October 28th, 2019 as part of the “Monday Morning Briefing” we had some notes about our recent visit to furnace manufacturer Ipsen at their headquarters in Kleve, Germany. As a follow up to that visit we have these additional photos along with a caption for each, describing in a bit more details what we are looking at.

Ipsen Kleve, Germany has an in house welding department for manufacturing vacuum furnace housings and pressure vessels up to 20 bar abs.   

 

Another high vacuum furnace with stainless steel furnace housing for brazing. This furnace will be equipped with a molybdenum hot zone and turbo- molecular vacuum pumps. Installation will be in a clean room and the ultimate vacuum is in the range of 10-7 mbar/ torr. Left to right; Oliver Obladen, Michael Simon, Dr. Bora Özkan

Left to right; Oliver Obladen, Michael Simon, Dr. Bora Özkan standing in front of a continuous 3- Chamber High Vacuum Furnace. This furnace is equipped with a pre- chamber (1), inner doors, internal loading systems, heating chamber (2) and cooling chamber (3). During operation the gas-/ fan cooling takes place in the cold cooling chamber and the hot zone stays on temperature.

System Expert Oliver Obladen is showing the new Ipsen VacTreater. The Ipsen VacTreater was launched in October 2019 with the slogan “Revolution from Tradition” and comes with dedicated and pre-configured packages for different industry sectors https://vactreater.com/

 

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According to this press release Voestalpine in the Czech Republic recently added a Nitrex Nitriding system. While we personally have not had a chance to visit this particular facility we have seen several around the world including this one in South Africa and we can say that without exception each is absolutely top notch in terms of heat treating technology;  “The High Performance Metals Division of Voestalpine AG in the Czech Republic has expanded its heat treatment capabilities with the addition of a Nitrex system for nitriding and surface hardening stainless steel for various applications. The new pit-type furnace, an NX-820 model, is configured to process 31.5″ diameter by 78.75″ high (800 mm by 2000 mm) workloads that weigh up to 3850 lbs (1750 kg) and complements a prior Nitrex system installed in 2008 that combined NitregR-C gas nitrocarburizing technology with ONCR post-oxidizing technology for processing firearms.

As part of the new system order, Voestalpine and Nitrex have expanded their cooperation, granting Voestalpine the exclusive rights to commercialize NitregR-S and Nano-ST technologies in the Czech Republic. “The agreement builds on a strong partnership and confirms the market potential of hardening technologies for stainless steels. Under the terms of the license, Nitrex will work closely with Voestalpine to help meet their customer demands with research and process development for a variety of applications, materials, and markets,” said Marcin Stoklosa, Special Projects Manager of Nitrex Metal. Since 2005, Nitrex Metal has been building a lifelong customer relationship with voestalpine and its affiliates – Assab, Assab Steels, Assab Tooling, and Böhler-Uddeholm. Today, the company operates twelve Nitrex nitriding and nitrocarburizing systems in nine countries including China, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Indonesia, Poland, Slovakia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey.”

Remember this press release from McLaughlin Furnace Group in Indiana, USA about a pusher furnace order from earlier this year? Our understanding is that furnace run off will take place the end of November with the furnace being shipped and installed shortly thereafter; “McLaughlin Furnace Group based in Fort Wayne, Indiana is pleased to announce that they have received an order from a major truck component manufacturer for a two row, gas fired pusher furnace. The president and owner of the company Mr. Jeff McLaughlin had this to say about the order “We are very pleased that such a substantial manufacturer should have so much confidence in our ability to provide a state of the art system on time and on budget. This is a real milestone for our company and reinforces the fact that McLaughlin Furnace Group has grown to be one of the largest and most diversified in the North American furnace manufacturing industry.”

In Tonawanda, New York commercial heat treater B&W Heat Treating Inc., is adding 6,000 square feet and more capacity in an effort to be a “one stop shop” for their customers. B&W is a family owned company in its second generation and is now the only commercial heat treater in the Buffalo, New York area.

Mike Wright of HEF USA has decided to retire after 40 years in the the field of liquid nitrocarburizing although he does plan on starting a consulting business-Mike was  Sales and Service Manager for the company. Few commercial heat treaters in the world have the experience that HEF does when it comes to liquid nitrocarburizing and the company is rated as one of the largest commercial heat treaters in Europe according to “The Monty”. https://themonty.com/largest-european-commercial-heat-treaters-february-2019/  During the recent Heat Treat 2019 exhibition in Detroit we mentioned a rumor about Plasma Nitriding supplier Ion Heat landing a nice order for brand new plasma nitriding system from a customer in the USA-we can confirm that this was certainly true although we can’t provide the name of the customer. We can also say the company has landed some more work involving some of their current equipment in the US. We predict that Ion Heat is going to become a fairly well known name in North America for Plasma (Ion) nitriding systems. This photo was taken at the show and shows the owner of the company Mr. Andres Bernal in the centre and to his left Steven Sossa.

For some time we have been mentioning a really interesting opportunity for an ambitious heat treater, an opportunity which is still available. A small Commercial Heat Treat in the Rocky Mountain area of the US is for sale and the ideal new owner would be an experience commercial heat treater who has always wanted to run his own operation and at the same time live in one of the most beautiful areas of the USA. This is a small company but quite profitable-for more details Jordan Montgomery [email protected] The former TorqTek facility in Charleston, SC, USA is now completely closed with most of the equipment removed. This was a supplier of automotive components which was acquired by American Axle a few years back. We mention the company because at one time it had a fairly substantial heat treat department.

We still have quire a few photos from the recent heat treat exhibitions in the USA and Germany which we have not yet shared, here are a couple more. In addition we have a number of interesting news items from Germany to share with you over the course of the next couple of weeks.

And to round things out commercial heat treater Hauck in  Eindhoven, Netherlands recently expanded their facility by 1,000 square meters and added the vacuum furnace you see in the attached photo. We have rated Hauck as the second largest commercial heat treater in Europe as you can see here https://themonty.com/largest-european-commercial-heat-treaters-february-2019/ Showing once again how small the global heat treating industry is we should mention that Hauck’s parent company Aalberts Industries bought commercial heat treater Applied Process in the US early this year moving them into the ranks of one of the largest commercials in the USA.

Today we are very pleased to offer you an interview with Mr. Andreas Fritz, Managing Director of HEMO GmbH based in Ötisheim, Germany a major supplier of some of the most advanced cleaning systems in the world https://themonty.com/interviews/mr-andreas-fritz-managing-director-hemo-gmbh/. We are not going to go into too much detail about the company at this point as Andreas gives us a very good background in his interview-however we will  share with you a couple of photos of the plant as we say it Tuesday of this week. The plant itself is brand new and production is roughly 70% custom systems, 30% standard products and overall about a third of the systems they produce are for heat treatment applications. As you can see in these photos the factory is filled almost to capacity with partially completed systems, all which are vacuum based. The first photo shows Mr. Tom Weiss, Sales Manager on the left, and Mr. Volker Hoesel, Managing Director on the right. The system you see behind them is very shortly going to be shipped to a captive/commercial heat treater in North America-unfortunately we are not allowed to share the customer’s name but it is one which would be recognized by many heat treaters in North America. All we can really add is that boy these guys make top end cleaning systems.

The “Titan” line of vacuum furnaces which were introduced by Ipsen a number of years back have proven to be quite a success story with well over 300 built and sold-this success translates into a high resale value. For instance this unit; Model 5100-TITAN, s/n 5100-B013-B3 4039, built in 2013 came on the market 2 weeks ago and was offered by a used equipment dealer in Iowa, USA. There was no asking price, rather this took the form of an auction and it took exactly 2 weeks to sell. While we don’t know the final sale price we do know that there were a number of offers made and our understanding was that the final sale price was quite respectable.

Last year we toured captive/commercial heat treater Haerterei Wittmann in Uhingen, Germany who at the time was just starting on a very substantial investment/expansion program. The program is now concluded and earlier this week we had the chance to see the end results. To refresh your memories Wittman is a privately owned heat treater which provides commercial heat treating in addition to processing their own products which consists mainly of high end power transmission components. The company has substantial and impressive sealed quench (batch IQ) capacity) however what the firm has been concentrating on most recently is additional vacuum nitriding capacity which you can see below (Joern Rodhe of ROHDE Schutzgasöfen GmbH in Hanau and Ralph Matthaus of Wittman can be seen in two of these photos). The entire investment was close to 8 million Euros and included adding on almost 40% production capacity as well as an additional vacuum nitriding system, more office space, a brand new lab and more storage space. The end result is really quite impressive.

“Hermitage PA, October 30, 2019 – Solar Atmospheres, Inc. has long been a model of innovation and leadership in the heat treating industry. As long-time members of the Metal Treating Institute (MTI), Solar employees are actively involved in the many programs available through the Institute. Recently, MTI recognized three Solar employees for their commitment to MTI. On October 5, Bob Hill, President of Solar Atmospheres of Western PA, was honored with the prestigious M. Lance Miller Legend Award, in recognition of his leadership and lifetime commitment to the heat treating industry and MTI. Hill received the award in absentia, thanking fellow nominees, those who nominated him, and all MTI members in a videotaped acceptance speech. Said Hill of the honor: “Life is never boring as a commercial heat treater, and that’s why, after 43 years, I can honestly say I still enjoy being a part of this unique industry. It means so much that I’ve been honored with the M. Lance Miller Award.” Hill’s heat treating career began in 1980 when he joined Precision Heat Treating, Inc. as Vice President. Hill moved on to Solar Atmospheres of Souderton PA in 1995. Within five years, Hill was promoted to President, to head Solar’s newest venture 370 miles away in Western PA. In addition to Hill’s involvement with MTI, two other employees from the Solar Family of Companies – Patrick Reilly and John Hahn – are recent graduates from YES, MTI’s Leadership Training Program. The Solar Family of Companies congratulates Bob Hill, as well as Patrick Reilly and John Hahn, on their achievements.”

“Cherry Valley, ILLINOIS (October 30, 2019) – Ipsen USA announces the completion of an initiative to expand aftermarket services across the United States and Canada. Five Regional Sales Engineers (RSEs) were hired over the last six months to assist customers with replacement parts, retrofits, upgrades, service and technical support for any brand of atmosphere or vacuum heat-treating system. Ipsen’s RSEs have diverse backgrounds with experience in engineering, machine repair, and metallurgical processes. The RSEs are supervised by Matt Clinite, Ipsen Customer Service Sales Manager. “They are each incredibly unique in their own individual strengths,” Clinite says about the RSEs. “One common trait they all share is integrity and a ‘customer first’ attitude.” The RSEs fill a crucial role within the organization by creating a more efficient system for managing customers’ needs and streamlining the process between new equipment sales, aftermarket service, and field support. “Our team is here to identify risk points with our customers’ equipment,” says Clinite. “Our goal is to help our customers better prepare for maintenance planning and experience maximum furnace uptime and reliability.” Ipsen prioritizes innovative, industry-leading heat treating solutions and high-quality services. This new approach to customer care will provide quick and easy access to experts in the field. With a network of more than 120 technicians, Ipsen has the largest service team in the industry. For more information, visit our website at https://www.ipsenusa.com/aftermarket-support. To speak to a technical support specialist, call 1-844-GO-IPSEN”

Each of the four photos below has a heat treating story behind it, whether it is about a captive heat treater, commercial heat treater, furnace manufacturer or cleaning system specialist and we will tell you each story over the next few days.

Yesterday we mentioned the passing of Mike Tristano, his full obituary can be found below.

“Michael J. Tristano, 76, died at his residence Sunday, surrounded by his loving family, after a courageous battle with ALS. He was born in Chicago, IL, July 4, 1943, son of the late Chester and Francis (Nee: Badlementi) Tristano.

On March 18, 1972, Michael married Diana J. Brenner. He loved working in the heat treating business, Bodycote, as a Division Manager of the Midwest region for forty-five years prior to retiring. For the past thirty years in May he traveled to Florida. Mike could fix anything and everything and enjoyed tinkering with cars and working on his corvette. An avid Packer and Brewer fan, he also belonged to several golf and bowling leagues throughout the years. Above all, Mike cherished time with his family, especially his grandchildren, and looked forward to Friday date night and Saturday with friends.

Michael will be dearly missed by his wife of forty-seven years, Diana; his children, Kelly Tristano, Nicole (Matthew Cecchini), all of Racine; his grandchildren, Joshua, Brandon, Danielle, Vincent, and Olivia; sisters, Rosemary Hogsett of Prescott, AZ, Jeanette (Hank) Arndt of Elkhart, IN; nieces, nephews, other relatives and many dear friends. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in
death by two nephews, Mark and Michael; and brother-in-law, Allyn Brenner.

Funeral services will be held Tuesday, November 5th at 5 p.m. at Maresh-Meredith & Acklam Funeral Home. Relatives and friends may meet with the family on Tuesday at the funeral home from 3 p.m. until time of service at 5 p.m.

Please send condolences to Maresh-Meredith & Acklam Funeral Home.”

The heat treatment of Tool steels is in reality, very similar to the treatment of alloy steels. However, the difference in the treatment methods necessitate great care in the selection of the process methods in terms of:

We now progress to the available methods for the successful heat treatment of tool steels and the resulting metallurgy. Please, do not underestimate the value of stress relieving during the manufacturing phase of the tool steel.

Salt Bath Heat Treatment

Salt bath heat treatment is the least expensive method of heat treatment that there is as far as the equipment investment is concerned. However, there is still the consideration to make of pre and post cleaning, especially the latter. Finally, there is both the salt storage and the effluent disposal to consider and factor into the cost of processing.  It is further necessary (as is with all methods of heat treating) the pre-heating steps to reduce both thermal shock and surface moisture on the steel.

There is also the method of quenching to consider and the potential contamination of the quench medium. There is also the preparation and wiring to be able to lift and support the   work in and out of the molten salt. Salt baths do afford the protection to the surface of the steel during the process against surface decarburization and surface oxidation (providing the salt bath analysis is both controlled and maintained. The molten salt also protects the work surface with a cocoon of salt to reduce the risk of thermal shock. There is the myth that salt bath will reduce distortion.

This is a myth that is accepted on an international basis. It is not just applied to salt bath heat treatment; it is also applied to atmosphere and vacuum heat treatment. Distortion does not necessarily occur as a result of heat treatment.  It manifests itself at the heat treatment procedure and the assumption is the heat treat procedure caused it. That is not necessarily a true assumption!! It is necessary to understand the influence and causes of the manifested distortion.

Any time that steel is worked, either by forging, rolling or machining the induced surface stresses are set up in the steel. The only effective manner in which the induced stress will receive itself is by the application of heat.

So it can be seen that distortion is not necessarily caused by the heat treater, but by the aggressiveness in which it is machinated. Another myth is that hard turning will reduce distortion because of the speed of the cut. The faster you cut, the greater the friction generated and the greater the risk is of forming untempered martensite on the steel surface. Untempered martensite will lead to the potential for surface cracking.

So then, what is the secret to reduced distortion?

The first thing to understand is that the distortion cannot be eliminated.

What then can one do?

Atmosphere and Fluidized Bed methods of Heat Treatment of Tool Steels

Atmosphere heat treatment is simply another method of protecting the surface of the steel against surface oxidation and decarburization.

The same principles that apply to both atmosphere heat treatment and salt bath heat treatment, applies also to fluidized bed heat treatment.

 Fluidized bed heat treatment is simply the same principle as is with fluidized bed, the only difference is that the fluidized bed is not wet on the steel surface.

Therefore, the steel will still oxidize and decarburize (very slightly) on removal from the bed. It therefore behooves the tool maker to communicate with the heat treater.

Vacuum Heat Treatment.

Vacuum heat treatment methods are becoming the ‘work horses’ of the thermal processing industry.

The vacuum furnace has been present with metallurgical processing since almost 75 years. They were used before WW11 and have certainly been used for most aspects of thermal processing. 

The vacuum furnace finds itself in usage  in the following processes:

 What is special about the vacuum furnace?

The vacuum furnace is another source of heat and that is all. The principles of metallurgical phase change remain the same, no matter what the furnace type. There are some other major advantages to Vacuum heat treating, which are shown as follows. The vacuum furnace is generally a batch furnace. The process operates from cold to hot with the ability to introduce holds for equalization cross sectional variance equalization. The quench medium can be 360-degree radial cooling. The quench medium mixture can be varied to suite the steel being treated as well as pressure variability. The cooling rate can also be varied to accommodate sensitive steels and variable cross-sectional size changes.

Suggested pre-heat and selection of the cooling rate for the appropriate mechanical and metallurgical properties. The following illustration shows the categorization of the tool steels. Further, it should also be remembered that the metallurgy of the tool steels is still based on the metallurgical principles that were discussed in the first courses. We still need to heat soak and cool, according to the metallurgy required for the tool steel to function.

The next illustration demonstrates the principle property requirements necessary in a steel to be used for example for die-casting operations. The steel box in the center of the illustration will be determined by whatever properties are required of that particular steel. It will be as a result of the heat treatment procedure that will determine if the steel will fulfill all of the requirements that are necessary. 

Tool steels hold a special place in most branches of engineering as they are used to: form, shape, roll, extrude, bend, cut, shear, and mold. Each of the above will place many different demands on the steel to perform successfully in different environments. Tool steels are usually made in small lots by specialized steel makers.  The steel recipe is very carefully controlled to ensure high quality and high cleanliness.