision-made parts and systems that have undergone heat treatment, whether it’s engine brackets, landing gear, bearings, gears and rods, fuselage, frame parts, brakes, or cooling systems.
Sometimes, however, those involved in modern heat treating processes, such as Metlab, based in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, and DELTA H Technologies, LLC, located in Carroll, Ohio, also expand their capabilities and apply their expertise to heat treating parts of historic aircraft in order to restore them to their former glory.
Lockheed L1649A “Super Star”
A DELTA H heat treating system is now being used in a project to make a Lockheed Constellation airworthy. The science of heat treating has not changed, therefore, a state of the art heat treating system is fulfilling the requirement to repair damaged antique aircraft and parts. Using the DELTA H heat treating systemto make this aircraft flight-worthy ensures that the aircraft will be in compliance with AMS2750E.
The Lockheed Constellation is an important piece of U.S. aviation history, a plane used for civilian and military transport, as well as a presidential aircraft for U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Ryan ST-A (Aerobatic) training aircraft circa. 1934
Classic Metalcraft recently turned to Metlab for the heat treatment of a newly fabricated structural bulkhead for a Ryan ST-A historic aircraft (circa.1934). Ryan Sport Trainers were the aircraft of choice for sport pilots, flying schools, and the military of other countries.
“The most difficult part that needed to be fabricated was the #2 bulkhead,” said David Paqua of Classic Metalcraft. “Not only is it tough to replicate without heavy pressing equipment, but it requires heat treating by a knowledgeable firm to prevent distortion.”
Bulkhead component prior to heat treating
The bulkhead component is a structural piece fabricated with 4130 steel and located just forward of the instrument cluster, where it bears significant stress. Metlab’s heat treating capabilities ensured that the shape integrity of the part was maintained as well as the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft.
An international high-technology group and tier-1 supplier of systems and equipment in the aerospace market recently announced a long-term agreement with a leading global provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services.
Heat treater Bodycote also announced that its global network will support the agreement with the Paris-based Safran, operating initially from strategically located facilities in France and Belgium.
Safran is a part of the Safran Group, a French multinational aircraft engine, rocket engine, aerospace-component, defense, and security company. Under the agreement, Bodycote will provide manufacturing services which include thermal spray coatings, electron beam welding, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), heat treatment and others to Safran companies and their key strategic first-tier suppliers, in support of Safran’s civil aerospace programs, including but not limited to CFM LEAP for Safran aircraft engines, helicopter engine programs, and landing gear systems.
Milton Sergio Fernandes de Lima, a researcher at the Brazilian Air Force Command’s Institute for Advanced Studies (IEAv)
Borrowing a process used by the aerospace industry – the heat treatment of sheets of advanced high-strength (AHS) steels, the automotive industry is discovering a way to satisfy the recent, growing demand for high-performance alloys while overcoming their tendency to turn brittle and break during the hot stamping and forming process.
High-strength steels are preferred by automakers and parts suppliers as well as those in the aerospace industry because of their enhanced formability and collision resilience compared to conventional steel grades, and metallurgists have been scrambling to develop techniques that will produce tough and reliable components, display high values for yield and tensile strengths, and meet increasingly tough passenger safety, vehicle performance and fuel economy requirements.
Read Kagan Pittman’s article from Engineering.com linked below to learn more about a process developed by Milton Sergio Fernandes de Lima, a researcher at the Brazilian Air Force Command’s Institute for Advanced Studies (IEAv), that consists of heating sheets of 22MnB5steel prior to and after laser welding to achieve bainitic microstructure, an innovative method of high-temperature laser welding for AHS steel appropriate for automotive and aerospace applications.
The study by M.S. F. Lima, D. Gonzáles and S. Liu, “Microstructure and Mechanical Behavior of Induction Assisted Laser Welded AHS Steels”, published by Welding Journal, can be downloaded from s3.amazonaws.com/WJ-www.aws.org/supplement/WJ_2017_10_s376.pdf.
Image: Heat treatment of advanced high-strength steel provides auto and aerospace industry technique for laser welding at high temperatures (image:Welding Journal)
Registration is open for IHEA’s Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating Online Learning Course that begins on April 9, 2018. The course is ideal for students who wish to further their studies at home or work in a flexible web-based distance-learning format.
The fundamentals course provides an overview of heat transfer, fuels and combustion, energy use, furnace design, refractories, automatic control, and atmospheres as applied to industrial process heating. For a complete listing of the topics covered visit www.ihea.org and click the Training and Events tab then scroll to Online Course.
Industry expert Jack Marino will lead students in this 6-week online course. Jack is a registered Professional Engineer with over 40 years’ experience in the heat processing business. He is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering and has a master’s degree in Engineering Science from Penn State. Mr. Marino’s knowledge and experience offer invaluable resources that online students can access throughout the course.
IHEA will also offer an Advanced Industrial Process Heating course this fall. This course is a compliment to the Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating and provides the student with an in-depth view of the control and efficient operation of industrial process heating equipment. Students will become familiar with a variety of oven, furnace, and kiln types used in industry.
Upon completion of the course, the student will have general knowledge of instrumentation and control for efficient operation of furnaces and ovens in process heating. The use of vacuum heat processing, recuperators, regenerators, gas atmospheres, and quenching will also be presented. Particular attention is spent on the efficient operation of process heating equipment and methods to achieve cost savings. Set to begin on Oct. 15, 2018, registration and course details will be posted soon. Mark your calendar and check www.ihea.org for updates.
IHEA’s online courses are a terrific value for IHEA members and non-members considering no travel expenses are involved and there is no time out of the office. Take advantage of the online tools provided and benefit from the ability to learn almost anywhere. A former online student remarks, “Because of balancing an extremely busy workload and family life, I am not able to be on a regular schedule or take time in the evening to travel to a class. The advantage for me is that I can check in when time permits and still stay up to date on all activities. The course information is directly related to my work and I found it to be very beneficial.”
Registration for the Fundamentals course is open now through April 6 at www.ihea.org. Click the Training and Events tab on the top menu bar then scroll down to Online Course. Cost for IHEA members is $700 or one member voucher, and non-members is $875, which includes electronic course handbook, course instruction, quizzes and projects, class forums and the opportunity to contact the instructor. Printed materials are available for an additional fee.
Leading commercial heat treat company, Paulo, provides an excellent primer on heat treat scale, what causes it, and what to consider when determining whether to remove it or prevent it.
From the article: “Manufacturers and heat treaters each have methods at their disposal to deal with scale problems, but tradeoffs exist that depend a great deal on part makeup, specified heat treatment and what happens next with a given part.”
