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...
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 Dr. Mark Cross
The automotive industry is continually pushing new boundaries. Advancements in engineering technology show no signs of slowing down with increasing developments in manufacturing processes....
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...
Q&A with Mark Ratliff
What’s a typical week like for you at Avion?
On Mondays, we’ll have a production meeting with all the employees involved. We’re a small company...
Honeywell Thermal Solutions offers a range of thermal solution technologies
Honeywell has an extensive history in combustion processes and controls, including solutions for industrial combustion industries. Honeywell Thermal Solutions united the combustion industry’s leading...
Finding leaks in an atmosphere furnace
Visual inspection, routine preventative maintenance of atmosphere furnaces is critical to maintaining safety, efficiency
Algas-SDI supplies combustion equipment to heat treaters around the world
Algas-SDI is a manufacturer of liquid fuel vaporizers, natural gas backup and decompression equipment, and combustion equipment. The company deploys its products worldwide through...
The ‘why’ in heat treating is important to operators
Quality is in the details, but what details need the most attention? A good contract review, starting with the purchase order, then the drawing,...
Surface stress is key in rolling contact fatigue
Most bearing failures can be attributed to some form of rolling contact fatigue. Many factors influence rolling contact fatigue, but two main factors are...
Handling temperature variations
Four essential maintenance steps for preserving temperature uniformity in your atmosphere furnace
Settle requirement conflicts before accepting a contract
Resolving conflict among purchase order requirements, drawings, and regulatory requirements can be quite the task when accepting contracts for heat treatment. Unfortunately, it happens...
Infrared technology is hot!
The Industrial Heating Equipment Association’s Infrared Equipment Division (IRED) recently completed revisions to its popular Infrared Process Heating Handbook for Industrial Applications. This fundamental...
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,...
Q&A with Chris Stevens
What’s a typical day like for you at Dalton Electric?
It starts and ends with our customers. Our value proposition to our Dalton users is...
Q&A with Ed VanNoord
Tell us about yourself and Heraeus.
I have worked for Heraeus now for almost 14 years supporting customers with the design and build of infrared...
Influence of agitation on polymer quenchants
Polymer quenchants are used extensively to quench a large variety of materials in a variety of processes. Polymer quenchants can be used for immersion...
Intensive Quenching Calls For Very High Cooling Rates Part 2
Intensive quenching (IQ) is defined as cooling, usually using pure water, at a rate several times higher than the rate of conventional quenching. Fast,...
Quality and production are a team, not adversaries
Let me be honest about the elephant in the room that often exists in heat treating. In some cases, but certainly not all, quality...
Tadashi Furuhara to be given IFHTSE medal at World Congress
IFHTSE Medal will be awarded to Prof. Tadashi Furuhara of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan.
The citation reads: “For his life-time achievement in the physical...
Lesley Frame elected vice president of IFHTSE 2024-2026
Lesley Frame, assistant professor, Materials Science and Engineering, University of Connecticut, recently was elected IFHTSE vice president for the 2024-2026 term in Yokahama and...
Furnace atmospheres and temperature
Getting the Right Protective and Carburizing Atmosphere
The makeup of a furnace’s atmosphere in the heat treating process varies based upon the application. For carburizing,...
Hardening depth measurement
Surface hardening heat treatments are popular in the manufacture of steel products as a means of significantly improving strength and fatigue resistance and mitigating...
IHEA member profile: Gasbarre Thermal Processing Systems
Gasbarre, headquartered in DuBois, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1973 to design, manufacture, and service a complete line of powder compaction and sizing presses for...
Q&A with Eric Ford
What does Graphite Metallizing Corporation do for the heat-treat industry?
Graphite Metallizing Corporation makes a product called Graphalloy. It’s basically a graphite/metal alloy, that we...
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...
Understanding the Jominy end quench test
The Jominy end quench test (ASTM A255 ) is an extremely simple and useful test that is applicable to many materials besides steel...
Keeping your burners tuned
The backbone of any atmosphere furnace is the heating system. The heating system plays an essential role in keeping the furnace operating at peak...
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...
Case Depth Determination
Methodology to ensure design intent is satisfied
IHEA’s Industrial Heating Decarbonization SUMMIT scheduled for October
The Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) recently announced the Industrial Heating Decarbonization SUMMIT on October 28-30 at the Conrad Indianapolis.
“Forging a Sustainable Path for...
27th IFHTSE Congress, European conference on heat treatment headed to Austria
The 27th IFHTSE Congress will be in Salzburg, Austria, September 5-8, 2022 at the Wyndham Grand Salzburg Conference Center. The conference chairs are Eva...
At your own pace, in your own space: IHEA offers Fundamentals of Industrial Process...
Registration is open now for IHEA’s Fundamentals of Industrial Process Heating Online Learning Course beginning April 15, 2019. The course is ideal for students...
Gap analysis can guide procedure changes
Well-designed procedures are crucial to any business operation, whether it’s a simple task of following a procedure to construct a cardboard box, or something...
Furnace Maintenance
When a heat treat manager or anyone responsible for purchasing heat treating equipment makes a buy decision, they must first consider the process required,...
Residual stress evaluation in bearings
Lingering stress is not easily identified during production, but has a direct impact on wear performance and fatigue life
2024 Annual Meeting was a success
Association annual meetings allow members to come together, exchange ideas, learn from expert speakers, work on committee initiatives, and network with others in the...
Accounting for carbon rejection can head off trouble
The heat treatment of steel alloys is required in almost every industry to acquire the necessary properties for a material given a particular application....
IHEA education heats up this fall
The Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) offers a plethora of training opportunities and educational resources to keep businesses moving forward. IHEA members contribute their...
Cooling rate after tempering
In this column, I will discuss the effect of cooling rate after tempering.
Introduction
During heat treatment of steel, the process is generally austenitize, quench, and...
