SECO/WARWICK will deliver a solution heat treatment line to Tata Advanced Systems Limited (TASL), an Indian manufacturer in the aerospace sector. The order is the largest production line for aircraft skins in the history of both companies. SECO/WARWICK will build a production line for the solution heat treatment of aluminum alloys. It will meet the stringent requirements for AMS 2750F and AMS 2770 standards. The equipment will be used for the production of aircraft skins, empennage and center-wing boxes. The line includes a rapid-quench electric furnace (drop-bottom type), mobile quenching tank, rinsing tank and additional equipment (including a chiller and loading baskets).

 

GKN Powder Metallurgy launched a dedicated green hydrogen unit, GKN Hydrogen, on May 11 with a virtual market launch event. GKN Hydrogen is pioneering emission-free, safe and compact all-in-one renewable-energy storage solutions to drive global energy transition. The company’s secure systems generate green hydrogen from fluctuating renewable energy sources, storing it compactly and safely in metal hydride over long periods of time. When needed, the green hydrogen can be used directly or converted back into electricity and heat for a range of applications. The scalable system design allows for maximum versatility, from emergency power backup and off-grid energy supply to maritime transport and large-scale industry.

Anchor Harvey, an aluminum forging company that seeks to set new standards for sustainable transportation, announced the launch of its new Electric Vehicle (EV) Workgroup. The new in-house working group draws from Anchor Harvey’s technological leadership and experience in forging components for the automobile and motorsports industries. By creating high-strength, lightweight forged aluminum components – such as steering knuckles, control arms, suspension components and structural nodes – the EV Workgroup will focus on vehicle parts built for increased range in support of manufacturers creating the next generation of transportation.

Fives, a global industrial engineering group, and JSW Dolvi Works, part of India’s leading steel producer JSW Steel, successfully discharged the first hot slab from a new reheating furnace in late March. JSW Steel contracted Fives to design and supply two reheating furnaces for its new hot-strip mill at Dolvi works in the state of Maharashtra. According to Fives, the furnaces both have the highest capacity installed in India at 450 metric tons per hour. They also feature high environmental performance and low fuel consumption. The first furnace was ignited in January 2021.

SECO/WARWICK will deliver a vacuum furnace to SonFlow’s facility in Kolding, Denmark. The furnace is designed for copper brazing of large-dimension plate heat exchangers for industrial, HVAC and offshore applications. A work area of 35.5 x 35.5 x 47 inches (900 x 900 x 1,200 mm) will enable the SonFlow plant to perform in-house brazing without the need to outsource work to third parties. A graphite chamber ensures power savings, and shortened cycle times are guaranteed due to the vacuum level of 10^-3 mbar. As part of the contract, SECO/WARWICK also designed the external water-cooling system. This portion of the project will use SonFlow’s pumps and heat exchangers for fabrication.

Nucor Corp. announced that its Board of Directors approved a project to upgrade the company’s engineered-bar mill in Nebraska to better serve the automotive market. The modernization project will include a new reheat furnace, new intermediate mill, and coil inspection and trimming station. The $58 million investment is expected to be completed and operational in the fourth quarter of 2022. When completed, the upgrades will enhance Nucor Steel Nebraska’s ability to produce engineered-bar and coil products with improved surface quality and reduced decarburization, which are required to meet high-end engineered-bar automotive applications.

Solar Manufacturing shipped a vacuum heat-treating furnace to NexGen Advanced Fuel Systems, an Allied Power Group Company, based in Houston, Texas. NexGen, a gas turbine component overhaul facility, ordered the furnace to help increase capacity and reduce turnaround time for its heat-treating and brazing operations. Built specifically to heat treat land-based turbine equipment, with attention to specific cooling requirements required by NexGen’s customers, the furnace includes a Solarvac Polaris control system and a graphite hot zone that can accommodate loads up to 48 inches wide x 48 inches high x 72 inches deep. It has a maximum load weight capacity of 6,000 pounds and a maximum operating temperature of 2400°F.

Nitrex supplied a turnkey gas nitriding system to Ohio-based aluminum extrusion die manufacturer Youngstown Tool & Die (YTD) in the fourth quarter of 2020. The system adds Nitreg controlled nitriding to YTD’s range of heat-treating services. YTD relocated to a larger manufacturing facility in summer 2020 and made investments in new production and finishing equipment to increase its manufacturing capabilities and meet growing demand. As part of the new production, YTD installed a Nitrex pit-type nitriding system that has a 4,400-pound capacity for treating aluminum extrusion dies.

Gerdau will invest approximately $180 million in the modernization and expansion of its special steel operations in Brazil. The investment will focus on steel production units located in Pindamonhangaba and Mogi das Cruzes in São Paulo and in Charqueadas in Rio Grande do Sul. A new annealing and spheroidization furnace for steel bars will be installed at the Charqueadas plant. The equipment will bring greater capacity and productivity to the facility’s heat-treatment process. It will also allow Gerdau to meet growing demand for materials with more demanding specifications in relation to properties such as hardness and low levels of decarburization. The equipment, which has an annual capacity of 48,000 tons, will start up in August 2022.

GKN Driveline Bruneck AG in Italy is modernizing its hardening shop with two low-pressure carburizing (LPC) plants from ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH. GKN will utilize the equipment to develop and produce E-powertrains. ALD delivered a ModulTherm plant consisting of a mobile quenching module and five treatment chambers, as well as fully integrated peripheral tempering and preheating furnaces. The plant can be expanded up to 10 treatment chambers depending on demand. ALD also delivered a SyncroTherm plant that will be used for parts that are especially susceptible to distortion. According to GKN, the process combination of LPC and subsequent high-pressure gas quenching (HPGQ) allows the company to optimally adjust the parts’ properties.