SECAT WrapUp

Volume 10, Issue 3

August 2022 – Fall Issue

SECAT NEWS

Secat Training

In 2022, Secat will continue to offer a variety of training opportunities with virtual and in person options.

Our Upcoming TRAINING

Fundamentals of Direct Chill Aluminum Ingot Casting

September 13-14

It’s an IN PERSON class at Secat Headquarters in Lexington, KY 

You can learn more by CLICKING HERE.

Fundamentals of Direct Chill Aluminum Billet Casting

October 11-12

It’s an IN PERSON class at Secat Headquarters in Lexington, KY

You can learn more by CLICKING HERE.

Check out the complete schedule on our website www.secat.net

Visit us at www.secat.net and check out all that we have to offer!

Person of Interest

Alex Fryman, Materials Engineer, Secat, Inc. 

Alex Fryman joined the Secat team a month ago as Materials Engineer. He works on the production, processing, and metallurgical analysis of aluminum for R&D and quality assurance. 

Alex received BS in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 2009. Prior to joining Secat, Alex ran permanent mold and direct chill casting operations for Alloy Technologies, Inc. in Nicholasville, KY and worked on R&D of 2xxx and 7xxx series alloys for defense & aerospace applications. A notable project that Alex worked on was the manufacture of aluminum underbody armor for military armored vehicles. 

We asked Alex to tell us something about himself that people might be surprised by or may not know. He said “I love to cook. Some of my favorite things to make are carnitas, coq au vin, and chicken corn chowder.” 

We’ll be over for dinner soon – Welcome to the Team, Alex!

#HeLovesAluminum

#WeLoveAluminum

New Capabilities

Secat recently expanded its research capabilities to include a complete laboratory-scale production facility for aluminum alloy research and development. The facilities include casting, homogenization, hot and cold deformation, and final heat treatment for experimental quantities of aluminum from 5 to 500 pounds.

Some of the equipment and capabilities are outlined below. 

  • An induction furnace capable of melting up to 200 pounds of aluminum for permanent mold casting – mold materials based on customer needs 
  • Rotary degassing system that eliminates hydrogen and other impurities from the melt, which is then poured into permanent molds of various configurations depending on application and customer requirements 
  • Water-cooled copper chill plates and thermal hot tops, ensuring bottom-up solidification, free of voids and shrinkage porosity 
  • Direct chill casting of up to 500 lbs using a tilting resistance furnace, also equipped with rotary degasser, and a variable speed rod spooler for in-line addition of titanium-boron grain refiner 
  • Mold shapes of 7” diameter round, 10” round, 6.5” square, and 4×10” rectangular (additional mold shapes can be fabricated) 
  • High temperature furnace with forced convection and a work area of 30” x 36” x 18” 
  • Rolling mill (5” max width, 2.25” max opening) 
  • 300-ton H-frame forging press for hot or cold deformation, capable of both upset forging and open die forging, and equipped with draw forging dies from 0.5” to 2.5” wide 
  • Custom-made plate stretcher for straightening and/or to relieving residual stresses after quenching, which can stretch plates up to 1.5” thick and 3” wide, with a maximum load of 120,000 pounds 

Below are photos of the cast billet and ingots produced using the casting equipment now available at Secat. 

 

Contact us to discuss how Secat can support your product development needs, without sacrificing production time and expenses associated with full-scale trials. Our experienced team of engineers are capable of managing the project from start to finish with strict adherence to confidentiality.

Visit us at www.secat.net and check out all that we have to offer!

Featured Capabilities

Secat has upgraded their capabilities for metal cleanliness testing with the latest PoDFA testing unit from ABB.

PoDFA is a proprietary technology for melt cleanliness evaluation which provides information on the composition and concentration of the inclusions in molten aluminum. It is ideal for process characterization and optimization, as well as product improvement by providing molten metal cleanliness from the cast house.

The PoDFA can be used in combination with the Alscan for Hydrogen testing to assess the effects of various operating practices on metal cleanliness or to identify filtration efficiency. Secat sends teams to customer sites for evaluation of metal cleanliness throughout the cast house, from the melter to the casting station, using the PoDFA, and/or the Prefil Footprinter.

In the PoDFA test, a predetermined quantity of liquid aluminum is filtered by pouring the metal into a crucible through a filter with a specific pore size at its base, under controlled conditions. Inclusions within the metal are entrapped by the filter. The filter, along with entrapped inclusions, is cut and the cross section is microscopically examined after mounting and polishing under an optical microscope using the PoDFA guidelines and database.

Secat has a PoDFA license and trained personnel to perform the metallographic analysis in house. Secat, has many years of interpretative experience based on testing using the Prefil Footprinter. Secat also uses the SEM/EDS to check and confirm the nature of the inclusions identified in the microstructure.

Aluminum Art

First of It’s Kind

The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, popularly but incorrectly known as “Eros”, is a fountain surmounted by a winged statue of Anteros, located at the southeastern side of Piccadilly Circus in London, England. Created by sculptor, Sir Alfred Gilbert, it was the first sculpture in the world to be cast in aluminum and is set on a bronze fountain, “Gilbert has here taken full advantage of the lightness and tensile strength of aluminium — such an extreme displacement of the figure’s centre of gravity could not have been sustained” by one slender ankle had bronze been used.”

https://victorianweb.org/sculpture/gilbert/44.html

Do you have a piece of Aluminum Art you’d like to share? Contact us at info@secat.net

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#WeLoveAluminum

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