In Mexico we see that Carlos Torres has been appointed President and CEO of MATTSA Furnace Company. Based in San Luis Potosi MATTSA is the largest furnace builder in the country;

“MATTSA Furnace Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Carlos Torres as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective July 15 2019. Carlos has extensive  experience in the Heat Treat industry and a fresh perspective for the company’s future. His duty will be to continue to grow and solidify the company in the Heat treat market as an important player in the industry. Carlos has this to say; “I am excited to be a part of what I envision to be a robust growth period for MATTSA and look forward to leading the Company through this transformational stage. Our Mission is to show the world the professionalism and talent that MATTSA has to deliver great products and services through an innovating and disciplined approach to create added value with top quality and great customer service to our beloved Heat Treat industry “. Our great staff at MATTSA and our strategical alliances with great world wide companies like Afc-Holcroft  (Now part of Aichelin ) and Super Super Systems Inc have been a key part of our success. I am very proud to have the honor to lead this organization my father founded 35 years ago.”

Commercial heat treater ALD Thermal Treatment, one of the largest commercial vacuum carburizing company’s in North America has just promoted Moses Garcia to the position of Sales Director for Mexico – Bajio Area. Hector Ibarra, Vice President Business Development North America said this about the appointment; “I am pleased to announce the following organizational change in our Ramos Arizpe facility. This change is effective on Monday, July 15, 2019 in the Department of Sales. Moises Garcia has been promoted to the position of Sales Director, Bajio region because of his strong contributions to the company since he joined the ALD Ramos Arizpe team may of 2015. Moses was previously our Metallurgical Manager in ALD TT Ramos, so now he will be moving with his family to the Queretaro area where we are establishing a sales office. I am sure that he will excel in his new position. In this new role Moises Garcia will report directly to Hector Ibarra, Vice President Business Development North America.”

This press release tells us how South Tek, a supplier of nitrogen generating systems is expanding. To this press release we have to add our personal observation which is that we have always been a little puzzled as to why nitrogen generating systems are not more common in the heat treating industry than they actually are. The technology is proven, there are a number of real success stories in the industry but at the end of the day the technology is not as common in heat treating as we feel it should be.

“A major manufacturer of nitrogen generators which provides technology for heat treating applications, as well as for many other markets, recently announced plans to expand in Wilmington, North Carolina, into a higher capacity manufacturing facility.South-Tek Systems (STS), the nation’s highest volume manufacturer of N2GEN®), will be transitioning operations into a custom-designed 66,000-square-foot building — 10 times their current space — in order to accommodate growth in production and improve workflow. The expansion (from 6,600 sq. ft to 66.000 sq. ft!!) will accomplish a few key developments:

•            Increased space for 4 more new engineers in manufacturing/production, which will flesh out R&D;

•            Inventory improvement, which will decrease lead times from order to shipping;

•            Laboratory environment on site, which will enhance N2% purity and flow rate certification;”

Commercial heat treater Marmara in Turkey is pretty pleased that they just added a new endothermic generator-so pleased that they sent us this photo. We know little about this company except that the generator appears to be made by Powermax in Taiwan and that it will be supplying several furnaces in the plant including a mesh belt furnace line.

Many years ago Phil Dennis bought a tiny commercial heat treat in Port Robinson, Canada (very near Niagara Falls). Phil turned it into a $10 million per year operation and in the process brought in many of his family including sons Colin and Chris, daughter Debbie and son in law Dave Orosz. Along the way Phil became one of the first investors in what was a fairly new technology, gas carburizing and the result was that he and his family started Nitrex in Burlington which is now part of Bodycote. Phil passed away a few years back and his sons and son in law took over the business. Time passed and son Colin who was the President left the business and the family over a period of time sold their interests in the companies. Chris remained on for many years at H & S as Sales Manager and just recently retired making this an end of an era for the Dennis family which is a real shame. Chris grew up in the commercial heat treating industry and his retirement is truly a loss to the heat treating industry. Rather sad but Chris has earned a good retirement after 40 years in the business.

We see that aerospace company MB Aerospace Technologies in Poland has achieved Nadcap accreditation for coatings at their Kalisz facility. Coating, while closely associated with heat treating is not a field that we spend much time on, however this company has a fairly large in house vacuum department as you can see in this fairly recent photo. MB Aerospace has several locations in Poland including two which they bought from Canada based Vac Aero a couple of years back.

Introduction

The result of hardness testing is what will determine the success of the heat treatment procedure and the materials response to that heat treatment. The results of a hardness test can indicate to us:

It is therefore most important that the test is conducted in the appropriate and accurate manner in order to achieve the ‘real results.’  The preparation of the metal surface for hardness testing is of as much importance as is conducting   the test itself. The surface preparation of the steel to be tested is what we will be focusing on in this issue.

Steel Surface Preparation

The heat treatment process, or pre-condition of the steel will determine the surface condition to be tested at that point. The steel can be in a condition of having;

Surface Oxide and decarburized surface preparation

If the steel is decarburized, it means the surface of the steel has lost surface carbon. If either of the conditions exists as described above has occurred, then the steel will have been subjected to:

If the steel has been through hardened and in order to achieve a good and true hardness result, it is necessary to test the substrate material by grinding beneath the oxide and decarburized layer.

The use of a fine grinding wheel with only a light surface pressure to remove the decarburized/oxide layer. When grinding, excessive pressure must NOT be applied to the surface grinding procedure, as this will create friction (thus generating heat) that will begin to adversely affect accuracy of the hardness result obtained.

The result of good surface grinding techniques will ensure that there will be a reasonably smooth surface without surface ridges. If surface ridges are present, this can cause the indenter to slip off the peak of the ridge and give a false reading.

If the heat-treated surface is a previously ground/polished finished surface, then one cannot grind that surface. It is very likely that the surface may not be decarburized. If that is the case, then one should select an area where no indenter impression will affect the finished ground surface. This could be a sidewall face, or the reverse side of a die or a representative test coupon that has been treated with the product.

Surface treated component

If the steel part has been surface treated by:

 

One cannot always grind into the finished surface. If this occurs then it  will most likely mean that the treated surface will begin to be depleted  in:

And other induced surface treatment elements.  The only thing that can be done, is to lightly polish the area that is to be tested with a fine grind paper.

Care must now be given to the load selection, particularly if the formed case is a thin case. A heavy load will penetrate the formed case and will result in a false/incorrect reading. A simple rule of thumb might be, ‘the shallower the case, the lighter the hardness testing load should be.’ If the objective of the hardness test is to measure the depth of case, it will be necessary for the test operator to understand the definition of case depth. Case depth is that formed case that has occurred to whatever depth was specified. This follows that there are two further definitions that will identify:

Effective case

The effective case is that case that has been formed to a hardness depth from the surface to 513 Hardness Vickers Numeral (or approximately 50HRC scale)

Total Case

Total case is the case that has been formed to a depth of ‘core hardness plus 50 Hardness Vickers Numeral. (Or approximately 5HRC scale) on the real core hardness value.

Test method

The method of testing is usually applied to a sample that has been cut, either from a test coupon of from a sample from the part being tested.

The hardness test loading is usually a micro hardness loading which can be varied from 10 grams up to 1000gram load mass. Depending on the thickness of the diffused case, will determine the load that is selected. Generally, it is usually a 200 – gram to 300 – gram load that is used to determine a total case depth.

The application of the test is performed on the test coupon across the formed case through to the core hardness. Another hardness testing method for micro hardness test (and some macro) is to use the Knoop hardness test unit. This will give the operator the tested values in Knoop Hardness units.

Unlike the Vickers test (which makes a ‘pyramidical’ square diamond impression and the measurement is made across the two axis), the Knoop method   impression is a long-elongated diamond impression, the hardness value is ascertained by measuring the longitudinal axis. 

Conclusion

Whichever test procedure is used for the process of hardness testing, it is necessary that the test method is chosen carefully, and that the test is conducted in an accurate and meaningful manner. It is this test that will determine the effectiveness of the heat treatment process that has been done. It is also very important that the quality assurance technician/heat treatment associated has a good understanding of both the test methods, the load/indenter selection and the interpretation of the results to produce accurate hardness values.

Based in Hanau, Germany ALD Vacuum Technologies is a very substantial player around the world when it comes to providing new thermal treatment systems and in particular when it come to vacuum furnace solutions and vacuum carburizing systems. The company has always had a strong presence in North America and recently they have been making some changes. First some background though; ALD-Holcroft (originally a joint venture between AFC-Holcroft and ALD) became ALD Vacuum Technologies a few years back while back when AFC-Holcroft sold their portion of the business to ALD. While this is ancient history the personnel changes at ALD are more recent. Bill Gornicki the “main man” at the company left to be CEO at furnace builder Diablo, and the President of the company, Mr. Jason Sisler recently left the industry completely. At the same time several of their heat treat reps have parted ways with the company meaning the company has gone through quite a number of changes in a short period of time.

None of this effects the ALD Thermal Treatment division (commercial heat treating). ALD TT remains one of the largest commercial heat treaters in North America with their two plants in Port Huron, Michigan, USA and Ramos Arizpe, Mexico. As a matter of fact if memory serves us correctly the company just received another award from General Motors as a supplier of the year. We have these photos for you of the ALD facilities in North America

The recent Thermprocess (Brite World of Metals) fair is over and our coverage is finished, but we did receive this note about the attendance. Our impression and that of most of the exhibitors we spoke to was that the show was good but attendance was done. According to this report attendance was good but we notice there is no mention about attendance being up or down.

“After five eventful days at the trade fair, the Bright World of Metals concluded successfully on Saturday, June 29, 2019, fortifying its leading position as the world’s most important trade fair platform for metallurgy and casting technology. Results were excellent for both exhibitors and visitors at GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS & NEWCAST, particularly in terms of how international the demographic was in comparison to previous events: 70% of the exhibitors hailed from abroad (65% in 2015) and 66% of the visitors came from foreign countries (62% in 2015).

“With approximately 2,360 exhibitors from all over the world, GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS & NEWCAST have almost covered the entire international market. Global players, small, innovative newcomers, and providers of niche technology alike are all represented here,” said Friedrich-Georg Kehrer, the Global Portfolio Director for Metals and Flow Technologies at Messe Düsseldorf GmbH. Around 72,500 visitors from 118 countries were welcomed into the halls during the trade fair’s five-day run. “The mix of nations in our visitor and exhibitor demographics is a crucial factor for success of the Bright World of Metals; indeed, that’s what makes this quadruple trade fair so unique. GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS & NEWCAST are an absolute must for metallurgy and casting professionals from all over the world,” added Kehrer.”

Gasbarre is pleased to announce that Tom Spicer has joined the organization as a Field Service Technician for Gasbarre Industrial Furnace Systems (OEM of J.L. Becker brand equipment), located in Plymouth, MI. Tom brings over 20 years of industry experience to Gasbarre; having previously worked with OEMs assembling and servicing equipment and in maintenance at a commercial heat treat facility.  During his time in commercial heat treating, Tom gained extensive knowledge in processing and maintaining equipment for nitriding and ferritic nitrocarburizing applications. 

Says Ben Gasbarre, President of Industrial Furnace Systems, “With the addition of Tom, we gain yet another team member with many years of industry experience. Tom’s work as an equipment manufacturer and commercial heat treater gives him a perspective that will create more value for our customers. We are excited to have him on board!” Tom Spicer can be reached by telephone at 734.656.2000 or via email at [email protected].

About Gasbarre. Gasbarre is a full-service international OEM offering industry best equipment and services for powder compaction, thermal processing, and design and manufacturing technologies. Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems provides top quality industrial heat treating equipment, engineering, and service to customers around the world. Gasbarre’s product offering, which includes the product lines of Sinterite, C.I. Hayes, and Industrial Furnace Systems, offers batch, continuous, atmosphere, and vacuum furnace systems, as well as a wide range of auxiliary equipment. Gasbarre can solve any application challenge with expertise and passion, and can deliver the right equipment to make any process consistently productive and profitable.