“SECO/WARWICK will deliver their unique technology to another tool manufacturer. The retort furnace for the oxidation process operates under a nitrogen and hydrogen mix, then under steam, is the solution ordered from SECO/WARWICK. This latest furnace will be adjusted to the individual needs of the customer, providing the appropriate final hardness and their color of the workpieces. The solution will also enable tempering after vacuum purging. Contrary to appearances, oxidation is not a very common process on the market. It is used primarily in demanding industries such as automotive and aviation, however, the technology is increasingly widespread among tool manufacturers.
SECO/WARWICK’s contract for the delivery of the retort furnace continues the cooperation with this tool manufacturer, who currently operates a SECO/WARWICK vacuum furnace for brazing, hardening and vacuum carburizing. A new process solution, the retort furnace, will be designed according to the customer’s requirements, with a customized heating chamber so that the furnace is compatible with the tooling used in the customer’s production process, and so that the process itself is safe and repeatable. The characteristics of the manufacturing line and details of the production process are the key elements that will determine the final design of a dedicated solution.
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August 10, 2020 Bell unveiled a New Manufacturing Technology Center in Fort Worth, Texas, USA; “Fort Worth, Texas (August 10, 2020) – Bell Textron Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, unveiled today its new 140,000-square-foot Manufacturing Technology Center (MTC) in Fort Worth, Texas. The MTC is an innovative proving ground where Bell will test and refine technologies and processes-demonstrating manufacturing readiness and ability to successfully build and support Future Vertical Lift (FVL) aircraft. The facility provides capabilities that span all of Bell’s core manufacturing of rotor and drive systems, critical infrastructure and final assembly.
“The MTC is the next step in successfully deploying new manufacturing technologies and processes into Bell’s future factories,” said Glenn Isbell, vice president, Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing Innovation. “These future factories working together with our teammates and suppliers, will be designed to enable high-quality, high-rate production of the Bell V-280 Valor, Bell 360 Invictus and other future aircraft.”
This new facility includes a brand new, state of the art heat treating department which can be seen in the “artists rendering” below. The medium sized building in the center of the hall houses the actual heat treat system, just to the right is a cryogenic system and to the right of that you can see a vacuum temper. We are hopeful that in the near future we will be able to provide more details.”
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“Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT), a recognized leader in heat treat services and metallurgical solutions, announced today the purchase of two additional induction units. The induction equipment, which is being custom built, is expected to be operational this spring. The custom build will increase the heat treater’s induction hardening size capability, allowing them to handle parts up to 600 lbs. in weight, 14 inches in diameter and 51 inches in length.
AHT has offered UltraGlow® Induction Hardening in Waterloo, Iowa since 1993 and has a wide array of coils on-hand to accommodate various part geometries. AHT also runs three shifts for around-the-clock coverage. AHT President, Mikel Woods commented, “We are excited to add more state-of-the art equipment. The new technology will ultimately allow us to be more efficient, resulting in even better turnaround times for our customers.” AHT purchased two new induction units in 2019, as well.
About Advanced Heat Treat Corp. Established in 1981, Advanced Heat Treat Corp. (AHT) is a recognized leader in providing heat treat services and superior metallurgical solutions to companies across the globe, with locations in Alabama, Iowa and Michigan. Their UltraGlow® family of processes includes plasma ion nitriding, ferritic nitrocarburizing (FNC), gas nitriding, UltraOx®, through hardening, carburizing, carbonitriding, induction hardening and many more.”
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Based in Canada Linamar is a global, multi-billion dollar supplier of auto and truck components. Many of their facilities around the world have in house heat treating departments with one of the largest at Linamar Gear in Guelph, Ontario, Canada (as a matter of fact the location in Guelph has what we would estimate to be the largest batch IQ capacity in all of North America).
We mention them today because we have this fascinating video of automotive gears being press quenched. In addition to the video we are also including two photos of the heat treating department, photos exclusive to “The Monty”.
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In 2020 we ranked commercial heat treater Thermal Vac as one of the largest commercial heat treats in North America https://themonty.com/project/
Since that article the company has been very busy – let’s summarize a little;
– Sean Driscol, son of the founder Steve Driscol was recently named President of the new location “Thermal-Vac Arizona”. While this location is still a work in progress we do know that it will include a shiny new vacuum furnace.
-The facility in Orange, CA has added a new salt bath to increase the capacity of their aluminum dip brazing process.
-On the way is a brand new Gasbarre nitriding furnace. This photo shows a typical nitriding unit from the company, whether the Thermal Vac unit is exactly the same we can’t say.
It’s always great to see a family owned business transition from first generation to second generation and in the case of Thermal Vac the transition seems to be going smoothly.
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Why are these individuals positively giddy with happiness? Because they just read the February 2021 issue of “The Monty Heat Treat News Magazine” The Monty Magazine February 2021 – Flipbook by The Monty | FlipHTML5 and they now know everything which is happening in the heat treatment world. On the left we have Amandine Belvito and on the right Bernard Salvi both of heat treatment company Thermi-Lyon, one of the largest commercial heat treaters in all of France. Based in Lyon the company has multiple locations around Europe and you can read all about them at Traitement thermique – PVD – Groupe Thermi Lyon (groupe-thermi-lyon.com)
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Yesterday we had a news item about a company in Michigan, USA installing a new gas nitrider which was provided by furnace builder Rubig of Austria. The press release prompted some discussions about “Made in America” or perhaps we should say “Made in North America”.
Every single form of thermal processing equipment known to mankind has multiple suppliers in North America; Batch IQ furnaces, Endothermic Generators, Vacuum furnaces, Mesh Belt Lines, Pusher furnaces, Austempering furnaces-you name it and you will find at least 2 or 3 suppliers of every one of these technologies. However there is one exception and that is Ion (Plasma) nitriding systems.
So if you are ever asked what is the only heat treating technology in North America which is almost always built outside of North America you can confidently raise your hand and say “Ion Nitriding”.
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Back in 2019 TS Innovation, a subsidiary of HEF Group set up a new facility in Quebec, Canada to offer liquid nitrocarburizing. Since that time the company has made some changes which prompted this press release;
TS Innovation offers a quick turnaround time with good quality service. This facility also offers a state-of-the-art PVD/PECVD thin-film coating center. These precision coatings have gained more popularity due to its low deposition temperatures, extremely high hardness (2000 to 4500 HV), excellent anti-frictional properties – especially DLC (diamond-like carbon) coatings. Examples of such applications include automotive engine and differential components, injection molding, sports equipment, biomedical, aerospace and oil & gas.
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Rubig, a furnace manufacturer based in Wels, Austria is in the process of installing a “duo” gas nitrider which can also nitride stainless steels at a company in Michigan. Darby Metal Treating in Plainwell, Michigan is a family owned business and in this picture you see from the left Tom, Max, and Adrien Darby, Matt Fortuna, Ernst (Rubig service), and John Young who is the local Rubig representative. While Darby offers a number of heat treat processes they really concentrate on vacuum heat treating.
The fact that Rubig is based in Europe prompted us to think about whether there are any heat treating technologies which are not made in North America and we came up with one which will be the topic for an upcoming article.
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“In response to the challenges of California’s energy market, Solar Atmospheres of California (SCA) has installed and recently commissioned the state’s largest commercial Solar + Energy Storage System. By combining onsite generation, an advanced energy storage system and a world class artificial intelligence powered analytics platform, SCA looks to optimize energy use by automatically switching between onsite generation, battery power or grid power. The large robust system will enable SCA to achieve a wide variety of goals, including energy expense reductions through reduced peak demand, onsite renewable power generation and demand response program participation. Additional benefits include energy resilience, sustainability, environmental and corporate responsibility, and innovation. The digitally connected energy storage network includes a 772kW PV Solar System and a 1,561kW/3,122kWh Tesla Battery Storage System.
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