The furnace has three interchangeable crucibles with the capacity for melting 250kg, 500kg and 1000kg of metal, which give it the versatility to produce components with a finished weight ranging upwards from 60kg. A molten mass in excess of 1000kg is required to make a 500kg titanium casting and only a handful of furnaces exist globally that are capable of casting near net shape aerospace components of this size.

A castings facility capable of producing some of the biggest titanium aerospace components in the world is now operational at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). Construction of the furnace for the AMRC Castings Group was completed last year and in the past few weeks the first tests or ‘hot commissioning’ as it is known, have been completed successfully. The furnace has three interchangeable crucibles Read more→

QuesTek Innovations has used advanced computer modeling to produce innovative materials in the aerospace sector. Now it’s looking to recreate the same magic in the medical device space.

Medical device developers typically turn to off-the-shelf materials and then design based on the properties of the materials. But does it have to be this way? What if it was possible to simply design and then choose and validate Read more→

“For instance, we are able to develop the two most important components in an advanced engine — the single crystal superalloy turbine blades and powder metallurgy superalloy turbine disks — but in mass production, the products’ quality is not very satisfactory,” he said. “The road to success is filled with setbacks and failures. Each of the world’s engine powers has walked this road.”

China’s answer to the American F-22 Raptor has purportedly entered operational service with the Chinese Air Force.

 The People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has reportedly inducted an unknown number of Chengdu J-20 stealth fighter aircraft, according to the military channel of China Central Television (CCTV) on March 9. The March 9 CCTV video footage showed a number of J-20 fighter jets flying alongside H-6K long-range bombers, a derivative of the Soviet-era Tupolov Tu-16 twin-engine jet strategic bomber, and Read more→

ArcelorMittal Global R&D Senior Research Engineer Liwei Zhang at work at the steel company’s research facility in East Chicago. 

A researcher at ArcelorMittal Global R&D in East Chicago has helped the company develop a machine vision system and deploy it in the steelmaking process. Machine vision is where robot cameras are used to automatically inspect quality on the assembly line to ensure the finished product meets all the customer’s specifications. Senior Research Engineer Liwei Zhang, who joined ArcelorMittal in 2006, initiated the machine vision project, and has led it from start to finish. She provides technical support to major vendors installing the Read more→

Dotée d’un budget de 1,23 million d’euros sur 4 ans et pilotée par le Centre de mise en forme des matériaux- MINES ParisTech, la Chaire DIGIMU vise à développer un cadre numérique permettant de modéliser la matière et les modifications de ses propriétés lors des opérations de mise en forme, pour développer, à terme, une « métallurgie numérique » adaptée aux entreprises innovantes. La Chaire DIGIMU regroupe 8 partenaires, dont 6 industriels du secteur de la métallurgie : ArcelorMittal, Areva,  Ascometal, Aubert & Duval, le CEA et Safran. C’est l’une des 5 Chaires industrielles issues de « l’appel à projet » ANR 2016. (Credit Photo @ Mines ParisTech)

La Chaire DIGIMU en bref : 

• Durée : 4 ans (2016-2020)
• Budget : 1,23 million d’euros
• Financement : 50% par l’ANR, 50% par les partenaires industriels
• 6 partenaires industriels : ArcelorMittal, Areva, Ascometal, Aubert & Duval, le CEA, Safran.
• 1 partenaire technologique : Transvalor, éditeur du logiciel DIGIMUâ
• 1 directeur et titulaire de Chaire : Marc Bernacki, enseignant-chercheur, Centre de mise en forme des matériaux (CEMEF-MINES ParisTech).
• Equipe : 5 thèses, 2 postdocs, 3 stages

MINES ParisTech, première école en France par son volume de recherche contractuelle et l’Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) annoncent le lancement de la Chaire DIGIMU, « Développement d’un cadre Innovant et Global pour la modélisation des évolutions de MicrostrUctures intervenant lors des procédés de mise en forme des métaux ».Read more→

Load cycling of metal components leads to fatigue and ultimately failure through the propagation of cracks. Koyama et al. took inspiration from bone to develop a steel with a laminated substructure that arrests cracks. The resulting hierarchical material has much better fatigue resistance properties than other iron alloys. The strategy need not be limited to steel; other metal alloys should also benefit from this type of microstructural engineering.

Getting close to the bone is sometimes exactly the right strategy. Mimicking the crack-resistant properties of bone has delivered two new types of steel, which could improve safety in construction and transport applications. Steel is ubiquitous: we use it in everything from cars and aircraft to power plants and bridges. It’s affordable and its alloys can be easily tailored for specific applications. But it is also vulnerable Read more→

The CEO adds that Digital Alloys’ 3D printer has three particular advantages so, “customers will be able to print parts at 5-10% the cost of competing systems.” The advantages are, “a much lower machine cost, more than 10x increase in print speeds and the use of commodity input materials (wire).” (Credit Photo @ NVLabs metal research)

There’s a new 3D printing company in town, but it’ll feel familiar to those who follow the Boston-area 3D printing sector. New Valence Robotics, which goes by NVBots, has spun out the metal-making 3D printer technology it was developing into a new company called Digital Alloys. The new firm was formed in January, and today it announced it has raised a $5 million Series A funding round led byRead more→

South African researchers developing the world’s largest machine for producing aircraft parts using lasers to melt powdered titanium are in talks with Airbus and Boeing, with the first commercial application expected in 2019. Officially launched in 2011 and backed by government, the Aeroswift research project last year produced itsRead more→

Quest for lighter vehicles behind move

TOKYO – Kobe Steel has begun to produce steel used in a process called hot-stamping in response to growing demand from automakers for lighter and stronger components. The Japanese steelmaker hopes that the steel will offer carmakers an alternative to high-tensile steel, aluminum and carbon fiber when they seek to save weight in their vehicles. Kobe Steel has started making hot-stamping steel at its works inRead more→