Q&A with Keith Boeckenhauer
What is your background?
I have an engineering degree from the University of Missouri and I’ve been with Seco/Warwick since 1984, working in sales, engineering,...
Evaluating effect of heat treat on flank slope profile deviation of steel gears using...
The finish machining of a gear is undoubtedly one of the most important manufacturing steps. It sets the geometry, surface condition, and residual stress...
IHEA member Alabama Power (Southern Company) provides support during pandemic
The team at Alabama Power’s Technology Applications Center (TAC) recently turned their focus from keeping the lights on to helping save lives. Through a...
Combatting undesirable NMTP formations
Whether formed during a conventional quench and tempering process, carburizing, or induction hardening, non-martensitic transformation products (NMTP) are widely considered undesirable microstructural features. However,...
Handling temperature variations
Four essential maintenance steps for preserving temperature uniformity in your atmosphere furnace
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...
Mark your calendars for these important 2022 conferences
European Conference on Heat Treatment/IFHTSE 27th Congress
September 5-8, 2022 | Salzburg, Austria
At the present time, more than 90 authors from 22 countries have provided...
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...
Q&A with Tom Ott
Most people don’t associate hardness testing with heat treatment, but it’s very relevant. You say there are a number of products that are really...
Finding data needed for modeling and simulation
Modeling and simulation have become an important part of the design and manufacturing toolbox. Modeling and simulation are used in forging, casting, machining, forming,...
The Right Prepared Atmosphere
Furnace atmospheres are critical to meeting metallurgical specifications defined by control processes. The makeup of a furnace’s atmosphere in the heat-treating process varies based...
Q&A with David Wolff
What’s a typical day like for you at Nel Hydrogen?
I’m in field sales and work with customers to make sure their process needs that...
Poor Carbon Control
Carburizing has an advantage over other gear case hardening processes because it increases a gear’s ability to carry high torque. Carbon control is critical to...
Heat treating from the operator’s perspective
Often, a customer visit involves a walk through the facility. Comments are made about how clean it is or how well organized a process...
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...
Be attached to process, not results of Nadcap audit
The dreaded Nadcap audit. The daunting AC7102 main checklist with 10 job audits. The strict requirements of AC7102/8 pyrometry adhering to AMS2750. The additional...
Spotlight on IHEA member WS Thermal Process Technology Inc.
WS Thermal Process Technology is the U.S. subsidiary of WS Wärmeprozesstechnik GmbH, which was founded in 1982 in Renningen, Germany. The company manufactures self-recuperative...
Understanding the basics of spray quenching
Spray quenching involves the removal of heat by the impingement of a liquid quenchant on a hot metal surface. Examples include:
Fog quenching.
Quenching...
Heat treatment of aluminum, quenching Part III
In the last article, we discussed quenching of aluminum, and the importance of rapid quenching to prevent the formation of precipitates at the grain...
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...
IFHTSE Fellow Prof. Tatsuo Inoue dies at 83
It is with regret that we announce the passing of IFHTSE Fellow Prof. Tatsuo Inoue. He was 83. He was a professor at Kyoto...
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...
An overview of insulating firebricks
Ceramic refractory materials are useful for the following functions:
1. Serving as a thermal barrier between a hot medium and the wall of a...
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...
Troubleshooting induction hardening problems: Part 2
Last month, I began a two-part article about troubleshooting induction hardening problems and discussed possible corrections. This month, I will discuss biological and odor...
Heat treatment techniques overview
Editor’s note » This is the third in a five-part series.
In this third segment of my series on heat-treating techniques, I will discuss the pros and...
Extending the Hot Zone’s Life Span
One most commonly recommended procedure for making your equipment perform more effectively is to run a cleanup cycle, which removes contaminants from within the...
Heat treatment of aluminum, Part V
After quenching and any straightening, the supersaturated solid solution of aluminum wants to reach equilibrium. It does this through the process of precipitation hardening....
Member spotlight: Fireye offers flame safeguard, combustion controls
Fireye is a leading manufacturer of flame safeguard controls and burner management systems for commercial and industrial applications throughout the world. Its products can...
IHEA education coming this fall – Learn from the best
This fall, the Industrial Heating Equipment Association (IHEA) will offer its Combustion Seminar and Safety Standards and Codes Seminar in Indianapolis, Indiana, October 3-4,...
IHEA launches sustainability and decarbonization initiatives
IHEA has been developing a variety of initiatives over the past six months relating to sustainability and decarbonization in the industrial heating equipment industry.
“We...
Q&A with Bill St. Thomas
Please tell us a little about your background.
I started in the heat treating industry back in the late 1960s working for one of my...
Spotlight on IHEA member Bloom Engineering
Bloom Engineering began at a shop in Pittsburgh’s North Side in 1934 and eventually moved to its current site in 1962. The company is...
More World Congress details available
The ASM Heat Treating Society (HTS) and the International Federation for Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering (IFHTSE) proudly present the highly anticipated 29th IFHTSE...
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,...
Intergranular oxidation in carburizing steels
Intergranular oxidation (IGO) in carburizing steels is detrimental to carburized gear performance. It reduces fatigue performance and can contribute to surface spalling. This article...
Deadline approaching for ECHT2022 conference abstract submissions
Abstract submission deadline is January 31, 2022, for the 27th IFHTSE Congress in Salzburg, Austria, September 5-8, 2022, at the Wyndham Grand Salzburg Conference...
Q&A with David Hamling
What’s a typical week like for you at ZIRCAR Ceramics?
I drive the company’s sales and marketing efforts and usually begin my day with a...
Q&A with Jeff Marshall
What does Metallurgical High Vacuum Corporation do for the industry?
We remanufacture pumps. That’s probably the core of our business, but that’s changing because of...
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...
