Over the past 15 years, Complete Machining Services (CMS) Inc. has tried to adapt its precision machining and fabricating services to market demands. Accomplishing that has typically involved acquiring increasingly advanced machining centers and other capital equipment, along with new tooling, controls and software upgrades. Recently, the shop recognized a new demand. 

“Last year we began receiving numerous requests for plastics injection mold repair services,” says Jeff Dainty, president and CEO. “Beyond our MIG and TIG welders, this was a capability we did not have. It was obvious there was a lack of contract precision laser welding services in the area for plastic injection molds, which was surprising because the largest concentration of moldmakers in North America resides in Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, close to where CMS is located.”

Meeting an Industry Demand

As it happened, Mr. Dainty and his manufacturing manager were set to attend the 2018 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) about a week after coming to the recognition about the demand for mold repair services. After researching laser welding systems at the trade show, they settled on LaserStar’s 8700-3 universal jig welding workstation, a micro welding laser system.

“When CMS talked to us at IMTS about expanding their capabilities by adding laser welding for plastic injection mold repair and also tool-and-die maintenance, we explained that they were going to need not just a laser welding machine, but a workstation that provided the flexibility to handle a wide variety of parts and materials,” says Gary Paresky, LaserStar regional sales manager. “That meant they needed at least 300-watt capability that could weld aluminum, and that means a fiber laser. Nd:YAG-type (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet) lasers are typically 200-watt devices. We directed them to our 8700-3 series fiber laser welding workstation, which provides higher-peak power.”

The fiber laser source on the 8700-3 has a permanently sealed design that protects against dust and dirt, which sometimes is an issue in a job shop environment, Mr. Paresky says. An important feature of the fiber laser is that it produces a sharp, focused light beam that consistently melts a very small area of metal. “The benefit of the technology is that very little heat is generated at the weld point, allowing users like CMS to easily laser weld 0.25 mm from complex, heat-sensitive intricate parts,” he adds.

Because CMS needed to maximize the flexibility of the welder, Mr. Dainty opted to add several options to the workstation, including a tower gantry to ease moving the laser next to the molds, a motorized worktable, and a camera and monitor to aid in training operators.

“Fortunately for CMS, we were able to find an operator with experience using LaserStar equipment, so we were able to start putting work through the process right after it was installed, and we are now successfully producing mold repair work for a variety of customers on a weekly basis.”   

The Mold Repair Advantages of Fiber Laser Welding

When Modern Machine Shop heard of CMS’s success with LaserStar equipment, we talked with Mr. Paresky about tungsten carbide inserts how fiber laser welding is particularly suited to mold repair work. Here is what he said:

What is involved with plastic injection mold repair? 

Plastic injection molds can be expensive to replace, so using a laser welder to repair them can be a huge cost savings. Typically the molds acquire worn areas after constant use or broken edges requiring repair. On a newly machined mold, there are sometimes porosity issues that need to be filled. The laser welder can be used to address these issues by adding filler wire to repair these defects. Once material is added with the laser welder, a final machining of the area is performed to finish the repair. Laser welding can also repair smaller molds or those that can be disassembled. X-, Y- and Z-axis and/or rotary capabilities enable very precise and straight weld beads to TNGG Insert be laid down. For larger molds, the laser welder can be rolled right up to where they are in use. A gantry tower with X-, Y- and Z-axis motion — like the one CMS acquired — allows the operator to reach into areas that need repair.

What are fiber laser’s advantages over MIG and TIG welding technologies?

Unlike MIG and TIG welders, laser welders allow for micro-welding into very tight areas. Because laser welding is a noncontact process, as long as the operator can see where they need to weld, they can do it with the laser. The laser welder produces a very small heat affected zone, or HAZ, because it limits the amount of energy to just where it is needed.

What are fiber laser’s advantages over other kinds of laser welders?

Previous-generation technology like flashlamp-pulsed nd:YAG laser welders usually have a limit on the maximum power that can be applied — typically 200 watts. Fiber technology can provide 150, 300, 450 or even 600 watts, which allows for the use of heavier filler wire, speeding up the repair process. Aluminum and beryllium typically need higher power in order to produce good-quality welds, with 300 watts being a common capacity for such applications.

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May 31, 2023

Aluminum is the most commonly used material in prototype production. Industries from aerospace, medical to automotive require mechanical and structural components that are durable. Aluminum prototypes are strong, have excellent welding abilities, and are resistant to corrosion, making them essential in the manufacturing business.

Manufacturers use different techniques to make an aluminum prototype. Depending on the part, quantity, or geometry, they can choose to use 3D printing, CNC machining, aluminum casting, extrusion, or sheet metal fabrication.

Let’s look at the processes involved in each of these techniques to help you choose the best method for your prototype.

This process is a popular choice in metal prototyping. Prototypes can be created using selective laser melting (SLM) and direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). In addition, 3D printing is affordable involves additive manufacturing processes.

Similar to CNC machining, it uses digital designs to make alterations. Most aluminum prototypes require complex designs because they are built layer by layer. 3D prototyping comes in handy due to its geometrical flexibility.

As a manufacturer, you can choose this technique due to its low costs and design freedom.

Most aluminum prototype companies use CNC machining. Using numerical control machine tools, this method produces prototypes in the shortest time possible and very precisely. In addition, this method is convenient because you can alter digital CAD designs.

Despite been compatible with most metal materials, this process works best with aluminum alloys. In addition, as a subtractive manufacturing method, it leads to material wastage.

CNC machining uses 4-axis and 5-axis CNC machines to create complex parts with detailed features.

This fabrication is a group of processes that involves the deformation, cutting, and assembly of aluminum sheets. It’s used to make functional prototypes such as enclosures and industrial parts.

When creating a functional metal prototype, manufacturers use laser cutting, punching, bending, and Cemented Carbide Inserts welding procedures. To maintain quality, it’s beneficial to use the same sheet metal techniques during prototyping and production.

The downside of this technique is that it might be more expensive than the other processes if multiple techniques are required. For example, a single part may need a laser cutter and punching machine, while with CNC machining, it would just need one machine.

You can choose this method if you need a range of fabrication services or several prototype copies.

Casting involves pouring melted aluminum liquid into a mold to create a prototype. Since it requires specialist equipment, the process of creating a mold is expensive. Because of this, it’s more suitable for mass production.

Manufacturers can incorporate 3D printing and CNC machining in the casting process to tungsten carbide inserts reduce the production costs of metal prototypes. However, the production quality is good and creates strong parts that clients can use in different industrial applications.

Ideally, not considered as a prototyping process, extrusion is used by manufacturers to create the original parts. During extrusion, materials are forced to go through a shaped open mold to produce an elongated part.

Aluminum prototypes that manufacturers can make via this process include metal bars, brackets, and joints. However, due to the high cost, most extrusion companies specialize in high-volume orders.

Prototypes can be made using different materials depending on the part, its functionality, and its strength requirement. However, aluminum is preferable for both aesthetic and functional reasons. Here are some benefits of choosing an aluminum prototype.

Although some prototypes have no mechanical or functional role, others have to be used. Pre-production, hybrid and functional prototypes have a role to fulfil; therefore need to be of good quality and strength. Aluminum is the metal of choice due to its superior characteristics.

If you compare it with cheaper options like plastic, the aluminum prototype has more resistance to extreme temperatures. Therefore, during production, it will be less susceptible to degradation.

Whether you use 3D printing or CNC machining techniques, metal prototypes look better. Also, compared to plastic parts, they are more appealing to look at even as non-functional prototypes.

Aluminum prototypes and parts made from metal are much cheaper compared to plastic parts. This is because of metal’s physical characteristics, which reduce the frequency of part replacement. In the long run, this reduces the costs of production.

Prototypes made from processes such as CNC machining have high levels of accuracy. In addition, aluminum alloys have a superior quality that produces parts to be used in the market for testing.

Once the engineers have produced an aluminum prototype, the client can use the same for production. It’s easier to turn a metal prototype into a finished product. However, if the prototype had been made using plastic, it can’t be transformed into metal when it’s time for mass production.

Due to the aesthetics of aluminum prototypes, the product will attract more people. This boosts the chances of early investment. As a result, the product can achieve substantial commercial success.

Aluminum alloys are high in strength, have good corrosion resistance, and have good plasticity. Because of these excellent characteristics, they are widely used in most industries. For example, in the aviation industry, aluminum parts are used extensively. Due to this strength, customers are assured of high-quality parts and prototypes.

Prototyping companies use aluminum for most of their processes due to its superior qualities. The demand for these parts in most sectors has made aluminum prototyping one of the most popular processes in manufacturing. Depending on the parts you need and budget, you can choose between the above techniques for your prototyping.

If you are looking for an aluminum prototype, you can contact Estoolcarbide, an ISO9001 certified prototype company with more than 20 years of experience. They will provide quality parts according to your specifications and design.

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Vacuum sintering furnace is a high-temperature, high-pressure, and low-pressure sintering device used primarily for the preparation of high-performance ceramics, metals, and composite materials.

A vacuum sintering furnace typically consists of a furnace body, heating device, vacuum system, and control system. Its basic principle is to sinter powder or bulk materials in a high-temperature and vacuum or inert gas environment, enabling diffusion, thermal cracking, chemical reactions, and other processes at high temperatures to promote material recombination and recrystallization at the microscopic level, resulting in a dense structure and excellent properties, while avoiding oxidation, contamination, and other undesirable effects on the material.

Advantages of vacuum sintering furnaces

Vacuum sintering reduces the contamination of harmful substances (such as water, oxygen, nitrogen, and other impurities) in the atmosphere that could affect the material, thus avoiding a series of undesirable reactions such as decarburization, carburization, reduction, oxidation, and nitriding. The vacuum environment is unique to other sintering methods, with a residual gas purity equivalent to 99.99987% argon when the vacuum pressure reaches 1.3*10^-1 pascals.

Vacuum sintering Coated Inserts can also remove the oxide film completely before the appearance of liquid phase, thereby improving the wettability of the liquid phase and carbide phase, improving the alloy’s microstructure, and enhancing its performance. Additionally, due to the reduction in the amount of gas inside the green body pores in a vacuum environment, it is easier for the gas products to escape the pores and remove the gas dissolved in the metal, resulting in a higher material density.

vacuum sintering also results in materials with higher wear resistance and strength, and it has a significant impact on reducing product costs.

 

Types of vacuum sintering furnaces

Classification by heating methods

a.Resistance heating furnace: uses a resistance wire or electrode as the heating source, with uniform heating, simple APMT Insert control, and suitable for most materials.

b.Induction furnace: uses electromagnetic induction principle for heating, with fast heating speed and ability to achieve localized heating, suitable for specific materials.

c.Electron beam furnace: uses an electron beam as the heating source, with fast heating speed and ability to achieve high temperature heating, suitable for high-temperature refractory materials.

Classification by working temperature:

a.Low-temperature vacuum sintering furnace: generally works at temperatures below 1000°C and is suitable for low-temperature sintering materials.

b.Medium-temperature vacuum sintering furnace: generally works at temperatures between 1000°C and 1600°C and is suitable for most materials.

c.High-temperature vacuum sintering furnace: generally works at temperatures above 1600°C to 2400°C and is suitable for high-temperature refractory materials.

Classification by application field of vacuum sintering furnace:

a.Ceramic vacuum sintering furnace: suitable for the preparation of ceramic materials.

b.Metal vacuum sintering furnace: suitable for the preparation of metal materials.

c.Composite material vacuum sintering furnace: suitable for the preparation of composite materials.

How to select a vacuum sintering furnace

The key to selecting a vacuum sintering furnace is to consider your specific production needs, including material type, sintering process, production scale, and budget. Here are some general steps for selecting a vacuum sintering furnace:

Determine your production needs and technical requirements, including material type, process requirements, output, and accuracy.

Based on your production needs, determine the technical parameters of the furnace, including furnace size, maximum temperature, vacuum degree, heating method, cooling method, etc.

Choose a well-known brand of vacuum sintering furnace manufacturer and consider factors such as equipment quality, after-sales service, and technical support.

Compare and analyze the product parameters, prices, and other information from different manufacturers, and choose the equipment that best meets your needs.

Consider the maintenance and upkeep costs of the vacuum sintering furnace, including the cost of furnace lining replacement and consumables.

Before purchasing, make sure to understand the after-sales service and technical support situation of the purchased equipment so that you can get help and problem-solving in a timely manner.

 

Vacuum sintering furnace brand with sound quality in the World

The following are some famous furnace brands that have high visibility and reputation in the international market:

ECM Technologies: This company is a French manufacturer specializing in vacuum furnaces and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) furnaces. Its products cover various fields, including aerospace, medical, and energy.

ALD Vacuum Technologies GmbH: This company is a German manufacturer specializing in vacuum sintering furnaces, high-temperature vacuum furnaces, and plasma spray equipment, and its products are suitable for materials science, aerospace, medical, and other fields.

Linn High Therm GmbH: This company is a German manufacturer specializing in vacuum furnaces, high-temperature vacuum furnaces, and plasma spray equipment, and its products are suitable for fields such as metal, ceramics, and powder metallurgy.

ULVAC Technologies, Inc.: This company is a Japanese manufacturer specializing in vacuum equipment, including vacuum melting furnaces, and plasma spray equipment, which are widely used in fields such as semiconductors, electronics, and materials.

These brands of vacuum sintering furnaces all have high quality and performance and are widely used in various fields for the preparation and processing of high-performance materials.

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The fatigue strength of metal materials is very sensitive to various external and internal factors. External factors include the shape and size of the part, surface finish and service conditions, while internal factors include the composition of the material itself, organizational state, purity and residual stress. Subtle changes of these factors will cause fluctuations or even large changes in the fatigue properties of materials.

The influence of various factors on fatigue strength is an important aspect of fatigue research. This research will provide a basis for the reasonable structural design of parts, the correct selection of materials and the rational formulation of various cold and hot machining processes, so as to ensure the high fatigue performance of parts.

Contents hide 1effect on fatigue of stress concentration 2Influence of size factor 3Influence on fatigue of surface processing state 4Effect of chemical composition 5Effect on fatigue of heat treatment and microstructure 6Effect of inclusions 7Effect of surface property change and residual stresseffect on fatigue of stress concentration

The conventional fatigue strength is measured by carefully machined smooth specimens. However, the actual mechanical parts inevitably have different forms of notches, such as steps, keyways, threads and oil holes. The existence of these notches causes stress concentration, so that the maximum actual stress at the root of the notch is much greater than the nominal stress borne by the part, and the fatigue failure of the part often starts from here.

Influence of size factor

Due to the inhomogeneity of the material structure and the existence of internal defects, the increase of the size will increase the failure probability of the material, thus reducing the fatigue limit of the material. The existence of size effect is an important problem in applying the fatigue data measured by small samples in the laboratory to large-scale actual parts. Because it is impossible to reproduce the stress concentration and stress gradient on the actual size parts on the small samples, the laboratory results are disconnected from the fatigue failure of some specific parts.

Influence on fatigue of surface processing state

There are always uneven machining marks on the machined surface, which are equivalent to tiny notches, causing stress concentration on the material surface, thus reducing the fatigue strength of the material. The test shows that for steel and aluminum alloy, the fatigue limit of rough machining (rough turning) is reduced by 10% – 20% or more than that of longitudinal fine polishing. The higher the strength of the material, the more sensitive it is to the surface finish.

Effect of chemical composition

There is a close relationship between the fatigue strength Cutting Tool Inserts and tensile strength of materials under certain conditions. Therefore, under certain conditions, any alloy element that can improve the tensile strength can improve the fatigue strength of materials. Comparatively speaking, carbon is the most important factor affecting the strength of materials. However, some impurity elements which form inclusions in steel have adverse effects on fatigue strength.

Effect on fatigue of heat treatment and microstructure

Different heat treatment conditions will result in different microstructures. Therefore, the effect of heat treatment on fatigue strength is essentially the effect of microstructure. Although the same static strength can be obtained for materials with the same composition due to different heat treatment, the fatigue strength can vary in a considerable range due to different Surface Milling Inserts structures.

At the same strength level, the fatigue strength of flake pearlite is obviously lower than that of granular pearlite. The finer the cementite particles, the higher the fatigue strength.

Effect of inclusions

The inclusion itself or the holes generated by it are equivalent to tiny notches, which will produce stress concentration and strain concentration under the action of alternating load, and become the crack source of fatigue fracture, causing adverse effects on the fatigue properties of materials. The influence of inclusions on fatigue strength depends not only on the type, nature, shape, size, quantity and distribution of inclusions, but also on the strength level of materials, the level and state of applied stress.

Different types of inclusions have different mechanical and physical properties, different properties from base metal, and different effects on fatigue properties. Generally speaking, plastic inclusions (such as sulfides) that are easy to deform have little effect on the fatigue properties of steel, while brittle inclusions (such as oxides, silicates, etc.) do great harm.

Inclusions with larger expansion coefficient than the matrix (such as sulfide) have less influence due to compressive stress in the matrix, while inclusions with smaller expansion coefficient than the matrix (such as alumina) have greater influence due to tensile stress in the matrix.

The compactness of inclusion and base metal also affects the fatigue strength. Sulfide is easy to deform and closely bond with the base metal, while oxide is easy to separate from the base metal, resulting in stress concentration. Therefore, from the type of inclusions, sulfide has little effect, while oxides, nitrides and silicates are more harmful.

Effect of surface property change and residual stress

In addition to the surface finish mentioned above, the influence of surface state also includes the change of surface mechanical properties and the influence of residual stress on fatigue strength. The change of surface mechanical properties can be caused by the difference of surface chemical composition and structure, or by deformation strengthening.

Surface heat treatment such as carburizing, nitriding and carbonitriding can not only increase the wear resistance of parts, but also improve the fatigue strength of parts, especially an effective means to improve the corrosion fatigue and biting corrosion resistance.

The influence of surface chemical heat treatment on fatigue strength mainly depends on loading mode, carbon and nitrogen concentration in the carburized layer, surface hardness and gradient, the ratio of surface hardness to core hardness, layer depth, and the size and distribution of residual compressive stress formed by surface treatment. A large number of tests show that as long as the notch is machined first and then treated by chemical heat treatment, generally speaking, the sharper the notch is, the more the fatigue strength will be improved.

The effect of surface treatment on fatigue performance is different under different loading modes. Under axial loading, the stress in the surface layer is the same as that under the layer because there is no uneven distribution of stress along the layer depth. In this case, the surface treatment can only improve the fatigue performance of the surface layer. Because the core material is not strengthened, the improvement of fatigue strength is limited. Under bending and torsion conditions, the stress distribution is concentrated in the surface layer. The residual stress formed by surface treatment and this additional stress are superimposed to reduce the actual stress on the surface. At the same time, due to the strengthening of surface materials, the fatigue strength under bending and torsion conditions can be effectively improved.

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