Wallwork

10 Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

10 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

  • A Berwick, Pennsylvania, machining company which offers heat treating among its services was recently acquired by precision machining provider DPMS, based in Santa Clara, California. K-Fab Inc. operates a 22,000-sq.-ft. precision machine shop that manufactures parts for the aerospace, defense, and semiconductor sectors.
  • GKN Powder Metallurgy recently announced a strategic collaboration with HP Inc, becoming the first to deploy the just-launched HP Metal Jet, a groundbreaking binder jetting technology, into its factories to produce functional metal parts for auto and industrial leaders, including Volkswagen and Wilo, and for companies around the world.
  • Joshua Farrell recently took over the Operations Manager position at Mid-South Metallurgical, based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Equipment Chatter

  • California-based Delta H Technologies, LLC, recently delivered a commissioned dual chamber aerospace heat treating system — the largest and most advanced to date — to a leading U.S. military aircraft manufacturer. Both chambers are certified for heating parts up to 1200°F and capable of solution heat treating, aging, annealing aluminum, stress relieving titanium and ferrous castings, weldments, and aging of PH stainless steel.
  • An auto parts manufacturer recently received shipment of a customized oxidation nitriding furnace, manufactured by JGEF Furnace, a vacuum heat treating  equipment supplier with U.S. offices in San Francisco, California. The pit furnace, which has useful dimensions of 43.3 inches (1,100 mm) in diameter x 70.9 inches (1,800 mm) high, has a maximum temperature rating of 1292°F (700°C). The goal for this project was to represent an advanced solution for metallic parts. The furnace includes an advanced oxidation system that ensures the workpieces are preheated in a controlled oxidizing atmosphere and guarantees corrosion resistance, which in turn facilitates nitrogen uptake and growth of the nitride compound layer.
  • A large capacity fastener hardening furnace system has been commissioned by a tier one automotive supplier based in Detroit, Michigan. CAN-ENG Furnaces International Ltd has been contracted to design and commission the system for the company, which offers heat treating among its services.
  • A large capacity SECO/Warwick vacuum furnace was delivered to U.K.-based Wallwork Heat Treatment company just before Christmas.

Kudos Chatter

  • America Makes recently announced the awardees of a Directed Project Opportunity on advancing additive manufacturing (AM) post-processing techniques (AAPT), funded by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing and Industrial Base Technology Division. Awardee #1 is Arizona State University, in conjunction with Quintus Technologies; Phoenix Heat Treating, Inc.; and Phoenix Analysis & Design Technologies, Inc. Awardee #2 is ASTM International Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE), a collaborative, which includes ASTM International, Auburn University, EWI, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Wichita State University – National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), in conjunction with Quintus Technologies, Carpenter Technologies Corporation, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Rolls Royce Corporation, Honeywell Aerospace, GE Aviation, and Raytheon.
  • Paulo recently announced the recent addition of the St. Louis Division to the approved heat treat sources list for General Motors High-Pressure Die Casting Die Insert Material. The approval list references AWQ49658 which includes the heat treatment specifications for Hot Work Tool Steels for GM High-Pressure Die Casting applications.  The St. Louis Division joins Paulo’s Nashville plant on the approval list, which includes only seven approved locations in the US. AWQ49657 covers approved material providers, heat treaters, and testing labs. Paulo is the only US source with two facilities on the list.
  • Nominations are open for the ASM HTS/Surface Combustion Emerging Leader Award, which recognizes an outstanding early-to-midcareer heat treating professional whose accomplishments exhibit exceptional achievements in the heat treating industry. The award was created in recognition of Surface Combustion’s 100-year anniversary in 2015. The winning young professional will best exemplify the ethics, education, ingenuity, and future leadership of our industry. Deadline for the nomination is February 1, 2019. Past winners include Olga Rowan of Caterpillar in 2015 and Lee Rothleutner of Timken in 2017. For nomination rules and forms, visit the Heat Treating Society website at hts.asminternational.org and click on Membership & Networking and Society Awards.

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.

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A Baker’s Dozen Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS 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

  • Ashleigh Walters, president of Onex, Inc., recently participated in Penn State’s 2018 Fall Engineering Speaker Series, addressing how leadership can create impact through focusing on teamwork, creativity, improved processes, and mission.
  • Wallwork Heat Treatment’s Richard Burslem recently received the Meritorious Service to Heat Treatment Industry Award at the annual Surface Engineering and Heat Treatments Awards, presented on October 12th at the Radisson Blu in Manchester by Alan Hick, the secretary of the Contract Heat Treatment Association (CHTA).
  • A high tech provider of vacuum solutions for multiple markets recently opened a new 27,000-sq ft building in Nashua, New Hampshire, to house the company’s North American headquarters for administration, sales, product management, marketing and customer care. Pfeiffer Vacuum will convert the former 24,000 square foot administration building into a Service Center of Excellence, bringing together under one roof all service activities for the major part of the Pfeiffer Vacuum product portfolio.
  • A mobile heating station where ceramic components can be heated uniformly to 400ºC has been introduced by StrikoWestofen, allowing the components of dosing furnaces to be heated up on site.
  • StandardAero recently extended its long-running relationship with leading aviation services provider Dumont Group, LLC, through a follow-on contract for Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) JT15D-5R engine overhauls.
  • Novelis Inc. recently made several newsworthy announcements: 1) The company announced that it expects its new $300 million automotive aluminum sheet manufacturing plant in Guthrie, Kentucky, to be in production in mid-2020 where it will operate heat treatment and pre-treatment lines that prepare aluminum for use in vehicle parts. 2) Novelis has agreed to partner with Impression Technologies to explore innovative ways to increase the broader adoption of aluminum through the hot stamping process. Impression Technologies has the exclusive rights to Hot Form Quench (HFQ®), a unique technology used to design and manufacture components using ultra high-strength aluminum for the high volume automotive and transport markets. 3) Finally, the company unveiled plans to establish a global network of Customer Solution Centers (CSCs) to accelerate collaborative innovation between Novelis and automakers for the next generation of vehicle design.

Equipment Chatter

  • Ipsen USA recently posted a record month of sales with orders for nine TITAN® vacuum furnaces to be shipped for use in a variety of applications for companies in aerospace, automotive and commercial heat-treating industries. In addition,  Ipsen also sold seven custom units, including MetalMaster®, TurboTreater® and vacuum aluminum brazing furnaces.
  • A Hot Isostatic Press from Quintus Technologies has been purchased by Paulo to be installed in the Cleveland Division’s recent expansion and primarily support densification and heat treatment of investment castings and additively manufactured parts.
  • GE Additive and GE Aviation recently announced that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has given ‘change in design’ approval to replace a conventionally manufactured power door opening system (PDOS) bracket, used on GE Aviation’s GEnx-2B commercial airline engines that power the Boeing 747-8, with an additively manufactured bracket.
  • An order for a complete walking hearth furnace plant has been received by ANDRITZ Group from Deutsche Edelstahlwerke Specialty Steel GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, for its facility in Witten, Germany. Production is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2020.

  • The expansion agreement for an existing bell annealer facility is expected to begin production next month. Guang Xi Zheng Run New Material Technology Co., Ltd. placed an order with EBNER® for the expansion this summer. The agreement includes three HICON® workbases employing 100 % argon as a process atmosphere, two heating bells, and one cooling bell.

Kudos Chatter

  • Solar Atmospheres – Greenville, SC, announces that it has been awarded Nadcap 18-month Merit status for Heat Treating, Brazing and Carburizing. We are extremely pleased PRI has recognized our corporate commitment to quality. Achieving 18-month merit has been a goal set by Solar’s employees since opening its doors in 2015. The adherence to strict specification requirements, flawless process execution, and a daily commitment to quality processing is evident among all employees of Solar Atmospheres. The Solar Atmospheres Greenville facility has held Nadcap accreditation since 2015.
  • Meron Medical, LLC, announces the successful transition to ISO 13485:2016. Safety and quality are non-negotiables in the medical devices industry. Regulatory requirements are increasingly stringent throughout every step of a product’s life cycle, including service and delivery. With greater attention on the organization’s ability to meet applicable customer and regulatory requirements, ISO 13485:2016 focuses on the entire supply chain of the medical device industry, with added emphasis on risk management.

 

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.

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A Hot Ride: Motoring Around a Heat Treating Plant

/ AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT, AUTOMOTIVE HEAT TREAT NEWS

Plant tours are all the rage these days, but a heat treating company in the United Kingdom takes the concept to a whole new level — to several levels, in fact.

In a new video, twelve times Trial World Champion, trial motorbike rider extraordinaire Dougie Lampkin takes on the Wallwork Group’s Manchester heat treatment plant in a thrilling two-minute ride, where no obstacle is too high – or too hot!

“We had seen Dougie’s work before, not least Red Bull’s F1 factory, and thought that it would be an exciting and engaging way to show a brief glimpse into the world of metal heat treatment,” explained Wallwork sales manager, Howard Maher.

Wallwork is headquartered in Bury, Greater Manchester, and also has plants in Newcastle, Birmingham, and Cambridge. The company provides metal heat treatment, vacuum brazing, and hard coatings services to aerospace, motorsport, medical device and other precision industries.

“Dougie is a high-profile, professional motorcycle sportsman, so this also fits nicely with our autosports market and by association other industries such as aerospace that share the same requirements,” Howard added.

Dougie’s professional career has spanned over 25 years, lifting his first trophy in 1991, collecting silverware up to 2017 and he is still looking for even more in 2018. Awarded an MBE in 2001, his autobiography, Dougie Lampkin – Trials and Error, was launched on May 17th this year.

“We are really pleased with the video and it was a pleasure opening up the works to Dougie’s special way of riding. And our health and safety guy is able to relax now it is all done!,” Howard concluded. The two minute video can be viewed below or at the Wallwork website.

 

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10 Quick Heat Treat News Items to Keep You Current

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

 

 

 

10 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

  • Heat treatment provider Bodycote PLC announced this week that its 2017 pretax profit rose 27 percent, due in part to a return to growth in general industrial markets following a multiyear negative trend. The pretax profit amounts to $161.6 million ((117 million pounds) in the year, compared with GBP91.9 million in 2016, the company said.
  • The UK-based specialist in thermal processing and hard coating of metals, Wallwork Group Ltd, announced that Tecvac Ltd, which supplies heat treatment and vacuum brazing to a variety of industries covering aerospace, automotive, biomedical, motorsport, and manufacturing sectors in the UK and Europe, will now operate as Wallwork Cambridge. Tecvac Ltd is BSI ISO 9001:2000 and NADCAP approved for PVD/CVD coatings and also holds various Aerospace Prime approvals. In addition, Metaltech, which was recently acquired by Wallwork, has been renamed Wallwork Newcastle.
  • Aeromet International, a leading supplier of airframe and aero engine components, recently agreed to the acquisition of the business and assets of the London-based aluminum and magnesium foundry, Stone Foundries Ltd, from Langham Industries, a UK engineering group serving particularly the marine and aerospace industries.
  • The Manufacturing Institute announced the recipients of the Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Ahead Award are Aleris leaders Helene Lagace and Brittany Kanz. The STEP Ahead Awards honor women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry, from the factory-floor to the C suite.

Equipment Chatter

  • North American heat treater Paulo has added a new precision controlled nitriding furnace.  Also known as vacuum nitriding the equipment is similar to a vacuum heat treatment

    Paulo adds precision controlled nitriding furnace

    furnace but operates at lower temperatures and without quenching capability, which produces minimal distortion. The recently installed furnace has a 6,000lb capacity and a work zone that measures 70"L x 47"W x 39"H. Process controls allow Paulo to meet specific requirements with respect to which nitride phases are formed and to what depth. This furnace is also capable of vacuum (protective atmosphere) tempering, which prevents oxidation during the tempering process.

Kudos Chatter

  • Stock Drive Products/Sterling Instrument (SDP/SI) has announced that the company meets all certification requirements of the new ISO 9001:2015 + AS9100D standard, maintaining processes that provide superior components and assemblies with detailed quality reporting. SDP/SI is a leader in providing mechanical based design, engineering, and manufacturing services for critical motion control and small power transmission applications for aerospace and defense.
  • ASTM International, based in West Conshohocken, Pa., announces F3301 - 18 Standard Specification for Thermal Post-Processing Metal Parts Made Via Powder Bed Fusion. This standard specifies the requirements for thermal post-processing of parts produced via metal powder-bed fusion to achieve the required material properties and microstructure to meet engineering requirements. This standard is intended to be referenced by Material Part Property specifications for powder-bed fusion. Currently, this standard includes thermal post-processing for the following materials: titanium alloys; cobalt 28 chromium 6 molybdenum; UNS N07718; UNS N06625; UNS 31603; and AlSi10Mg. This specification will be updated as new powder-bed fusion material heat treatments are developed.
  • Advanced Heat Treat of Waterloo, Iowa, has announced that their Burton Avenue location successfully transitioned from ISO/TS 16949:2009 to ISO 9001:2015 / IATF 16949:2016.
  • Toronto-based Innovation Metals Corp., which specializes in cost-effective processing solutions for critical metals, was recently awarded a research contract from Natural Resources Canada for work on the production of rare-earth-element ("REE") oxides and alloys. The contract was awarded as part of NRCan’s Rare Earth Elements and Chromite R&D Program. NRCan is the Canadian government department that oversees the responsible development and use of Canada’s natural resources and the competitiveness of Canada’s natural-resources products.
  • Pelican Wire was certified under ISO 9001:2015 standards by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The Naples, Florida-based company had previously earned certification under ISO 9001:2008 in 2010 and has been audited and registered since that time by DQS Inc.

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Heat Treat Operations to Expand As Metaltech, Wallwork Join Forces

/ FEATURED NEWS, HEAT TREAT NEWS INDUSTRIES

Thermal processing and induction hardening of metals are included among the metal treatments that will be offered to the aerospace, automotive, medical device, and precision engineering sectors as UK-based coating company Metaltech Ltd joins forces with The Wallwork Group, also of the UK.

Both companies specialize in the thermal processing and coating of metals and each brings additional metal treatments that will complement those of the other. Wallwork has also recently announced plans to invest in the Metaltech site and base some of the transport operations there.

Metaltech was founded in 1981 by Ron Scott. Dr. Graeme Forster joined the company in the early 1990s and became managing director; together they have developed the company to a staff of 22, serving clients in the UK and internationally.

“Joining Wallwork, a firm founded on the same principles of a business that believes people are its greatest asset, is a positive step as Ron steps out to pursue his other interests,” said Dr. Forster commented.

Luke Collins, a graduate engineer with 12-plus years of experience within the Wallwork Group, will become site director at Metaltech. “This is a good fit for us and strengthens our range of metal heat treatments, hard coatings processes, and customer service promise,” said Collins. “Adding a facility in the North East means we can provide an even faster service to customers there and extend our transport service into Scotland, giving greater flexibility within our Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge sites for further growth.”

We already have plans to invest in the Metaltech site and also base some of our transport operation there. Luke will permanently relocate to be near the Metaltech works.

As well as extending the induction hardening of metals and thermal processing operations, the expansion adds new processes including Xylan Flouropolymer Coatings, Molybdenum Disulphide dry film lubricants, and Phosphate Coating and enlarges the capacity of the company’s plasma nitriding and Plasox services.

 

Click for a video to learn more about the Wallwork Group:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo caption:  Luke Collins of Wallwork Group and Dr. Graeme Forster of Metaltech Ltd.

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Heat Treat Company Gets Go-Ahead for Technology to Improve Hip and Knee Replacements

/ FEATURED NEWS, MEDICAL HEAT TREAT, MEDICAL HEAT TREAT NEWS

A coating system that enables light and strong titanium alloy to replace steel based bearings in landing gear on the Airbus 350 and 380 passenger jets could soon be used in human hip and knee replacements. An advanced hard coatings specialist has been awarded funding from Innovate UK, the government backed sponsor of breakthrough technologies, to research the medical application of this process. The development has promise as an enabling technology that may lead to customised implants made by additive manufacturing leading to light, strong, safer and longer-lasting joint replacements with potentially huge savings for the National Health Service (UK).

Titanium is already widely used in orthopaedic surgery as bone splints, plates and other devices. The material has high strength, fatigue resistance, lightness and good biocompatibility, though long term use can cause staining to skin tissue. Unfortunately, it performs poorly in load-bearing situations due to its relative softness. When used in aircraft bearings, the company, Wallwork Cambridge, overcomes this with a duplex coating process where deep nitrided cases are created in the metal surface to make it more resilient. This is then followed by the application of a hard micro-thin and highly lubricious coating by physical vapour deposition (PVD). The company is one of the largest PVD processors in Europe.

Knee and hip replacements are usually made from an alloy of cobalt, chrome and molybdenum (CoCrMo) or from ceramics. These materials are sometimes used in hybrid structures in combination with high-density polymers. Issues have arisen of metal-ion leakage from CoCrMo devices, plastic degradation and breakage or chipping of the ceramic implants in active individuals. This can cause pain and discomfort to patients and be highly damaging to surrounding tissues.

A patented coating, Agilliant, is under development at Wallwork that will provide an effective barrier against the release of metal ions and which also includes a small proportion of silver to give active protection from postoperative infection. The material is super smooth, permitting the easy passage of tendons so that they do not become inflamed. The barrier is also effective against bio-tribo corrosion by the synovial fluid that still acts as a natural joint lubricant in artificial implants.

Head of research and development at Wallwork, Dr Jonathan Housden, explained, “The duplex coating process, incorporating Agilliant as the final coating, opens the way for the introduction of a new generation of durable titanium implants. These will be lighter and more comfortable for the patient with fewer complications caused by postoperative infection and mechanical wear. Early trials to simulate many years of use suggest that the joints will, in many cases, outlive the patient, leading to a £300 million annual saving for the NHS by allowing more efficient use of orthopaedic resources as rework of failed or compromised treatments are reduced.”

Wallwork anticipates the first patient trials for the new devices could commence in as little as four years, after completion of intensive laboratory simulations.

Source: Ainsworth Maguire PR

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