Heat Treat Boot Camp 2024 — and That’s a Wrap!

September 26, 2024 / HEAT TREAT NEWS

Doug Glenn welcomes boot camp trainees at Monday evening’s meet- and-greet reception.

Heat treat industry players from across a spectrum of facilities, suppliers, and manufacturing specialties landed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday, September 24, 2024, to kick off Heat Treat Boot Camp 2024. Attendees networked, gained new practical knowledge, and participated in a tour of a local commercial heat treating facility. It wasn’t all work; an opportunity to get to know one another at a meet-and-greet reception upon arrival and later on a trip up Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Incline allowed boot campers to relax and connect, balancing work with fun.

A day and a half of sessions led by instructors Doug Glenn, publisher and founder of Heat Treat Today, and Thomas Wingens, president/CEO and founder of WINGENS International Industry Consultancy, brought the 39 trainees up-to-speed on “Processes & Materials,” “Heat Treat Players,” “Latest Heat Treat Developments,” and more. Questions and discussion were encouraged during the formal sessions, and heat treaters had plenty of informal, additional learning time through interactions with each other and the instructors.

At the end of the first day of lectures, nearly all of the attendees boarded a school bus to visit the Duquesne Incline on Mount Washington and enjoy the view of Pittsburgh. Following another day packed with training and resources, attendees had the option to visit Solar Atmospheres in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, to tour the in-house vacuum heat treating and brazing facility.

“I’ve enjoyed talking about the different types of heat processes and the types of furnaces — vacuum and atmosphere air systems,” said Ike Okoh, a product engineer with Dry Coolers, Inc, based in Michigan. “The questions I had before the course started were answered during the course, and the most beautiful part of the program was that it’s not always you get to see CEOs and or business owners in the training sessions with you. It’s wonderful to get to meet them and find out more about them and their companies.

“The instructors, Doug and Thomas, were really nice, went through the course and broke down some of the issues, took questions and answered them,” Okoh added. “All in all, it’s been an enlightening experience.”

“Every group that’s been here is different,” said Glenn. “This group has been really fantastic; it’s an engaging group, and overall, we’ve heard positive feedback that the sessions and networking have been helpful. So, thanks to everyone who has come, and we look forward to seeing others next year.”

Highlights of the Event

Monday evening’s meet-and-greet allowed participants to network and connect.

Days 1 and 2 of instruction from Doug Glenn and Thomas Wingens

Field trip to Pittsburgh’s Duquesne Incline after Day 1 of instruction

Heat Treat Today thanks everyone for their participation in Heat Treat Boot Camp 2024, including our sponsors. Title Sponsors for this year’s event were Aerospace Testing & Pyrometry, Inc. and Control Concepts Inc.. Social Sponsors were CAN-ENG Furnaces International Ltd. and Cleveland Electric Labs. Additional sponsors were Algas-SDI, AFC-Holcroft, Chiz Bros: Refractory and Insulation Specialists, GASBARRE, Ipsen USA, Super Systems Inc., and I Squared R Element Co.

Keep your eyes open for your invitation to join us in 2025 for our fourth year of training up heat treaters of the future. Be sure to register early and bring friend and coworkers!

Find Heat Treating Products And Services When You Search On Heat Treat Buyers Guide.Com

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Delve into Data and Digitization in the Heat Treat Realm

January 11, 2023 / EQUIPMENT, FEATURED NEWS, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT

In preparation for Heat Treat Radio episode #87 (looking at ways to increase productivity especially with data management) coming tomorrow, take a look at these three articles from the Heat Treat Today files to get you warmed up. No matter where you are in the digitization process, you'll find something to help here.

Taking the step from a paper and whiteboard system to a computerized system is a big jump. Maybe that's been done, maybe that's still being considered. Already digital? Then there are always efficiency and organization improvements to run an even more productive shop. Lastly, what does the future hold? How best to stay on the cutting edge of data management?

Read this original content article for guidance and encouragement in the use of digital systems for the heat treat shop.

1. Heat Treat Control Panel: Best Practices in Digital Data Collection, Storage, Validation

Heat Treat Today asked six heat treat industry experts a controls-related question, "As a heat treat industry control expert, what do you see as some of the best practices when it comes to digital data collection and storage and/or validation of instrumentation precision?" This article gives reasons for why you collect and store data and some helpful ideas for making sure those records are preserved.

One expert had this to say: "electronic data must be validated for precision; checked; and calibrated periodically as defined by internal procedures or customer standards. Data must be protected from alteration, and have specific accuracy and precision."

Read the entire piece to get even more perspectives.

2. Heat Treat Case Study: Predicative Maintenance with Digital Thyristor Power Control

Tony Busch, sales application engineer at Control Concepts, Inc., takes a look at digital maintenance systems. These systems play a part in recording and monitoring data, and they contribute to the overall productivity of the heat treat shop. This article makes a strong case for intelligent controllers.

"Digital power controllers can calculate resistance and provide precise power control. Predictive maintenance is achieved by knowing when an element has reached its useful life. Intelligent power control includes embedded algorithms with teach function to calculate data and predict what is likely to happen next in the life of a heating element," emphasizes Busch.

Find out more about the benefits of digital connectivity here.

3. DUAL PERSPECTIVES: The Heat Treat Shop of 2050

Global ideas emerge in this article, as two men from very different locations, give some thoughts about digitization in the next 20 years or so. Hear from each expert - one representing the European market; one representing the North American market - as they discuss the role of technology, the human element, and heat treating of the future.

Thomas Schneidewind says, "digitization must always remain only a tool, not an end in itself." He reminds readers that importance always must be placed on the human element. Doug Glenn counters with, "For commercial heat treat shops where variability is high and volumes are relatively low, much of the same will be true with less and less human interaction needed."

Explore the rest of the forecast from Thomas Schneidewind, the editor-in-chief of heat processing magazine, and Doug Glenn, the publisher and founder of Heat Treat Today here.

Find heat treating products and services when you search on Heat Treat Buyers Guide.com

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Heat Treat Case Study: Predictive Maintenance with Digital Thyristor Power Control

January 26, 2021 / FEATURED NEWS, INSTRUMENTATION TECHNICAL CONTENT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT

How intelligent are your maintenance systems? Whether they track usage or calculate data, having a maintenance system is key. This Technical Tuesday feature article highlights how intelligent digital maintenance systems can perform predictive maintenance analysis, putting you in a better position to meet challenges on the ground.

Tony Busch, sales application engineer at Control Concepts, Inc., wrote this Original Content article for Heat Treat Today. Reach out to editor@heattreattoday.com if you have an article that you’d like to write for the web or for print

Tony Busch
Sales Application Engineer
Control Concepts, Inc.

Digital power controllers can calculate resistance and provide precise power control. Predictive maintenance is achieved by knowing when an element has reached its useful life. Intelligent power control includes embedded algorithms with teach function to calculate data and predict what is likely to happen next in the life of a heating element. This capability can determine partial load loss, resistance change, and complete load loss. As a result, it can help reduce energy cost.

The ability to measure resistance in a furnace can provide information regarding the overall condition of an element. Utilizing “Teach” functions — a power controller with embedded algorithms for calculating data — digital power controllers can constantly predict what is likely to happen next in the life of a heating element. Knowing the life of the element allows you, the heat treater, to predict when they should be changed and allows for a structured shut down preventing expensive unscheduled downtime. Conditions, such as partial load failure, are determined and appropriate alarms are activated.

Knowing the life of the element is also very useful for the heat treater when determining other conditions of the furnace, such as furnace insulation problems. Heat loss due to poor insulation can cause the elements to work harder to maintain temperature and shorten element life. Furthermore, lost heat increases energy consumption and higher electric bills. Understanding the condition of the furnace elements and the overall life of the element can be key in determining if the furnace is in proper operating condition to meet the next AMS2750 audit.

Intelligent controllers have a Kilovolt-ampere hour meter (KVAh Consumption). The KVAh Consumption value is the apparent power (KVA), revealing to the operator the actual energy costs in a particular product run. Understanding plant loading and KVAh Consumption are key factors in determining if load shedding and load sharing are appropriate. Determining the aging process of a variable resistive load provides information that is very useful in determining when transformer taps should be tapped up or down. Operating on the proper tap can help eliminate costly utility penalties by improving system power factor.

IoT is becoming a reality. Digital connectivity by various bus networks allows this data to be readily accessible and power conversion equipment is just one smart device that will be to connect it all together. Predictive maintenance, and proper energy use, are just a couple of the many things that will result from improved plant productivity.

About the Author: Tony Busch, sales application engineer at Control Concepts, Inc., started as a test technician at the company 10 years ago before transitioning into field service and repairs, followed by his current position of 6 years.

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Heat Treat Tips: Safety and Cost-Saving Hacks

April 17, 2019 / HARDENING, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT, MANUFACTURING HEAT TREAT NEWS

During the day-to-day operation of heat treat departments, many habits are formed and procedures followed that sometimes are done simply because that’s the way they’ve always been done. One of the great benefits of having a community of heat treaters is to challenge those habits and look at new ways of doing things. Heat Treat Today‘s 101 Heat Treat Tips, tips and tricks that come from some of the industry’s foremost experts, were initially published in the FNA 2018 Special Print Edition, as a way to make the benefits of that community available to as many people as possible. This special edition is available in a digital format here.

Today we continue an intermittent series of posts drawn from the 101 tips. The tips for this post come from a variety of categories but all generally address safety or cost-saving ideas.

Dr. Valery Rudnev, FASM, Fellow of IFHTSE, Professor Induction, Director Science & Technology, Inductoheat Inc., An Inductotherm Group company

Heat Treat Tip #2

Avoid axle shaft cracks after induction tempering

Situation: In induction scan hardening of axle shafts, there was NO cracking occurred after scan hardening (case depth varies from 5 mm to 8 mm). Cracks appeared in the spline region after induction tempering.
Solution: Most likely, the cause of this problem is associated with a reversal of residual stress distribution during induction tempering. Reduce coil power for tempering and increase time of induction tempering. Multi-pulse induction tempering applying lower power density might also help. As an alternative, instead of modifying temper cycle, you can also try to reduce quench severity by increasing the temperature of the quenchant and/or its concentration.

Submitted by Dr. Valery Rudnev, FASM, Fellow of IFHTSE, Professor Induction, Director Science & Technology, Inductoheat Inc., An Inductotherm Group company

Heat Treat Tip #4

Closed Loop Water System on Top

When designing a vacuum furnace installation with a closed loop water system, elevate the tank and pump about 9 feet, then cage the space underneath for thermocouple storage, spares, and tools. Saves shop floor space.

Submitted by AeroSPC

IR Cameras are inexpensive and worth the price.

Heat Treat Tip #6

Don’t Be Cheap. Buy an IR Camera.

IR cameras have come way down in price—for a thousand dollars, you can have x-ray vision and see furnace insulation problems before they cause major problems—also a great diagnostic tool for motors, circuit breakers, etc. (And you can spot deer in the dark!)

Submitted by Combustion Innovations

Heat Treat Tip #7

An Engineer’s Design Checklist

Get an SCR design checklist and avoid mistakes.

When SCRs are involved in the design of a new piece of equipment, questions arise. Control Concepts Inc of Chanhassen, MN, offers a 20-point design checklist to help engineers who don’t specialize in power controllers. Good reading. Search for “design checklist” at the website.

Submitted by Control Concepts, Inc.

Heat Treat Tip #9

Question the Spec! Save Money!

Before you specify a heat treatment, stop and consider your options. Rather than reusing an old specification, ask the design engineer to determine the stress profile, and base the hardness or case depth on real stress data. Is this complicated? Maybe. But especially for carburizing, why pay for more depth than you need, and why take the risk of inadequate strength? The 21st century is here. We have ways to help with the math. Let’s move beyond guess and test engineering methodology.

Submitted by Debbie Aliya

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Control Concepts Inc