This article takes a look at a few common automotive parts and sees how heat treatment is used to make them better.

What would we do without knives? Knives, from the kitchen variety to utility to hunting, are a part of our daily lives.

Bodycote is targeting the marine renewables sector after securing work with Sweden’s CorPower Ocean. The U.K.-based provider of heat-treatment and thermal-processing services helped CorPower optimize key components in its Wave Energy Converters (WECs). CorPower’s high-efficiency WECs, inspired by the pumping principles of the human heart, offer five times more energy per ton of device compared to previously known technologies, according to the manufacturer. Incorporating a series of features to boost storm survivability and power capture, WECs benefit from thermochemical treatment to protect against the harshest marine conditions.

Many of us probably think a bolt is just a bolt; some of us may not even know the difference between a bolt and a screw. Heat treatment is the key difference from one bolt to another, and understanding that difference is key to correct assembly design. If the wrong bolt is chosen for a given design, it becomes the weakest link and catastrophic failure will result.

Victor Oreskovich, owner of JTL Integrated Machine Ltd. (JTL) and Trenergy Inc., announced the acquisition of Can-Eng Furnaces International Ltd. Niagara Falls, Ontario-based Can-Eng has been designing and manufacturing thermal-processing equipment for ferrous and nonferrous metals since 1964. The acquisition expands Oreskovich’s family of companies to further enhance and leverage each group’s ability to include customized engineered solutions. With the addition of Can-Eng, the combined resources will increase to over 250 associates, operating at four separate locations, consisting of more than 300,000 square feet of available floor space with modern manufacturing capabilities. The acquisition will position Can-Eng for strategic growth and development activity in thermal-processing and heat-treatment markets previously not explored.

It’s hard to believe how much has changed in the past year. When I wrote my annual April column in early March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t yet a reality in the United States.

Did you know that a sewing needle should be threaded from only one direction? That’s because the punched eyelet has a small burr on one side.

Without springs, modern civilization would not exist. How and who discovered the first spring will never be known, but what we do know is that a spring, which is a piece of steel with memory, returns to its original shape when flexed.

I wanted to use this month’s column to update readers on a few newsworthy things. First and most obvious is our new look. With our change to digital-only, this new platform provides a much more interactive experience.

Aluminum was first discovered in the early 1800s and was produced in quantity during the turn of the 20th century using the Hall–Héroult smelting process. Interestingly enough, Carl Benz was patenting his first version of a self-propelled internal-combustion-engine automobile during that same time. During these times, automobiles or horseless carriages were a luxury and difficult for common people to afford.