After much analysis, feedback from attendees and the uncertainty of COVID-19, the MTI Board of Trustees has approved transition to a virtual format for Furnaces North America 2020. Attendees will be able to experience the virtual exhibit hall for free. For those wanting to view the three live panel discussions and 35 technical sessions, FNA is offering a special for attendees of $199 for each of the first two registrants from a company and $49 for every person after that. To qualify, everyone must register on the same online registration form. 

Wall Colmonoy – as part of its plan to improve product development, technical support and advancement – invested approximately $627,000 in the Research & Development Laboratory at its Pontardawe-based European headquarters. The R&D Lab has developed into a fully comprehensive suite of analytical equipment for characterizing powders, including laser diffraction, chemical analysis, dry powder and fluid rheometry, and optical and electron microscopy. With a move into materials for additive manufacturing, where powder properties such as particle shape and size are often more critical, there was a need to expand analytical capabilities.

To recap some of what we saw last month, we set out the basic concepts and began reviewing the experimental procedure and results. These results are discussed and summarized here.

Tempering occurs by heating the steel to below its critical temperature in order to transform the metastable body-centered tetragonal martensite structure that is formed during quenching into a more stable structure of fine carbide particles.

BNP Media has announced the launch of the Process Heating & Cooling Show, an interactive conference and exposition where executives and engineers from various industries – including oil and gas, electronics, pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, packaging and plastics – will learn from thought leaders and discover new technologies and trends exclusively for the process heating and cooling sectors. This new event will be held June 16-17, 2021, at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill.

The Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) announced the cancellation of the co-located conferences WorldPM 2020 (the World Congress on Powder Metallurgy and Particulate Materials), AMPM 2020 (Additive Manufacturing with Powder Metallurgy) and Tungsten 2020 (the International Conference on Tungsten, Refractory and Hardmaterials), which were scheduled to take place June 27-July 1 in Montreal, Quebec.

Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI) announced a realignment of its business segments to further enhance its position as a leading specialty materials manufacturer and to accelerate sustainable long-term profitable growth. Starting with first-quarter 2020 financial results, ATI will report in two business segments: a streamlined High Performance Materials & Components (HPMC) segment and the new Advanced Alloys & Solutions (AA&S) segment.

This is a complete list of all the feature articles – by topic – that appeared in Industrial Heating in 2019. The month each article appeared in is included. All articles are hyperlinked for your convenience.

Abbott Furnace Company received an order for a sintering furnace from a company that specializes in manufacturing ferrous-based, powder-metal components for the automotive, agricultural and industrial markets. The electrically heated, continuous-belt furnace, which is rated at 2150°F, will be delivered in the second quarter of 2020. Abbott Furnace will design, manufacture and install the furnace, which includes the Varicool cooling system. This will be the 36^th furnace Abbott Furnace has supplied to this company.

Whether a component is produced through binder-jet additive manufacturing, metal injection molding or conventional press and sintering, lubricant removal continues to be one of the most common issues in sintering.