Process quality control in heat treatment
In thermal processing, process quality control is imperative to produce and control conforming product and overall conformance. In this article we will be examining...
Willingness to change course leads to satisfying career
Editor’s note: Beginning with the March issue of Thermal Processing, we added Tony Tenaglier, a heat treat process engineer at Hitchiner Manufacturing, as a...
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...
Overcoming the knowledge ‘blind spot’
No one knows everything. Nor will anyone ever obtain all the knowledge in the world. Sometimes what happens, though, is we learn something and...
AMS2750 pyrometry revisions tweak a crucial process
AMS2750 pyrometry is a daunting heat-treat special process requirement in the aerospace industry. It’s a literal definition implying measurement of temperature, but it also...
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...
Process automation and controls for carburizing
Process control can be defined as the ability to meet certain parameters over time using inputs from the process and controlling outputs for desired...
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...
Employers need to expand on carrot-stick philosophy
We all trade time for money. Gone are the days of bartering, trading your chickens for goats. We go to work to earn a...
It’s time to recognize ‘fitness’ at work
Almost every child who grows up playing sports dreams of being a professional one day and playing on the big stage (instead of going...
Control technology
There are many demands for precision manufacturing of steel components. Heat treatment is a critical step in nearly all manufacturing processes to achieve required...
Quality staff: Understanding the technical side
Last month, we examined the history and heat-treatment of aluminum and how it applies to the quality functions of the industry. This month, we...
The art of heat treat: The framework
I was once taught that heat treat is an art as much as it is a science in achieving the results required for the...
A brief history of the non-ferrous alloy aluminum
Non-ferrous alloys have caught my interest throughout my career, particularly aluminum. From its resistance to corrosion to its sensitivity at elevated temperatures, it is...
An argument in support of Nadcap
I think it is safe to assume that the majority of Thermal Processing readers have, in some capacity and at some point in their...
The importance of contract review
Within any aspect of our business structure, understanding the specific requirements needed to produce product that conforms to customer requirements is important. These requirements...
Achieving consistent quality is a slow, steady process
In a world that asks for more, what we sometimes need is less. I’m currently back in school, working on a Ph.D. in Industrial...
The State of Process Controls
It is hard to find a market segment that has not benefited from technology advancements. Heat-treating process control is no different. While there are...
Technology is key to improving process efficiency
Efficiency. What is it, exactly?
The term “efficiency” refers to the peak level of performance that uses the least amount of input to achieve the...
Transitions and transformations in the workplace
In the heat-treat world, metals are carefully ramped up to certain temperatures to allow for transformation of the microstructure. Temperature and time allow the...
Quality management is vital in heat-treating
Quality management in the thermal-processing industry is essential to not only conformance, but also as a check-and-balance to both systems and operations. Quality at...
Purchasing a furnace: Quality concerns to consider
For any heat-treater, whether captive or commercial, purchasing a furnace is the largest investment that can be made. It is important to establish a...
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...
