Tuesday, April 22, 2025

Steel strength comparison: Tensile, compression, torsion, bending, shear

The strength of steel is commonly characterized by using engineering tensile strength. Typically, a dog-bone shaped test bar is pulled in the axial direction...

Ceramic fiber for industrial furnaces: Optimal thermal performance

In the industrial world, thermal efficiency is crucial for operational success. Maintaining constant and controlled temperatures in manufacturing processes ensures product quality and consistency....

Exploring the impact of thermal conductivity in material choice

By understanding the fundamentals of thermal conductivity, one can appreciate how it influences material selection for thermal management, affects the performance in different environments,...

Critical areas in vacuum heat treat furnace preventive maintenance

Vacuum furnaces require regularly scheduled, routine preventative maintenance for three main reasons: First, to ensure planned results are realized after the heat-treating process. Second,...

Case study: Chemical processor sees significant savings with HDPE cooling towers

When it comes to heavy industrial cooling applications such as oil refineries, chemical plants, and paper mills, cooling towers have been employed for decades....

David Christopher ‘Coop’ Cooper | 1961-2024: A lasting and multi-faceted legacy

Media Solutions’ employees always knew when David Christopher “Coop” Cooper was in the office. At any given time during the day, the hallway would be...

The role of in-situ techniques in microstructure optimization of interstitially alloyed steels

Microstructure optimization of steel for improved performance requires detailed knowledge of the thermal response of the materials. When designing heat treatments of new materials...

Hardness testers: Know your options for best results

Hardness testing functionality has evolved and now users can dial into world-class caliber instrumentation that more closely aligns with their applications at hand. Hardness testing...

Six benefits of thermal batteries in manufacturing

A new crop of innovative companies is racing to commercialize and scale up thermal batteries, a novel technology for storing and delivering heat to...

CMMC 2.0 and what heat treaters should be doing now

The heat-treating industry, while traditionally focused on metallurgical and heat-treating processes, has increasingly become integrated with the digital world. As a critical component in...

Homogenization heat treatment influence on microstructure evolution and mechanical properties for an alloy used...

Al–Li–Cu–Mg–Zr alloys are widely used in the aerospace industry for different applications and make an excellent concurrent to high-performance composites. This family of alloys...

Advanced distortion control for case hardening of transmission components

In many applications the high demands regarding fatigue properties of transmission components can be reached only by the application of customized case hardening. This...

Optimization of the de-bind cycle of sinter-base additive manufactured 17-4 components

Sinter-based additive manufacturing (S-BAM), of which Binder Jet AM (BJAM) is one approach, is quickly becoming recognized as one of the most desirable methods...

Heat treatment in the manufacturing of composites

When it comes to composite manufacturing, thermal and heat treatment is a critical process that has a significant influence on the result of the...

Embracing the digital transformation: Maximizing efficiency and predictive maintenance

The heat-treatment industry is essential to global manufacturing. The volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous (VUCA) landscape of the industry has led to many changes over...

Purpose-built forged parts optimized for ‘end use’

When forging seamless rolled rings for diverse sectors such as industrial machinery, pulp and paper, turbines, and oil and gas exploration, it is crucial...

Nitriding of hardfaced layers as a method of improving wear resistance of hot forging...

This article deals with novel hybrid layers combining hardfacing and nitriding to improve forging tool durability. It includes a study of the nitriding capabilities...

How to unlock time and profit savings with data

In the highly specialized world of commercial heat treating, precision, efficiency, and data-driven decision-making are critical for success. Capturing and using accurate data can...

The future of vacuum oil quenching

Despite decades of relentless innovation, the constraints of high-pressure gas quenching have become increasingly evident. Even with the utilization of specialized inert gas blends...

Nitrogen gas quenching pressure effect on BS S155 alloy steel in a vacuum furnace

The production of metal and alloy products requires the use of heat treatment. During the heat-treatment process, quenching is a crucial step. The quenching...

Carburizing steel mechanical properties

This article is a follow-up to the three articles on “Mechanical Properties of Carburized Steel” in the March  , April , and May ...

The effect of heat treatment on a 3D-printed PLA polymer’s mechanical properties

Three-dimensional printing is a useful and common process in additive manufacturing. The advantage of additive polymer technology is its rapidity and design freedom. Polymer...

Effects of the sintering process on Al2O3 composite ceramics

The sintering process can improve the microstructure of Al2O3 composite ceramics and enhance their comprehensive properties, but the effects of the sintering process on...

Optimal fabrication of a thin-film thermocouple using Alumel/Chromel junctions

Thin-film thermocouple (TFTC) technology is a novel measurement method that produces a thermocouple sensor during the deposition process, even though it is a complex...

Reducing time and cost of heat treatment post-processing of AM Ti6Al4V

The unique microstructure of Ti6Al4V produced through laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) displays high-tensile strength with low elongation in the as-built state. To obtain...

Ceramic fiber: High temperature insulation solution

Ceramic fiber is essential in various industries involving high-temperature operations. It offers superior thermal resistance for protecting structures, equipment, and machinery from steel and...

Nitrogen gas quenching pressure effect on BS S155 alloy steel in vacuum furnace

The production of metal and alloy products requires the use of heat treatment. During the heat-treatment process, quenching is a crucial step. The quenching...

The role of photo chemical etching in thermal management

The photochemical etching (PCE) process is distinguished by its capacity to fabricate metal parts with unparalleled accuracy. This process sidesteps the typical stresses and...

Demand for forged parts spurs drive to rebuild, automate equipment

Today, global demand for rebuilt forging equipment is surging, driven in part by a dramatic rise in the need for military ordnance spurred by...

Experimental validation of high-spatial resolution of two-color optical fiber pyrometer

Taking non-contact temperature measurements in narrow areas or confined spaces of non-uniform surfaces requires high spatial resolution and independence of emissivity uncertainties that conventional...

Insulation paper: Exploring a versatile thermal solution

Insulation paper is a thin, flexible, high-temperature material used in industrial processing applications where heat management is critical. It provides thermal protection up to...

Experimental research of a small-scale industrial furnace with regenerative disc-flame burners

Regenerative combustion technology has many advantages such as fuel saving, high combustion efficiency and low emission, and it has been widely used for large-scale...

Finite element modeling and simulation of vacuum brazing processes

Vacuum brazing is a black box process, so component distortion that occurs during heat treatment is difficult to prove experimentally. Thus, a novel FE-model...

Case study: Improving cooling tunnel performance

The Mt. Holly, South Carolina, smelting facility of global producer Century Aluminum houses casting equipment to process nearly 230,000 metric tons of material into...

Reimagining the steel production process

Steel has a major impact on everyone’s lives and our economy. It is crucial to cars, trucks, airplanes, buildings, and more. However, there is...

Investigations on the tooth root bending strength of larger-sized, induction-hardened gears

Surface hardening is an economical and technological alternative to case hardening. This is especially true for larger-sized gears. Due to the necessary high case-hardening...

10 steps for accelerating thermal processing decarbonization

Companies throughout the thermal-processing sector are under increased pressure to meet CO2 emission reduction goals, particularly net-zero emissions, by 2050 or sooner. At the...

Balancing a plant security profile

In today’s technology-driven world, where cyber threats dominate headlines and organizations invest significant resources in safeguarding their OT and IT infrastructure from digital threat...

DFARS, NIST SP 800-171, and CMMC 2.0 compliance

As a heat treater, if you are providing services or products to a Department of Defense (DoD) contractor, a downstream supplier, or fall anywhere...

Photo-chemical etching: A perfect process for heat exchanger production

Heat exchangers play a crucial role in various industrial applications, from power generation and automotive systems to HVAC systems and aerospace technology. The efficiency...