International SinterNews GB 01/11/02 14:06 Side 1
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
SINTERNEWS 1. E D I T I O N 2 0 0 2
HARDENING OF SINTERED PARTS CHANGED SINTERING ATMOSPHERE SOLVED IWKA’s WELDING PROBLEMS
MULTIPLATE ADAPTORS: THE FUTURE OF POWDER METAL INDUSTRY
International SinterNews GB 01/11/02 14:06 Side 2
I N T E R N A T I O N A L
SINTERNEWS
Editorial
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elcome to the first edition of International Sinternews. The magazine addresses everyone, who wants to know more about powder metallurgy and sintered metal. We wish to disseminate further knowledge on the sintering processes and the many options they contain. In this issue we have chosen to focus on four areas, that each implies a number of advantages. Complex components directly from the press - the limits to the complexity of the components move constantly. Today, it is possible - directly in the pressing process - to complete components, that could earlier only be produced with an expensive subsequent machining. Small series are also profitable - the latest technology and the new logistic systems make the production of components in small series pay. Even by an annual consumption of only a few thousand units. Welding in stainless sinter steel - the welding in ordinary steel alloys is usually not a problem. The welding in stainless qualities, on the other hand, makes particular demands at the sintering process. Hardening of powder metal - as with conventional steel, it is possible to manipulate the mechanical properties through hardening. Through a special process - sinter-hardening - the components can be hardened directly in continuation of the sintering process. By that means, extra heat treatment is superfluous. Apart from all that, we keep our readers informed on the latest news within powder metallurgy and sintered metal. I hope everyone will enjoy the magazine.
Søren Weis Sørensen Managing Director, FJ Sintermetal
International SinterNews is published in Danish (2000) Swedish (2000) English (3500) German (5000)
Contents HARDENING OF SINTERED PARTS
PAGE 3
CHANGED SINTERING ATMOSPHERE SOLVED PROBLEM WITH BADLY WELDED FLANGES PAGE 4
MULTIPLATE ADAPTORS: THE FUTURE OF POWDER METAL INDUSTRY
PAGE 5
NORWEGIAN LYNG MOTOR RECIEVES SINTERED GEAR RIMS FROM DENMARK
PAGE 7
International SinterNews GB 01/11/02 14:06 Side 3
HARDENING
HARDENING OF SINTERED PARTS
Cost reduction for PM application with maintained mechanical properties is one of the most important factors in order to preserve the strong growth for the powder metal industry. The new hardening possibilities play a crucial role in that developement.
Heat treatment has for a long time been used in order to achieve increased properties. Sintered ferrous components can, in principle, be heattreated like conventional steel parts. Thus, ferrous sintered parts can be through-hardened, case-hardened and precipitation hardened. The through-hardening procedure consists of the three steps austenizing, quenching and tempering, like for conventional steel parts. Sintered parts, however, are better quenched in oil than in plain water or water and brine. Due to their porosity they may crack when quenched too rapidly. Besides the quenching medium infiltrates the pore network, and brine retained in the pores after hardening would cause severe corrosion. Case hardening is a relatively inexpensive and simple way of raising the wear resistance of stuctural components and improve their mechanical properties, this goes for conventional as well as sintered steel parts. Several case hardening techniques in gaseous media are available; carbonizing, carbonitriding, nitriding, plasma nitriding, nitrocarburizing and induction hardening. The most frequent used methods for sintered parts are carbonizing and carbonitriding, and conventional case-hardening equipment can be used. Carburizing of the commonly used powder alloy Distaloy DH, which is alloyed with 1,5% molybdenum and 2% copper with addition of 0,1% graphite results in a tensile strength of 1000 MPa and a yield strength of 850 MPa. The hardness is about 500 HV (Vickers), but in the surface layer even up to 800 HV.
Sinter-hardening
The development of new materials and cost effective processes are the main factors that have contributed to the growth of PM parts during the last decade. Sinter-hardening, which utilises high performance materials in combination with an accelerated post sintering cooling rate, is one example of such material and process development. Sinter-hardening is of interest due to cost savings. It is a one step process which includes the heat treatment process within the sintering process. By controlling the post sintering cooling rate, the microstructure can be manipulated to form the required amount of martensite to obtain the desired mechanical properties. By alloying the materials, the hardenability increases and more martensite can be produced at similar cooling rates and thereby increase the mechanical strength of the parts. Very high strength can be achieved through sinter-hardening of Distaloy DH with high cooling rate followed by tempering. At a density of 7,20g/cc a tensile strength of 1200 MPa and a yield strength of almost 1100 MPa can be reached. The hardness of the material after this treatment is about 45O HV.
By Magnus Johansson Area Marketing Manager Höganäs AB (publ), Sweden
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Micro hardness
HVO,1 1000 800 600 400
6,80 g/cm3 7,15 g/cm3 7,35 g/cm3
200 0
0,0
0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 Distance from surface (mm)
2,5
Case depth
mm 2,4
94
2,0
78
1,6
63
1,2
47
0,8
31
0,4
16 0
0,0 6,6
6,8
7,0
7,2
7,4
7,6
Tensile- and yield strength
MPa 1100
160
1000
145
900
131
800
116 102
700 600
87
Tensile strength Yield strength
73
500 6,6
6,8
7,0
7,2
7,4
7,6
7,4
7,6
Hardness
HV5 600 550 500 450 400 350 300 6,6
6,8
7,0
7,2
Properties of case hardened Distaloy DH + 0,1% Graphite at different densities. The material is sintered at 1120°C in 20 min, carburized at 920°C in 20 min at a carbon potential of 0,8% followed by tempering at 180°C in 60 min.
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Changed sintering atmosphere solved IWKA’s welding problems IWKA Balg- und Kompensatoren-Technologie GmbH, Germany, already utilized stainless sintered flanges in the manufacturing of exhaust recirculation pipes for the automobile industry. But the company often had to put up with bad welds. Production planner Roland Junkes from IWKA BKT GmbH tells about the problems, that the German company ran into with the sintered flanges. ”We experienced a constant growing demand for cables and flanges for the automobile industry, but the need for post processing of the welded components was way too big - we even had to scrap some of them”, says Roland Junkes. In IWKA, the technicians and engineers discussed if the problems could have something to do with the storage, or if the problems could be solved with a new supplier. FJ Sintermetal - according to Junkes a both competent and reliable supplier of sintered metal components was assigned to analyze the sintering process from different parameters.
Clean and controlled sintering atmosphere Bent Edal Pedersen, sales engineer at FJ Sintermetal, was the technical adviser on the cooperation between IWKA BKT and FJ Sintermetal, and he elaborates what finally solved the riddle with the bad welds. ”Our preliminary examinations showed that the problematic components - compared to our usual products - had not only a higher density but also a high content of chrome nitrides and other nitride combinations within the grain boundaries”. ”Therefore, we re-sintered the original components with the high density (>7,0 g/cm3), and at the same time manufactured components with a ”normal” density (approximately 6,6 g/cm3). In both cases we used the stainless sinter steel AISI316, and in both Bent Edal Pedersen cases the welding was acceptSales Engineer able. Thus, we came to the conFJ Sintermetal
In this picture you see the difference between the original flanges and - in front - the new and improved flange from FJ Sintermetal.
clusion that it had to be the quality of the sintering atmosphere and not the density, which had the decisive influence on the weld. A clean and controlled sintering atmosphere that did not create nitrides, solved the problem”, says Bent Edal Pedersen from FJ Sintermetal - the current supplier of the new and improved flanges for IWKA BKT. He emphasizes, that the problem only found a solution due to the fact that IWKA BKT was interested in a thorough dialogue with FJ Sintermetal. A content Roland Junkes confirms the improvements achieved: ”The new flanges from FJ Sintermetal are much better than the original ones that we utilized in our production”.
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By Hubert Plank, Metallpulverteam Dorst Maschinen- und Anlagebau GmbH
Multiplate adapters: The future of powder metal industry Today, FJ Sintermetal uses multiplate adapters and powder presses of up to 250 ton to produce complicated sinter metal components. And the development in the powder pressing processes continues. Up until 20 years ago, the powder metallurgy was characterized by simple adapters and costly tooling. The firms strived to produ-
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ce fairly homogeneneous components. Parallel with the development of the hydraulic press, multiplate adapters with controlled plates have eventually become standard in the powder metal industry. Thus, today it is possible to produce components with variable heights and regularly density. Only in extraordinary cases, is it necessary to finish the components mechanically. At the same time, the tooling has become considerably simpler, due to the fact that the adapter now controlls all movements of the hallmark. Thus, the tooling costs can be reduced, which makes it possible to produce smaller series. Adapters with three underlying and three overlying plates are state of the art in modern powder metal industry, and are most frequently used in new presses.
The sintering processes of the future The adapters are applied in mechanical presses of between 50 and 800 ton. At the moment, FJ Sintermetal utilizes multiplate presses of between 50 and 250 ton, supplied by Dorst Technologies in Germany. The stored control programs make it possible to produce smaller series at different times and in reproductable quality. The development of multiplate presses and the matching adapters does not stop here - the length of the hallmark will play a decisive role as to how far it will go. In the near future, it will be possible to emboss transverse holes into any thinkable shape. The tooling constructions for series production of that kind are still on the drawing board but will most likely become future reality.
FJ SINTERNEWS
Dorst Maschinen- und Anlagegebau has supplied FJ Sintermetal with this hydraulic press.
FJ Sintermetal continues the sinter forging process and is so the only company in Scandinavia, that produces sinter forged components. The sinter forging is carried out after the sintering. That ensures high mechanical properties such as high density and high fatigue strength. Sten Millot has been employed to take care of this area.
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FJ Sintermetal - past and present
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uch has happened since Ferritslev Jernvarefabrik was founded in 1943. At that time the core business was production of horse shoes. In 1985, the company began the manufacturing of powder metal components and is currently in the possession of 19 powder presses. FJ Sintermetal, part of FJ Industries A/S, has specialized in the manufacturing of components with advanced geometry in both small and midsize series.
Positive economy of the components FJ Sintermetal’s customers are often interested in improving the economy of their components. We find that thorough discussions on the components already in the initiating phase contribute considerably to that improvement. FJ Sintermetal attaches great importance to a close contact with the customers and wishes to disseminate the knowledge of the sintered components, which are utilizable in a number of different contexts.
FJ Sintermetal designs, develops and produces its own tooling. This implies that we control the complete flow of the tool production. FJ Sintermetal is able to produce in most materials from bronze through different alloys of steel to stainless steel in acid resistant quality.
Certified quality assurance system The sintering and the sinter-hardening take place in one of FJ Sintermetal’s eight sintering furnaces, where the atmosphere and the temperature are controlled very accurately. FJ Sintermetal supplies highly refined components and thus many different kinds of post processing. The certified quality assurance system ensures that all deliveries from FJ Sintermetal fulfil the required specifications.
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Small series: Lyng Motor recieves 2000 sintered gear rims a year
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Shorter production time and low expenses those were some of the advantages that Lyng Motor could achieve by changing from machined to sintered components. The Norwegian company Lyng Motor with head office in Vanvikan has specialized in the manufacturing of electric actuators, which serve as integrated parts of valve control systems and gearboxes. The systems are primarily used in the maritime line of business, e.g. on fishing boats and passenger ferries. Arne Myran, senior engineer in Lyng Motor, explains why Lyng Motor chose to cooperate with FJ Sintermetal. ”We already utilized a small number of powder metal parts for our planet gears, but knew literally nothing about the advantages of changing to powder metal. The big gear rim was at that time being machined which meant extensive production time and very high expenses. Besides, we had problems with burrs on some of our components”, Arne Myran tells.
More rational production
”At the same time, we were able to reduce the number of suppliers. Thus, we came to the conclusion, that powder metal ensures a more rational production than the traditional production methods, and we plan to use even more sintered components in the future”, says Arne Myran from Lyng Motor.
Seminar on powder metal in Germany:
ELMIA Subcontractor November 12th - 15th 2002 in Jönköbing. FJ Sintermetal is present on stand number CO3:43 Hannover Messe April 7th - 12th 2003. FJ Sintermetal is present in hall 5 on stand number A20
I N V I T E S
In Düsseldorff on November 19th and in Dortmund on November 20th, FJ Sintermetal - in cooperation with Königlich Dänisches Konsulat - invites to a seminar on powder metal. The lecturers are Hubert Plank, Dorst Maschinen- und Anlagebau GmbH, Magnus Johansson, Höganäs AB, Therése Lind, System 3R International AB and Mogens Jensen and Bent Edal Pedersen from FJ Sintermetal. Please contact Jan Koch, phone +49 211 16 09 99, fax +49 211 16 09 99 10 or e-mail jk@dtc-dus.dk
F J
At a PM conference in Copenhagen, Lyng Motor got in contact with FJ Sintermetal and subsequently sent drawings and an enquiry on the manufacturing of the gear rim to the Danish company. After having visited FJ Sintermetal, Lyng Motor decided to enter into the cooperation on the new powder metal items and had ten test samples delivered from FJ Sintermetal. The production of the new sintered component is based on 200 units the first year - at only 2000 units yearly, the price of the component will be reduced to 14 percent of the original one. And Arne Myran 14 % reckons that the need for the kind of gear rims, which are being sintered by FJ Sintermetal, actually The sintered component costs only14% will be somewhat more extensive of the original machined component. in the future. ”We experience a growing annual demand, and expect to reach a total number of 2000 gear rims in 2003. For that reason, it is important for us, that the production costs can be kept down. And the price did play a big role when we decided to change to powder metal”.
Today, it is possible to produce bigger components in powder metal. Above is shown the sintered gear rim that Lyng Motor gets delivered from FJ Sintermetal.
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International SinterNews is published by: FJ Industries A/S FJ Sintermetal c/o Royal Danish Embassy Attn: Per Kaag Andersen 55 Sloane Street London SW1X 9SR
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I N T E R N A T I O N A L
SINTERNEWS
Cooperation with the supplier ensures Sauer-Danfoss improved joystick Sauer-Danfoss got the opportunity to adjust function and design to the sintering process and was able to decrease the number of suppliers. Before SauerDanfoss began to work on the improvement of the joystick, it consisted - among other things - of five complicated parts from three different suppliers. With the new parts in powder metal, SauerDanfoss could do with one single supplier.
By changing from machined brass to powder metal, Sauer-Danfoss A/S has obtained substantial advantages: Fewer suppliers, fewer controls, and not least better and cheaper products.
New version with only eight parts Sauer-Danfoss wanted to base the new joystick on the old version, but at the same time recognized the advantages in replacing some of the base parts with powder metal components. In practise, that meant fewer parts, fewer controls, and a reduction of the work illustrations from 60 to 10. Moreover, the actual range of tolerance was reduced by The new and improved more than 50 percent, informs Asger joystick from Sauer-Danfoss. Flintholm, Sauer-Danfoss. And last but not least, the new base parts, developed in cooperation between technicians and engineers from Sauer-Danfoss and FJ Sintermetal, were 40 percent cheaper than the original ones.
Improvements
Percent %
Asger Flintholm (left) informs, that Sauer-Danfoss today only needs one supplier of the base parts for the joystick.
100
100 %
100 %
100 %
100 %
80
Sauer-Danfoss and FJ Sintermetal joined forces as Sauer-Danfoss began to work on the improvement of one of its existing products; a joystick which is used on a wide range of mobile equipment in agriculture, construction and road building. Asger Flintholm, Sauer-Danfoss, tells that the company wanted to simplify the action of the base parts in order to obtain better quality assurance, simpler document handling and a lower price. By working close together with the supplier already in the initiating phase,
60
60 %
57 %
50 %
40 17 %
20
The change from machined brass to powder metal meant improvements for instance on price and range of tolerance.
0
Price
Number of components Machined Brass
Range of tolerance
Documents
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