INDUSTRY NEWS

TevTech Relocates Solar Develops Vacuum Process TevTech LLC, relocated Solar Atmospheres R&D Technology Group, from its Wilmington, Mass., facility to a larger Souderton, Pa., is conducting a test program facility in Billerica, Mass. for high-temperature solution nitriding of TevTech provides turnkey martensitic stainless at vacuum partial high temperature vacuum furnace systems, support pressure nitrogen. Surface of equipment and stainless steel is currently one of the hottest engineering solutions for the materials processing topics in the heat treat industry including industry. Contact nitriding, , and nitrocarburizing information is 100 processes, according to Solar’s VP of Billerica Ave., N. Billerica, MA 01862; tel: 978-667- Technology Don Jordan. In 2007, Solar 4557; Web site: successfully performed high temperature www.tevtechllc.com. solution nitriding of grade 422 martensitic Air Liquide Invests stainless steel at sub-atmospheric pressures, in European obtaining surface hardnesses of 59-60 Fine dispersion of nitrides/carbonitrides in solution nitrided 422 stainless steel; hardness is 60 HRC. 400× Production Capacity HRC. The current program includes solution Due to continuous growth nitriding grades 410, 420, 422, and 440C evaluating variables of nitriding partial pressure, in demand in Western Europe for industrial temperature, and time. Tests are being run in a 10-bar high pressure gas vacuum furnace, merchant gases, Air allowing for direct quenching parts from the nitriding temperature (2000-2100°F) to prevent nitride Liquide will invest EUR110 precipitation on cooling. The study will provide information for the development of new surface million in Germany and Portugal in two treatments for improved part performance. www.solaratm.com. production units for liquefied air gases (liquid Bodycote Installs Hot Isostatic Press oxygen, liquid nitrogen, Avure Technologies Inc., Kent, Wash., delivered a high-capacity hot isostatic press (HIP) for installation and liquid argon). The production units will start at Bodycote’s northwest regional service center in Camas, Wash. The system, commissioned in late up between the end of 2007, is identical in size to a HIP unit installed in 1998. Both units are said to rank as the largest such 2009 and 2010. Plant locations are in the region presses ever built. The work zones of the presses measure 66 in. in diameter and 100 in. long (1.67 of Ulm (southern and 2.54 m), with operating pressures up to 15,000 psi (103 MPa) and temperatures of 2300°F Germany) and at Sines (1260°C) to densify and eliminate internal porosity in a wide variety of industrial components. The (an industrial basin located 150 km south of Camas facility processes primarily commercial and aerospace castings made from titanium, nickel, Lisbon). cobalt, -base superalloys, aluminum, and steel. Headquartered in Macclesfield, UK, the Bodycote www.airliquide.com. group operates more than 300 service facilities in 30 countries worldwide. Avure Technologies U.S. Aviation Co. to manufactures high pressure presses for densification of advanced materials and critical industrial Set Up in parts. The company also has operations in Vasteras, Sweden and Columbus, Ohio. www.avure.com. Queensland Queensland’s aviation Ohio Celebrates Its Aerospace Industry and aerospace industry is Aerospace industry leaders celebrated Ohio Aerospace Day in May, highlighting Ohio’s historic to receive a boost as the State Government has strengths and dedication to developing future innovations in the aerospace industry. According to the announced that U.S. Ohio Business Development Coalition, aircraft company Insitu Praxair Signs Heat-Treat Joint (Bingen, Wash.) will Ohio is a national leader in the aerospace establish a plant in Marketing Agreements industry and continues to drive business Brisbane, Queensland, Praxair Inc., Danbury, Conn., signed joint marketing agreements growth both within the state and throughout Australia. Insitu is a with Atmosphere Engineering Co. (Milwaukee, Wis.; www.atmoseng. leading producer of the world. Mike Heil, president of the Ohio unmanned airborne com) and Super Systems Inc. (Cincinnati; www.supersystems.com) Aerospace Institute, noted that Ohio is a vehicles (UAVs) that to combine the core competencies of each company into a com- national leader in aerospace, with developed the military prehensive solution for heat-treat customers. Under these agree- Scan Eagle in partnership capabilities in aerospace propulsion and with Boeing Co. ments, heat-treat customers will have access to a simplified market power—from basic and advanced www.insitu.com. channel that integrates Praxair’s gases, applications technologies, research, to technology development, to and supply systems with process controllers and data acquisition systems development, to sourcing of software from Super Systems and precise furnace control panel sys- component suppliers, and final product tems from Atmosphere Engineering. The combined capabilities of testing. Ohio boasts two federal Praxair, Atmosphere Engineering and Super Systems cover a broad laboratories, ten leading universities with spectrum of batch and continuous heat-treating processes such as dedicated doctoral level research and carburizing, , neutral hardening, , gas education programs in aerospace related quenching and heat treatment under vacuum. www.praxair.com. disciplines, and more than 450 aerospace PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 7 INDUSTRY NEWS

New Aerospace manufacturers and suppliers all working in nitrogen, and argon in Company Launches collaboration to develop innovative solutions for liquid form to cater to on P.E.I. the nation’s aerospace needs. These entities, the local market. Action Aero, a new along with Ohio’s internationally renowned Salzgitter Flachstahl aerospace company, is federal aerospace research centers, attract the GmbH plans to expand setting up shop in Charlottetown, Prince industry’s top talent to provide limitless its crude steel produc- Edward Island (P.E.I.), opportunities in aeropropulsion and power tion at its location in Canada. The company research and development, manufacturing Salzgitter. At the same will focus on engine innovation and commercialization of aerospace time production of elec- accessory repair and components and products. tric steel at the location overhaul for small airplanes and helicopters, of the subsidiary Peiner and start with about 25 Messer Invests at Salzgitter AG Träger GmbH in Peine The air separation plant employees. The The Messer Group, Sulzbach, Germany, signed will also be increased. on the site of Salzgitter aerospace industry a contract with Salzgitter Flachstahl GmbH, a More technical oxygen AG will supply oxygen employs 850 people in nitrogen to the steelworks the province. subsidiary of Salzgitter AG, Salzgitter, Germany, will be required to in gaseous form. to construct and operate an air separation plant. guarantee the increased The industrial gas specialist will invest around production volume, and Messer will cover this EUR 50 million in the production plant for the need by building its air separation plant in industrial gases oxygen, nitrogen and argon. The Salzgitter. The site in Peine which is approx. 30 air separation plant on the site of Salzgitter AG km away will also be supplied with oxygen from will supply more than 30,000 standard cubic Salzgitter over a new pipeline. Messer is active meters of oxygen and optionally 40,000 stan- in over 30 countries in Europe and Asia, as well dard cubic meters of nitrogen to the steelworks in as Peru, with over 60 operating companies. gaseous form. Messer will also produce oxygen, www.messergroup.com.

8 HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 China Industrial Gases Market Growing Rapidly According to a market study entitled While the U.S. will remain the largest “World Industrial Gases” by The market for industrial gas, the developed Freedonia Group Inc., a Cleveland, markets of North America, Western Ohio, based industry market research Europe, and Japan will record below firm, China will surpass Japan as the average growth in industrial gas. The world’s second largest market in the world demand for industrial gases is forecast for industrial gas demand. forecast to increase 6.9% annually to

Schematic of power management system.

Seco/Warwick Receives Patent for Power Management System Seco/Warwick Corp., Meadville, Pa., patented a power management option (U.S. Patent No. 7,193,188 B2) for high-pressure quench (HPQ) vacuum furnaces that reduces electrical consumption by creating a single system of alternate control of the heating and cooling processes using a single frequency converter. The system has been installed on more than ten vacuum HPQ systems since the patent issue in May 2007. The system results in a reduction in electrical consumption and improves efficiency by increasing the power factor of heating and cooling systems. System benefits include: • Stepless control of heating and cooling power • Programmable cooling rate controlled according to the load temperature • quench capability • Ability to use various cooling gases • No blower motor start-up overcurrent, fewer electrical components Field operating results demonstrate a minimum of 20% savings in electrical consumption in addition to reducing equipment and maintenance costs. The inventor of the system is Maciej Korecki, Director of Research & Development. www.secowarwick.com. HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 9 INDUSTRY NEWS

H.C. Starck Raises $36.8 billion in 2011, and the Asia Pacific Refractory Metal region is the largest consuming region due to Prices rapid growth in developing industrial markets, H.C. Starck Inc.’s especially those of China and India. The Asia Fabricated Products Pacific region will continue to record better than (“FPR”) Div., Newton, Mass., announced a average gains, as will the other developing double digit price regions of Latin America, Eastern Europe, and increase for Africa. Although demand for industrial gases is molybdenum, tungsten, subject to the cyclical nature of those markets, the tantalum, and niobium diversity of gases’ applications helps mitigate the metals effective immediately or as effects of the cyclicality of any single business contracts permit. The sector. www.freedoniagroup.com. substantial increase in demand for Mo, W, Nb, Zeiss Opens North and Ta, including from emerging markets such as American Headquarters China and the global Carl Zeiss SMT, Peabody, Mass., a global consumer electronics provider of electron- and ion-beam imaging and market has resulted in a analysis solutions, opened its new North sustained increase in the American headquarters in Peabody, near Boston. cost of raw materials. 2 www.hcstarck.com. The 53,000 ft facility houses the research, development, and production center for the Ribbon-cutting ceremony to open new Carl Zeiss SMT North American Headquarters; from left to ORION helium ion microscope product line. In right, Dr. Dirk Stenkamp and Frank Averdung (Carl addition, the facility serves as the North Zeiss) and Dr. Bernd Rinner (Deputy Consul General, American hub for sales and service for the German Consulate, Boston).

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10 HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 complete family of ZEISS particle beam ALD-Holcroft Expands Linde acquires instruments and houses the Carl Zeiss Nano USA Based Manufacturing Majority Interest in Solutions Center Peabody. This center is a ALD-Holcroft Vacuum Technologies Co. Inc., SIGAS The Linde Group, comprehensive demonstration and application Wixon, Mich., expanded manufacturing development facility hosting six of the latest München, Germany operations to include the ModulTherm and acquired 51% of the generation electron- and ion-beam systems for DualTherm treatment chambers and quench shares in the nanoscale imaging, analysis, and structuring. chambers. Until now, these system components family-owned industrial gases company SIGAS www.smt.zeiss.com. (in their entirety) were imported to the NAFTA (Saudi Industrial Gas Co. region from ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH, Bluewater Thermal Changes Name Ltd.). SIGAS is the second Hanau, Germany. In addition to these biggest industrial gases Bluewater Thermal, Buffalo, N.Y., a brazing and vacuum-based components, ALD-Holcroft will company in Saudi Arabia heat treating supplier, changed its name to continue to supply all ancillary equipment and achieved sales of around EUR28 million in Bluewater Thermal Services to better convey the including pre-oxidation furnaces, temper capabilities of its six business units including 2007. The industrial gases furnaces, washers, external load handling market in Saudi Arabia is Carolina Commercial Heat Treating, Brazing systems, automation software, final installations expected to grow by Concepts, Hi-Temp, Harbor Metal Treating, and systems integrations from within the U.S. First more than 10% annually. www.linde.com. Pennsylvania Industrial Heat Treaters, and B & W deliveries of the U.S. ModulTherm systems are Heat Treating. Bluewater Thermal Services planned for the third quarter of 2008. operates at 15 locations across the eastern www.ald-holcroft.com. United States and Canada, with certifications including Ford Q-1, ISO 9001:2000, ISO CORRECTION In the article “Study of Alpha Case formation on Heat treated Ti-6-4 Alloy (May/June 14001, TS 16949, and CQI-9 Special Process: 2008 HTP, p47), the caption for Fig. 15a states that the …titanium sample shows Heat Treat System Assessment. alpha case, while it should have stated shows no alpha case. We apologize for any www.bluewaterthermal.com inconvenience this may have caused.

HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 11 INDUSTRY NEWS

EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & SERVICES United Process Controls Upgrades Nitriding Furnaces Following a successful pilot installation in 2006 of a fully automatic nitriding control system at its Tulsa, Okla., facility, Wellman Products Group recontracted Process-Electronic (a member of United Process Controls) to supply control systems for four additional nitriding furnaces. During the initial phase, Process-Electronic redesigned the nitriding recipe to shorten the cycle time by 60%, thus permitting Aluminum billet homogenizing furnace. Wellman to reduce the number of furnaces needed from six to five. Seco/Warwick (Tianjin) Industrial furnace Co. Additionally, the new atmosphere flow Ltd. completed installation of a traveling controls reduced process gas consumption homogenizing furnace at Miluo Longzhou Automatic nitriding and eliminated an expensive catalyst needed to Aluminium Co., Ltd., Miluo Industrial Park, control system. carry out the previous nitriding operation. All Hunan, China, a specialty aluminum alloy billets systems include gas control panels complete with manufacturer. The company operates a 50 kt/a Protherm 400 programmable controllers, recycling aluminum alloy billet production line for hydrogen analyzers, and preprogrammed 6XXX, 7XXX, and 2XXX series extrusion nitriding recipes. Installation and startup were aluminum alloy billets. Billet sizes include 152, completed in the first quarter of 2008. 178, and 254-mm (6, 7, and 10 in.) diameter in www.process-electronic.com. lengths up to 6,800 mm (268 in.). Furnace operating temperature range is 570 to 580°C Seco/Warwick Furnaces Go to (1060 to 1075°F), with a load-temperature Canada and China uniformity of ±5°C. www.secowarwick.com. Seco Warwick Corp., Meadville, Pa., received an order from DCL International Inc. (www. GH Induction to Deliver Induction dcl-inc.com) for a front-loading high vacuum Hardening Machine furnace with a 2-bar gas cooling system for DCL’s GH Induction Group, headquartered in Valencia, New Concord, Ontario, Canada, plant to Spain, received an order from a U.S. vacuum braze catalytic converters. DCL manufacturer of bearings for internal use on their International provides emissions-control solutions proprietary products. The two-station gear/ for off-highway vehicles, stationary engines, raceway machine industrial processes, and specialized on-highway incorporates many new design features that vehicles, supplying components to worldwide provide increased productivity and reduced set engine manufacturers, original equipment up time because of the second station. The Ontario Supporting manufacturers, and aftermarket retrofit. machine is capable of hardening gears and Tooling Industry Ontario is helping tool, www.secowarwick.com. bearing raceways up to 1,500 mm in diameter die, and mold makers and weighing up to 2,000 kg. The large meet the growing bearings are used in the production of wind demand for quality suppliers in the aerospace turbines among many other uses. The basic sector. The booming aerospace industry—there are now more than 350 firms in the province— provides a prime opportunity for tool and die makers to apply skills and expertise that have traditionally served the automotive sector. A $250,000 Ontario grant to the Ontario Aerospace Council will be used to implement initiatives to grow the tooling industry. Two-station gear/raceway induction hardening www.ontaero.org. Front-loading high-vacuum furnace. machine.

12 HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 design includes multiaxis CNC control, dynamic Bodycote to Focus tracking of raceway or gear teeth, ability to on Heat Treating, process OD and ID without changing inductor Sell Testing orientation, process monitoring, programmable Bodycote International Plc, Macclesfield, UK, set up for different diameters, automatic coil plans to sell its materials centering, and gap for raceways and self-cen- testing businesses and focus on its heat tering locators using a single crank. The machine treatment operations. will be installed in the fall of 2008. GH has All of the group’s major affiliate companies in Germany, France, Mexico, markets remain firm with the exception of the Brazil, Argentina, India, South Korea and China. anticipated softness in North American www.ghe-usa.com. Selectively vacuum carburized AISI 4320 sun pinion. automotive. Operating margins and cash flow Solar Atmosphere Vacuum and a surface hardness of 58-62 HRC. Vacuum are in line with the carburizing reduces furnace time for the deep board’s expectations. Carburizing Application www.bodycote.com. In a recent project, Solar Atmospheres, Soud- case compared with that using traditional erton. Pa., carburized an AISI 4320 sun pinion atmosphere carburizing. The finished gear met that connects to a generator as a planetary Chalmers & Kubeck’s requirements. speed increaser for a hydroelectric plant in South www.solaratm.com. Carolina. The 225 lb pinion needs selective carburizing, therefore stop-off paint was applied Solar Manufacturing to Deliver to the shaft to prevent carburizing, which enables Vacuum Nitriding Furnace further machining. The gear required 0.090 to Winston Heat Treat authorized the shipment of its 0.110 in. (2.3 to 2.8 mm) effective case depth new vacuum purge/gas nitride furnace from

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HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 13 INDUSTRY NEWS

EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES & SERVICES Kaiser Aluminum Solar Manufacturing Inc. on mid-sized cars. The furnace systems will be Production Slips (Souderton, Pa.) to his installed in FPT´s plant in Verrone, with production Kaiser Aluminum Corp. plant in Dayton, Ohio. to start in 2009. Once in full operation the systems Foothill Ranch, Calif., forecast lower production According to WinstonHT are capable to heat treat up to 800,000 than anticipated this year president John Reger, the transmissions. due to a short, unplanned outage at a light-gauge new furnace has met all GETRAG Transmission Manufacturing LLC ordered furnace during the first expectations including a three complete ModulTherm heat treatment lines quarter. In addition, a rapid furnace heating from ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH, Hanau, planned four-month William Jones, CEO of shut-down for rate of one hour to Germany, for the heat treatment of gear parts for its Solar (left) and John maintenance at another nitriding temperature, Reger, president of furnace in Spokane, and an equally fast Wash., starting in June, Winston Heat Treat. would lower the output of cooling rate back to heat-treated plate, a ambient temperature with an assisted Limited Seating... high-strength aluminum recirculating heat exchanger and 30 hp radial product used primarily in Reserve Your Place Today! the aerospace industry. inert gas blower, and nitriding case depth and www.kaiseraluminum. white layer performance are well within Register 3 or More and Save 20% com. expectations. The furnace was in design, ArcelorMittal Sells development, and construction for nearly one Sparrows Point year. Full process testing was conducted with Facility around-the-clock operation using actual ArcelorMittal, Winston product, and called for nearly two Learn best practices and gain insight into all your Luxembourg, completed operational and equipment questions. Join us at this the previously announced months of in-depth product evaluation. The sale of ArcelorMittal’s furnace operates with ammonia gas flow rate one-day event that will focus on Atmosphere options for: Sparrows Point of only 25% of that noted in the literature. The to OAO Severstal • Annealing • Nitriding • Sintering (Cherepovets, Russia) for furnace is efficient at nitriding temperature; • Brazing • Quenching care • Vacuum US$810 million, net of electric power consumption is less than 0.75 • Carburizing and maintenance processing debt. ArcelorMittal is the W/in.2 of hot zone internal heated area. The world’s largest and most • The influence of atmosphere composition on product quality furnace includes an electronic digital process global steel company, • Process controls and flammability limits with 310,000 employees control instrumentation for temperature, in more than 60 countries, • Atmosphere troubleshooting and safety considerations with a crude steel vacuum, and nitriding dissociation rate production of 116 million calculation from Super Systems Inc. Presenters include…Air Products atmosphere specialist metric tons. (Cincinnati; www.supersystems.com). Solar John Dwyer; Surface Combustion engineers Ralph Poor www.arcelormittal.com has filed a U.S. patent disclosure covering and Bill Cleary; Houghton International technical specialist Abbott Furnace Co. several aspects of the furnace. Scott Mackenzie, Ph.D.; and industry consultant, Dan Celebrates 25th www.solarmfg.com. Herring, “the Heat Treat Doctor.” Anniversary Wednesday, November 5, 2008 Abbott Furnace Co, St. Marys, Pa., a ALD-Holcroft Awarded Vacuum 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. manufacturer of Furnace Orders Doubletree Hotel Seattle Airport continuous belt industrial Seattle, Washington furnaces will celebrate its Fiat Powertrain Technologies (FPT), a Fiat 25th anniversary this Group company, Orbassano, Italy, ordered For program and registration, contact ASM Chapter year. A series of events is three complete ModulTherm heat treatment Relations at 440.338.5151, ext. 5527 or scheduled to mark the celebration. Abbott was lines from ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH, [email protected]. incorporated in 1983 as a Hanau, Germany, for the heat treatment of Tuesday, November 11, 2008 manufacturing and gear parts for its new C635 transmission used service company for 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. control panels, and in Brady’s Landing 1986 built its first continuous belt furnace Houston, Texas for the heat treat industry. Markets include the For program and registration, contact Diane Nielsen at powder metallurgy 281.221.6717 or [email protected]. industry, annealing, brazing, glass-to-metal Hosted by: sealing, and fuel cells. www.abbottfurnace.com.

ModulTherm vacuum heat treating system.

14 HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 PowerShift transmissions. The furnace systems ModulTherm line is equipped with 10 LOI Rotary Hearth will be installed in GETRAG´s new U.S. plant independent heat treatment chambers, which Furnace Sold to Volvo in Tipton, Ind. Production start is planned in are charged by a mobile transport module. Powertrain 2009. Once in full operation the systems are The quenching is performed in a separate cold Volvo Powertrain, Köping, Sweden, awarded LOI capable to heat treat up to 700,000 chamber mounted on transport module Thermprocess, Essen, dual-clutch transmissions for Chrysler LLC in GETRAG Corporate Group is said to be the Germany, an LOI Italimpianti company, a contract to supply North America. The ModulTherm lines largest independent automotive transmission a rotary hearth furnace for comprise low-pressure carburizing and manufacturer worldwide. www.ald-vt.com the gas carburizing of high-pressure gas quenching technology. Each www.ald-holcroft.com transmission parts to increase production capacity at its Köping plant. The furnace features zone separation designed for flexible programming and implemented using thermally insulated, gas-tight Atmospheres and Quenching Seminar intermediate doors. Heat-up, carburizing, and diffusion Best Practices • Advanced Solutions • Global Expertise stages of the process are carried out in separate zones of the continuous furnace ring. The use of a controlled atmosphere enhances quality, reduces process times, and cuts costs. The charge material is transferred through the furnace on trays. Following the completion of the heat treatment program, the charge can be quenched in an oil bath. The furnace is heated by vertically positioned low NOx radiant tubes. Production with the new heat treatment plant is scheduled to start in June 2009. www.loi-italimpianti.de.

Vac Aero Commissions Indian Partner’s First Vacuum Furnace Hightemp Vac Aero Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore Rural District – India, recently commissioned its first vacuum furnace at the joint venture’s facility in Nelamangala near Bangalore. The furnace was built to the Vac Aero Model VAH 3436 HV-2 design with 2-bar pressure quench and high vacuum capabilities. The unit, assembled entirely in India, currently is being used for We understand your world. production heat treating and brazing in commercial applications. Approvals for processing of aerospace parts are Presented by: underway. The Hightemp Vac Media Sponsor: Aero joint venture offers vacuum heat treating and brazing services, as well as the manufacture of vacuum Your Atmosphere Source! furnaces for the Asian market. www.hightemp-vacaero.com.

HEAT TREATING PROGRESS • JULY/AUGUST 2008 15