Hydrogen basics for industrial burners
Modern concerns for sustainable manufacturing are driving significant interest and investment in hydrogen as an industrial fuel. Because burning hydrogen produces no carbon emissions,...
Heat treatment of aluminum – Part I: Quenching basics
In previous articles, we discussed the role of alloying elements and discussed the solution heat treatment of aluminum. We showed that it is important...
Determining heat-treat operator training
With the fast pace of change in the heat-treat industry, it is understandable that more automation is in demand. This automation inevitably improves repeatability...
Q&A with Diane Haggerty
What makes PowderMet2023 and AMPM2023 important events within the industry?
As the premier powder metallurgy (PM) events in the Americas, the annual PowderMet (International Conference...
IHEA announces 2023-2024 board of directors and officers
The Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) recently announced its 2023-2024 board of directors and executive officers. Taking over as president is Brian Kelly of...
Variation in steel hardenability
Many heat-treating processes cannot tolerate appreciable variations in steel hardenability. For an established in-control process, deviations in chemical composition and starting microstructure may result...
A Short Guide on Water Vapor
Water vapor (e.g., excessive retained humidity) is the most commonplace enemy of vacuum furnaces. In fact, it is the No. 1 threat to everyday...
Site Safety
We live and work around fire all day. It’s pretty much taken for granted. We cook with it, and use it to heat our...
Thermal triplets: PM, sintering, and case hardening
From my experience, powder metals (PM), sintering, and case hardening are three processes that could be said to be joined at the hip. More...
Kanthal APMT for nuclear-energy application
The major earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan in 2011 did serious damage to boiling water reactors of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant....
5th International Conference and more coming in 2023
The 5th International Conference on Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering of Tools and Dies (HTSE-TD), sponsored by the Chinese Heat Treating Association, will be...
Q&A with Lauren Jones
Why is it important to invest in the future of heat-treating?
Nearly every metal component undergoes some type of heat-treating application. Vacuum furnaces contribute to...
Anatomy of a Heat-Treating System
Ninety-eight 600-pound trays are in continuous process, 13 are in the pre-process queue, nine preheating, 14 in the boost carb, eight in the diffusion...
Industrial Process Heating online education is affordable, convenient, and flexible
IHEA’s Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating Online Learning Course continues to provide an excellent overview of the essential areas used throughout the industrial process...
Heat treatment process modeling development for age-hardenable alloys
Age-hardenable alloys, such as some aluminum alloys, maraging steel, and nickel-based alloys, get their strength not from quenching but from the precipitation that occurs...
Getting to know IHEA member Nutec Bickley
On June 14, 1990, Nutec Industrial (later to become Nutec Bickley) was established in Monterrey, Mexico, expressly for the construction of furnaces, kilns, and...
Developing a superalloy with superior heat resistance
Demand for superior machinery that can operate effectively under extreme conditions is driving the development of newer alloys. One significant example is the preparation...
The metallurgical R&D laboratory
Remembering old-school lab work is a blast from the past
The process of problem solving
The corrective action. That dreaded tally on one’s personal record at work that is available for all of upper management to see a mistake...
Carburizing
While some heat treatments are used to soften the material or improve its machinability, most are processed to obtain strengthened or hardened properties. The...
Quench tank agitation by submerged jets
In this column, I will discuss agitation by submerged jets.
Common methods of agitating quench tanks, and other types of tanks, are by sparging or...
Industry conference news for 2023, beyond
The 5th International Conference on Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering of Tools and Dies (HTSE-TD), sponsored by the Chinese Heat Treating Association, will be...
Heat-treatment of modified 9CrMo steel
The modified 9CrMo steels, such as Grade 91, Grade 92, and HT9, are materials of choice for fossil-fuel-fired power plants and Next Generation Nuclear...
Q&A with Jim Litzinger
Your company, Orton, offers TempTabs, some pretty ingenious technology for monitoring temperature throughout a furnace. How did the idea come about?
Our founder, Edward Orton...
Q&A with Andrew Bassett
How did ATP get started?
During the early 1990s, the National Aerospace and Defense Contractors Accreditation Program (Nadcap) began embracing all special processes, and we...
Remembering where we came from
In this fast-paced world, it gets harder and harder to remember the past. It seems like the only thing that matters is this quarter....
Get to know IHEA’s new member: DELTA H TECHNOLOGIES
IHEA’s newest member, DELTA H TECHNOLOGIES, is a growing family business that prides itself on quality and performance. The company was originally established as...
Q&A with Tom Baldock
What you do at Guill Tool?
My responsibilities here are for sales in the aerospace area. I’ve been in sales most of my adult life,...
Q&A with Chuck Faulkner
What makes attending Heat Treat 2021 an important activity for heat treaters?
ASM Heat Treat 2021 is one of the premier events globally for the...
Quenching from molten salt into polymer quenchants
In this column, I will discuss quenching aluminum from molten salt into a polymer quenchant.
A molten salt bath is a common method of heating...
Q&A with Adam Jacobson
What’s a typical day like for you at JN Machinery?
We’re a small company, so, it really depends on what’s going on as far as...
Stress evolution during quench hardening of steel
Quench hardening of steel components involves complex, nonintuitive phenomena, particularly as it relates to the dimensional changes and stresses induced. Figure 1 shows a...
Q&A with Joe Coleman
What Is CMMC 2.0?
CMMC stands for Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. CMMC 2.0 is a contractual requirement for any non-federal organization or system that is...
Q&A with Stephen Harris
Tell us about the new Bodycote Elgin, Illinois, facility. When did it become fully operational?
We are very pleased to announce that our brand-new Elgin...
Keep wet pumps performing
Performing routine maintenance on a wet pump is critical not only to its life span but, more importantly, to its performance. One commonly recommended...
Is there a furnace problem?
That question is much easier to answer if you learn the indicators, alarms, switches
Blistering of aluminum during heat treatment
In this column, we will discuss the blistering of aluminum during heat treatment, and methods to prevent its occurrence.
Introduction
High-temperature oxidation, or blistering, often occurs...
The value of in-person industry events
For most of us, it’s been a very long time since we’ve attended an in-person meeting. But the time has come where IHEA can...
IHEA offers 2021 Virtual Spring Safety Standards & Codes Seminar
After the success of a series of virtual seminars last fall, the Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) has scheduled a virtual Safety Standards &...
Induction Hardening Choices for Gears
Of the various types of applied energy processing, induction hardening is the most common. Induction heating is a process that uses an alternating electrical...
