TPT May 2017

I NDUS T RY

Steeltec publishes material selection guide COMPONENTS used in high-tech applications have to meet increasingly sophisticated demands, such as greater efficiency, improved dynamic strength and longer service life. Cost-effective production processes are essential to maintaining long-term market viability.

It also provides checklists that enable users to translate their individual processing and product requirements into material properties, and illustrates preventive quality assurance measures. A case study of electric power tool manufacturer Metabo is included. “We help component manufacturers to achieve the best possible cost-benefit ratio along the entire value chain,” explained Guido Olschewski, head of quality and product development at Steeltec. “The key is simply to provide manufacturers with the best high- performance steel for their specific application needs.” The free Material Selection Guide is available as a downloadable PDF file or a printed document.

In its recently issued Material Selection Guide, Steeltec has identified five steps that manufacturers of advanced steel components can take to select the right high-performance steel for their purposes and to optimise the costs of their manufacturing processes. The guide explains the benefits of getting the material selection process right and the problems that can arise when the wrong choice is made, and recommends ways to optimise material processing and machining stages.

Steeltec’s new Material Selection Guide can help users find the right material for manufacturing advanced steel components

Steeltec AG – Switzerland Website: www.steeltec-group.com

International recognition for Materials Processing Institute chief technology officer

Co-authors of the paper were Andrew J Brown and Jason B Sychterz, Union Electric Steel UK Ltd, UK; Petrus H Bolt, M Krugla, S Sengo and M Rijnders, Tata Steel Research & Development, Netherlands; Alan Scholes, Materials Processing Institute, UK; Eliette Mathey, ArcellorMittal Mazières Research SA, France; and Gisèle Walmag, Olivier Lemaire and Jurgen Malbrancke, Centre de Recherches Métallurgiques ASBL, Belgium. Chris McDonald, chief executive of the Materials Processing Institute, added, “I am delighted for Alan, whose work has always been of the highest standard, and this international recognition is fully deserved. His research, along with the work of his fellow co-authors, has identified a cost-effective practice within the industry and everyone at the institute is proud of this achievement.” The award will be presented at AIST 2017, which takes place in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, from 8 to 11 May. Materials Processing Institute – UK Email: enquiries@mpiuk.com Website: www.mpiuk.com

THE chief technology officer at the Materials Processing Institute has won an industry award from the Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST). Alan Scholes has been awarded the Best Paper Award by the AIST, as co- author of a paper titled ‘Development of Tailored Roll Grade Materials for the Early Stands of Finishing Hot Metals’, along with other research and steel organisations. The accolade is presented to the author(s) of the best paper submitted to the Rolls Technology Committee. The paper summarises how a methodology for the manufacture of small castings has been developed using microstructural and thermal- mechanical testing. By using this approach, several new material grades have been produced, analysed and refined, including grades that have now been cast as full-scale rolls. Specific grades have been developed to target mills that have difficulty using standard HSS (high-speed steel) and to further improve the performance of HSS in service. The research, which was supported by the European Research

Alan Scholes

Fund for Coal and Steel, has provided a means to simulate the rolling environment and to test new material grades. It has removed the need for expensive and high failure risk mill trials. Mr Scholes commented, “Techniques to develop new material grades were achieved through the combined expertise and collaboration of several organisations, and it is a great honour to be part of this award-winning research team.”

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MAY 2017