Aalberts surface technologies – HIP|braze|heat treatment announced a significant expansion of its austempering capabilities and capacity in Canton, Ohio, and Ft. Smith, Ark. Three atmosphere-to-salt furnaces will be added at the existing facility in Canton. This expands the number of austempering locations in Aalberts surface technologies’ U.S. footprint to four. Infrastructure will be engineered at Canton to allow for up to six austempering furnaces in the future. The expansion in Canton will allow Aalberts to better serve customers located in the eastern U.S. The austempering and marquenching equipment is scheduled to start up in the fourth quarter of 2023. In response to growing demand in the region, additional capacity will also be added at the Ft. Smith plant. One furnace is scheduled to be installed in the third quarter of 2023, and another is planned for the fourth quarter of 2024.

During the past few decades, fluidized-bed technology has not lost any of its importance for heat-treatment applications in terms of quality and has even become indispensable in some application niches due to its special properties.

A supplier of agricultural and lawn equipment based in the Midwest purchased a complete batch austemper facility from AFC-Holcroft. The complete line consists of two AFC-Holcroft UBQA (universal batch quench-austemper) units along with ancillary equipment including pre-treatment spray dunk wash and post-treatment multi-stage washer, preheat temper furnaces, salt reclaiming system and salt holding tank. An AFC-Holcroft EZ 4500 endothermic gas generator was also purchased to provide endo gas to the furnace units.

Aalberts N.V. reached an agreement to acquire 100% of the shares of Applied Process, which has three locations in the United States: Livonia, Mich.; Oshkosh, Wis.; and Fort Smith, Ark. Applied Process specializes in the austempering process, a heat-treatment technology to solve complex engineering problems. Most of the business is derived from engineering conversions, providing conceptual design and engineering assistance.

AFC-Holcroft received an order for a mesh-belt austempering furnace system from a large stamping manufacturer.

Applied Process Inc. took on High Street Capital (HSC) of Chicago, Ill., as a majority interest equity partner.

Austempering is a unique process which both heat treaters and parts designers should understand; especially the factors that influence both process parameters and part properties. Let’s learn more.