In the end, the choice fell on the N-EXT 412, a compact-size Nitrex gas nitriding furnace for low-volume quantities best suited for Lenox’s production needs. The plug-and-play N-EXT is a turnkey nitriding system built on a self-contained platform that includes the furnace, control system with Nitreg® technology, and an exhaust neutralizer for clean and green processing. Its small footprint allows it to fit into limited spaces within a plant.
The new Nitrex system complies with AMS 2750 for pyrometry and AMS 2759/10 for controlled nitriding standards. With a temperature distribution of +/-5°C, it is suitable for nitriding H11 and H13 extrusion dies. The need for a fast delivery with Lenox Group also weighed in heavily when choosing Nitrex. The system was delivered and started up in the first quarter of 2022. “Lenox Group could always count on our guidance and involvement through every stage of the project. This is the story of a long-term relationship, and an experience rewarded with a signed contract after talks spanning several years,” comments Mr. Stokłosa.”
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DELTA H® and Phillips Federal Deliver To Tinker AFB, OK – USAF, Their First AMS2750G Qualified Heat Treating System For Military Aircraft
The newly installed DCAHT® features a certified TUS volume of 24” wide, 16 inches high, 72 inches long, with an upper chamber convection oven operable to 500°F, and a lower chamber convection furnace operable of 1200°F. In addition to aluminum, the system can be used for PH stainless steel aging, as well as titanium and ferrous alloy processes. Both chambers qualified as Class 1, and were certified as Class 2 for aluminum applications. Honeywell controls and recorders are featured and include remote computer control, data entry, process monitoring and produce irrefutable batch records with quench delay.
Extensive training was involved to not only several operators, but also QC personnel and two “Trainers” qualified to train other operators. Additional training was provided to USAF personnel responsible for maintaining pyrometry records to assure continued compliance to AMS2750G.
“The DELTA H furnace we installed in 2015 is an absolute work horse, it has been operating 24/7 ever since, and it is, without question, the most reliable and productive machine in this entire facility. When it came to increasing our heat treating capacity, there was only one choice.” Mechanical Engineer, Tinker AFB
About DELTA H® TECHNOLOGIES, LLC and Phillips Federal Division: DELTA H® manufactures heat treating equipment designed exclusively for serving the uncompromising standards of the aerospace & defense industry with guaranteed compliance to the strict and demanding requirements of AMS2750G and Nadcap accreditation. DELTA H® is proud to serve leading aircraft OEMs, aircraft MRO facilities worldwide, aircraft parts suppliers and the Armed Forces.
Phillips Federal Division is the leading service provider and manufacturing partner to the United States Government. DELTA H® is proud and grateful to be among their distinguished partners and represented companies.
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In one of the best “Heat Treat Podcasts” ever our eloquent and witty host Mr. Carlos Torres talks “Additive Manufacturing and Heat Treat”. His guests are Mr. Paul Tallon and Erick Tenuta of Burloak Technologies Inc., a company much in the news over the past couple of years because of their ground breaking technology and their brand new state of the art heat treat department. Read this exclusive background from “The Monty Heat Treat News” (below) and watch the podcast Additive manufacturing and Heat Treat | Paul Tallon & Erick Tenuta | THE HEAT TREAT PODCAST #48 – YouTube
“APRIL 18, 2022” Additive Manufacturing Firm Now NADCAP Accredited; It has been an interesting journey watching Burloak Technologies, an additive manufacturing firm invest in a brand new captive heat treating department and today we see the final step. The final step being NADCAP Accreditation. The rather breathless report is below and comes from part of the heat treatment team. Congratulations!
“It is done. We have closed everything out. Burloak technologies is now accredited for heat treatment, including titanium, aluminum and steel processing. We also covered heat treatment in vacuum and hot isostatic pressing. Our supplemental slash sheets included Raytheon, Boeing and MDA. We will be proudly flying our PRI flag once we get it! From a building with nothing to a shop with accreditation. The journey has finally paid off. Thank you for your support!”
“March 17, 2021, Burlington; Burloak Technologies Completes In House Heat Treatment Department; We have watched with great interest as Burloak Technologies, an additive manufacturing firm in Burlington, Ontario, Canada has progressed on their state of the art heat treatment department. Today we had the chance to see the facility in person and we have these photos to prove it. These pictures show part of the department and include a Quintus “Hipping” unit (the only commercially available one in Canada by the way) and an Ipsen 2 bar “Titan” vacuum furnace. In this picture you see the team responsible for this impressive feat. From left to right we have; Alex Bast, Hamid Azizi, Paul Tallon, Jason Wright and Gord Montgomery. We are also including a press release the company recently issued about being approved by Boeing.
“January 28, 2021, Burlington; Burloak Technologies, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, a division of Samuel, Son & Co., Ltd., has been approved by The Boeing Company to additively manufacture aluminium AlSi10Mg components to the Boeing BAC 5673 specification. Burloak Technologies states it is the world’s first additive manufacturer to achieve this qualification. Burloak and Boeing are now working to apply the BAC 5673 specification to several programmes for existing and future components. “This approval marks the completion of a qualification process that included a rigorous evaluation of Burloak’s capabilities by Boeing. We would like to thank Boeing’s additive manufacturing team for its collaborative approach,” stated Peter Adams, Burloak’s founder and Chief Innovation Officer. “Together, we developed a well-defined specification that has demonstrated robust, repeatable processes to produce flight components using Additive Manufacturing.”
Colin Osborne, Samuel’s president and Chief Executive Officer, commented, “Achieving this qualification further validates Burloak’s position as a global leader in the Additive Manufacturing space, and clearly demonstrates our ability to commercialise this transformational technology. This milestone also signals the increasing importance of Additive Manufacturing within aerospace and represents a step forward on the path to a greener future for aviation.”
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Our friends at “Industrial Heating Magazine” just published an article written by Andreas Guderjahn of Schwing Technologies, a company offering a patented fluidized bed technology. The article can be found at Industrial Heating | Thermal processing technical journal covering heat treating, & ferrous & nonferrous thermal processes in excess of 1000 degrees F. under the title of “Improved Cooling Rates in Fluidized-Bed Systems” dated November 7, 2022.
The article caught our attention due to the fact that little is heard these days about fluidized bed furnaces, so little in fact that “The Monty Heat Treat News” would be surprised if anybody in the industry under 40 is familiar with it. While the technology works and indeed offers some advantage and flexibility over other types of thermal processing systems it largely fell out of fashion a number of years ago and we have not seen a new installation in probably 20 years. The article is well written, articulate and makes some interesting points but we personally don’t see the technology making a major comeback any time soon. Read the article and make up your own mind though.
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(originally posted March 2021)
KROHNE is a world-leading manufacturer and supplier of solutions in industrial process instrumentation. Within the UK, KROHNE Ltd is the group’s global centre of excellence for Coriolis mass flowmeter technology. Its manufacturing plant in Wellingborough is where the award winning OPTIMASS range of mass flowmeters is produced. The process of manufacturing products at Krohne Ltd often involves working with specialist materials such as Duplex 31803 and Super Duplex 32750 stainless steels. Particularly with regards to materials such as Super Duplex, it is highly critical that the brazing process is completed correctly.
However, the largest of Krohne’s products to be brazed are up to two metres in length and no suitable furnace exists within the UK that has the hot zone capability to process such a large product. This meant that the brazing of this product was subcontracted to a supplier in France, which brought challenges with lead times, transport, and associated cost issues.
The objective: bringing the brazing process in-house.
Krohne Ltd’s Management team made the decision to bring the process of brazing their larger products in-house, thus ensuring complete control over quality and lead times. Following a significant investment in the UK’s largest horizontal vacuum furnace, the company required assistance with the design and manufacture of a fixture that would possess the specific hot zone capability, be of appropriate size and at the same time cope with weight, cost and distortion limitations whilst processing the larger Krohne Ltd products. For this, the Krohne Team turned to Erodex UK.
Evolution of fixture design
The resulting design was a 2.4m x 1.2m Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC) fixture consisting of 2 layers and a cover plate to ensure that there was no direct radiation heat onto the components processed on the top layer and that heat is evenly distributed within the furnace. Production Engineering Manager Darren Hawes comments: “The Erodex team were able to understand our specific requirements and design a fixture based on a CFC grid. We then had a further meeting and added in channels and a cover plate that sits on top of the CFC grid structure to maintain 0.1mm flatness.
“Perforated holes were added to allow the 360-degree gas cooling to flow underneath the fixture to the parts, because cooling is one of the critical features of the process. Side rails were added to the fixture to remove the possibility of any parts falling off and we added lifting points to the fixture, so once removed from the furnace, if the loader were to break down at any point, the fixture could be removed from the loader by overhead cranes”.
Andrew McFarlane, Technical Sales Engineer at Erodex UK and project lead adds: “When it became clear that a more intricate and technical design was required, we involved our full High Temp team and further meetings took place to come up with the optimum design to incorporate the changes our customer identified and to deliver the additional required project features such as spares and changes to the spacers. “We showed flexibility to provide what the customer wanted to achieve this and altered the designs until they were satisfied”.
Why was Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC) graphite the material of choice for fixture manufacture?
Krohne Ltd Manufacturing Engineer Tom Harrison explains why, guided by the Erodex UK team, they opted to manufacture the fixture from Carbon Fibre Composite (CFC) graphite: “We had to find the right material for the fixture when considering weight, cost and distortion limitations and we could not find another material that was comparable to CFC for achieving this. “The CFC fixture is lightweight yet as the temperature increases within the furnace the material gets stronger. Our main requirement of the fixture and the plate itself was to have a 0.1mm flatness tolerance, so when we manufacture and process our parts, any distortion of the fixture does not impact on the assembly that is being processed.
“The straight tube assemblies being processed within the furnace also have a 1/600mm straightness tolerance. Up to two metres we can have 3mm distortion end to end in the bow of the tube. To get that right, we required the fixture base to be as true as possible, so that we are not adding any additional distortion into the processing of the parts. The CFC fixture was therefore designed and manufactured by Erodex to deliver on that 0.1mm flatness constraint. “In addition, the more mass within the furnace, the greater the effect on heating and cooling rates. A metallic fixture can act as a heat sink, using CFC reduces the mass greatly so our process is optimised and the energy we do use is used efficiently”.
Additional benefits of using a CFC grid structure.
An added benefit of a CFC grid structure is that if individual parts of the fixture break, only these need to be replaced. This contrasts with a metallic grid, where the whole grid would need to be replaced or refurbished, resulting in a significant reduction in maintenance costs. Furthermore, Duplex stainless steel and Super Duplex stainless steel are mainly used for corrosion resistance, meaning that any carbon or other contamination picked up from the fixture itself could affect the metallurgy of the material, which in turn can add further complications to the products being processed.
To avoid this, the CFC graphite fixture was coated in a Yttria Zirconia coating to prevent any carbon ingress into the material. Hawes continues: “The knowledge of the application and properties of CFC within the Erodex UK team was vital in helping us to understand what could be achieved both with the material and the fixture design itself. As we moved through the process, the design became more complex, so having their expertise at hand to help develop this was very beneficial to us. They acted like a partner on this project, and it was clear from the outset that they were willing to listen, accommodating changes and providing new ideas”.
Fixture assembly and operation.
Erodex assembled the fixture prior to coating and provided a video demonstrating how this should be repeated. Following coating of the fixture, the team were back on site to reinforce this with demonstrations of the ease of assembly to all Krohne Ltd end users. Hawes’ team need to make sure the fixture is precisely central within the furnace every time it is loaded. To achieve this, a specialist forklift is used and Erodex designed the fixture to be held by the forklift so that this was achievable. The forklift is centralised as you drive it into the furnace, by two guides that sit underneath it.
Harrison adds: “The fixture itself has been used now since October, we have completed numerous cycles and it is holding up to design requirements of flatness, the coating is performing well and ultimately, the fixture is achieving what it was required to do. “We vacuum clean the fixture and furnace after every cycle to remove any debris coming from the processing. The fixture also goes through a maintenance check/ two weekly burnout to remove any contaminants that may have come onto the fixture because of the processing of the products in the furnace.
“We have also used the CFC graphite fixture to process a product as part of our furnace validation that was previously processed by a subcontractor. We could see that there was 7mm distortion end to end on the part provided by the subcontractor. Once we processed it through on the fixture all the contact points were then level again. We would have not been able to achieve that in a subcontract furnace.
“Ultimately, this has given us full control over processing. It has given us the capability to develop our processes and increase productivity and allows continuous development and improvement of the process too. “For example, we had identified a few issues with how one cycle was run, where we were positioning the monitoring thermocouples to ensure the parts are fully up to temperature before we started the brazing part of the process, so it has given us further knowledge on that, which in turn has benefitted the product being processed”.
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“We are excited to announce the newest group to join the metals heat treating and materials processing industry. Obsidian Technical Group, LLC (Obsidian) was started earlier this year by Jason and Eric Jossart, best known for founding Atmosphere Engineering, a premier sensors manufacturer and turnkey systems integration company, which was acquired by Nitrex-United Process Controls in 2017. After taking a few years to regroup, the brothers are back. Obsidian was created to help heat treaters stay up to date and operational by providing a wide range of services including product introduction, training, technical support, as well as installation and upgrade services.
To accomplish this goal, Obsidian has already signed partnerships with key equipment manufacturers, retained a team of sales professionals throughout the Midwest and Southeastern USA, and is currently building a group of experienced support technicians and engineers to provide a valuable resource for both OEMs and heat-treaters alike. Eric stated, “Our goal is to become a full-service resource for both heat treaters and manufacturers to contact when they need to complete projects as well as keep their equipment up and running and compliant with the latest industry requirements.” Services Offered by Obsidian include:
- Furnace specification and Equipment installation
- Heat Treating Equipment Upgrades
- NFPA Safety Assessments
- Equipment Support and Repairs
- Calibration Compliance support to meet NADCAP, ISO, and CQI-9.
According to Jason, “After 25+ years of experience designing and installing control systems for a wide variety of processes in the heat-treating industry worldwide, we not only learned what works, but also how to do things the right way. These systems are designed to operate for decades, but during that time they also need to be technically supported. That is what we want to become, the technical resource for all things heat-treat!”
Currently, Obsidian Technical Group has offices in the Midwest and Southeast US with a goal to provide services nationally. Please reach out if you are considering any new heat-treating equipment project or require technical assistance keeping your systems operational.”
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“Dr. Valery Rudnev is the Director of Science & Technology (retired) at Inductoheat, Inc., an Inductotherm Group Company. He is considered by many as one of the leading global figures in the induction heating and heat-treating industry. Dr. Rudnev has more than 40 years of experience and is known within the American Society for Materials (ASM International) and among induction heating professionals as “Professor Induction.”
In 2006, Dr. Rudnev was elected as a Fellow of ASM Int’l in recognition of his distinguished contributions to the field of materials science and materials engineering (The citation reads “For substantial achievements in induction heating and induction heat treating technology through the combined use of theoretical knowledge, experience, computer modeling, know-how and novel process and product development”). In 2016, the International Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering (IFHTSE) has elected Dr. Rudnev as a Fellow in recognition of his leadership and outstanding, globally recognized and significant contributions to the development of heat treatment and surface engineering (The citation reads “For his preeminence in induction heat treating, and modeling of the induction heat treating process”).
In 2022, Dr. Valery Rudnev has been selected to receive the ASM’s William Hunt Eisenman Award “for dedicated service to the global materials science community, leadership, development and promotion of induction heating and heat treating technologies and novel technologies.” The award was established in 1960 in a recognition of unusual achievements in industry in the practical application of materials science and engineering through production or engineering use. Dr. Rudnev was a Chairman of the Technical Committee of Forging Industry Association (FIA) of North America (2013-2016).
He authored and co-authored numerous chapters and articles for eleven (11) handbooks devoted to various aspects of induction heating, heat treating, material science, computer modeling and innovative process development. This includes his contributions to the publication of three (3) ASM Handbooks (Volumes 4A, 4C and 22B) and the 1st and 2nd editions of the Handbook of Induction Heating published by CRC Press, 2017, 750 pages. Dr. Rudnev is the Lead Volume Editor of the ASM Handbook, Vol.4C: Induction Heating and Heat Treating, 2014.
In 2019, he was awarded to be the Woodside Memorial Lecturer at the Detroit Chapter of ASM. The Woodside Memorial Lecture is named for William P. Woodside, the founder of ASM in Detroit (1913). Dr. Rudnev is a member of various International Editorial Boards and Scientific/Engineering/Advisory Committees. His credits include a great deal of “know-how”, more than 60 patents and inventions (U.S. and International) and about 300 engineering/scientific publications. In 2018, he was given a prestigious award by ASM’s Heat Treat Society for co-authoring the best paper in heat treat industry. A number of Dr. Rudnev’s publications have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian, Chinese and Japanese. He has been a keynote speaker/plenary lecturer/invited speaker at many international congresses, conferences, colloquiums, seminars and symposiums.”
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NOVEMBER 4, 2022; McLaughlin Furnace Group of Avilla, Indiana, USA and Rohde Schutzgasoefen of Hanau, Germany are very proud to announce that as a result of a partnership formed earlier this year between the two companies they have landed one of their first contracts. A Rohde “SRU” (Salt Recovery Unit) designed by Rohde will be built and installed by McLaughlin Furnace Group and delivered to a US manufacturer of sporting equipment. The system is designed to reclaim 99% of the salt which is used in furnaces using salt as a quenching medium.
Joern Rohde had this to say; “We are very pleased to have reached this stage with our new partners, McLaughlin Furnace Group. To date we have found it a pleasure to work with the McLaughlin team and we are already planning a number of other projects“
Jeff McLaughlin of McLaughlin Furnace Group had this to say: “While this project is very important to us and represents a real milestone it is the future that we are really looking forward to. Already we have in mind a number of other collaborations both in Europe and North America. We are tremendously excited about what the future holds for both companies“.
“JUNE 7, 2022. US Furnace Builder & German Furnace Manufacturer Agree To Form Partnership; McLaughlin Furnace Group Based in the US & Rohde Schutzgasoefen Located in Germany Announces Partnership. Furnace manufacturer Rohde Schutzgasoefen of Germany and McLaughlin Furnace Group of Avila, Indiana, USA have announced a partnership for servicing equipment and also for furnace manufacturing. More details will be announced soon.”
About McLaughlin Furnace Group; “In 2007 Jeff McLaughlin, founded McLaughlin Services and quickly become an industry leader. Then in 2017, McLaughlin purchased Vesco, a vacuum service company based in East Windsor, Connecticut, that opened in 1983. Today, the new McLaughlin Furnace Group, is recognized as an innovative pioneer in the heat treat industry. Blending cutting-edge technology with over 100 years of combined expert experience on staff, McLaughlin Furnace Group has set an industry standard for elite customer service and custom, go-to solutions.” McLaughlin Furnace Group (mclaughlinsvc.com)
About Rohde Schutzgasoefen; “Rohde is a medium-sized family company active in the manufacturing of heat treatment systems for over 30 years. We are based in Hanau, close to Frankfurt am Main. Here, we plan, design and manufacture our products in accordance with our philosophy: Modernise & improve the proven, and develop innovations. Our company has a very strong background in retort style furnaces and salt recovery systems.” Rohde Schutzgasöfen GmbH | | Rohde Schutzgasöfen GmbH (rohdetherm.de)”
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Ben Tackett, Ryan McLaughlin, Jeff McLaughlin, Joern Rohde, Natasha Rohde, Vincent & Konstantin Rohde
The heat treatment industry is certainly not alone in experiencing the challenges brought about by inflation, disruptions in the global supply chain, rising energy costs and labor market issues. This is reflected in the fact that pricing for virtually everything has increased along with delivery times.
A good example of how these issues have affected pricing and deliveries can be found at one of the best known firms in the heat treatment industry, Honeywell Thermal Solutions. Honeywell Thermal Solutions (HTS) includes such well known names in the gas burner industry as Eclipse, Maxon, Hauck and Krom Schroeder. HTS just announced an average annual price adjustment of 12%, replacing the existing inflation charge of 4%. This is effective December 5th, 2022. While there are some further details about this adjustment the bottom line is that Honeywell like every other company in this industry has been forced to raise prices while at the same time deliveries can stretch out to 10 months or more.
While these challenges will undoubtedly persist for some time they will at some point in time be a distant, unhappy memory.
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Heat treating giant Bodycote The leading provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services worldwide – Bodycote plc has just appointed Mr. Steven John Campbell to the position of Vice President, Automotive, North America. Previous to this John was Bodycote Country Manager (Mexico) for almost 4 years. In this role he was responsible for the two Bodycote facilities in Silao and San Luis Potosí, Mexico both of which have a very strong focus on vacuum carburizing of automotive transmission components largely for GM.
Bodycote is ranked by “The Monty Heat Treat News” as the world’s largest commercial heat treater The Monty Heat Treat News – 50 Largest North American Commercial Heat Treats 2022 | The Monty
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