SECAT Newsletter, Vol. 8, Issue 1

Aluminum WrapUp
Volume 8, Issue 1
Feb/March 2020

SECAT NEWS

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Shian Jia and his wife on the birth of their son. Dr. Jia is a Materials Engineer at Secat.
Timothy Jia was born early the morning of December 31, 2019.

Welcome Timothy!

Stay Tuned for New Courses!
Coming Soon
Watch for online registration information! Secat will be offering brand new courses on a variety of aluminum subjects. Watch for spring courses on topics such as Aluminum Foil, Pre-treatment of Sheet and Roll Grinding. Secat is committed to providing cutting edge education and information to the Aluminum industry.
S
tay tuned for more education and training opportunities in the future. 
Visit 
www.secat.net
 to stay up to date.
#WeLoveAluminum

Look for us at ET ’20!!
Join aluminum extrusion industry professionals from more than 50 countries at the Twelfth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar and Exposition (ET ’20), taking place May 19-21, 2020 in Orlando, Florida, USA. 

This premier seminar features more than 100 technical sessions, an exposition featuring products, equipment, and services from industry suppliers, networking events, and much more!
Be sure to visit Secat at Booth #517!

You can learn more about us on Secat’s website
here.
#WeLoveAluminum

Person of Interest
Nicholas Nanninga, PH.D.
Accuride Corporation
Nicholas Nanninga holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from Michigan Technological University. His Ph.D. dissertation was on the fatigue behavior of hollow extruded AA6xxx alloys and focused on the effects of seam and charge welds on high cycle fatigue. Following graduation, Dr. Nanninga worked as a post-doctoral fellow at NIST in Boulder, Colorado, where he focused on characterizing the hydrogen embrittlement of steels in high pressure hydrogen gas environments. After completing his post-doctoral assignment, Dr. Nanninga worked at TIMET corporation in Henderson, Nevada for two years. At TIMET, his responsibilities revolved around alloy and process development on titanium alloys. For the past seven years, Dr. Nanninga has worked for Accuride Corporation in Henderson, Kentucky. His current position is Corporate Director/Materials and Process Engineering.  
Dr. Nanninga is an expert in processing-microstructure-fatigue property relationships in metals. He has published several articles on this subject in peer reviewed journals and he is the inventor on two patents specifying optimized grain structures for forged aluminum wheel fatigue performance.  He is also the inventor of the aluminum alloy, AA6099.
Give us a quick overview of your job. 
I manage a small team of metallurgists and scientists in our Henderson Technology Center. Our primary responsibilities include: researching and developing new materials and processes for manufacturing wheels (reinventing the wheel), assisting our operations and supplier quality teams on raw material qualifications and quality concerns, and supporting our product design engineers and field service engineers through failure analysis.   
What are some things that happen for you in a typical day at work?
We are a lean group, therefore, much of my time is spent doing hands on work in the lab conducting experiments, characterizing metals and performing failure analyses on wheels. The remainder is spent researching new materials and processes, reporting results, planning experiments, and in meetings. I also spend time at our pilot plant or manufacturing facilities making test wheels with modifications to the materials or processes.
How does your job impact the markets you serve?
We leverage materials science to engineer light weight, durable, wheels. Accuride is on the forefront of light weighting in the commercial vehicle market, where a few pounds per wheel can add up quickly on an eighteen wheeler.
How do you interact with Secat, Inc. and how does the relationship benefit you?
I have worked with Secat since coming to Accuride seven years ago and Accuride was one of the initial members of Secat. Secat has been a great resource for 3
rd
party verification of failure modes and technical support during alloy development phases. Recently, we have leveraged Secat’s relationship with the University to Kentucky to gain access to more specialized analytical equipment that we don’t have at our Henderson Materials Lab. As a lean team, it’s good to have a partner who has the hands and minds to help drive new technology development for Accuride.
Tell us something about yourself (outside of the industry) that people may not know.
I am a third generation metallurgist. My great uncle studied Metallurgy at Purdue University and worked in the automotive industry throughout his career. My father studied Metallurgy at Michigan Tech and The University of Wisconsin and spent his career in the foundry industry. This ancient art/science runs in the Nanninga blood. Unfortunately, (fortunately for Nathan), I could not convince my wonderful wife to name our first born son Tubal-cain after the “first” blacksmith noted in the book of Genesis.
You can learn more about us on Secat’s website
here.
#HeLovesAluminum

Featured Capabilities- Introducing the new MTS Landmark 370.25
The Secat Laboratory has recently installed a MTS Landmark 370.25 Servohydraulic Test System to its meet its full spectrum of static and dynamic material test requirements. With a force capacity of 250 kN and a rated dynamic force of 55 kip, the new equipment provides a significant upgrade to Secat’s testing capabilities. With the increased load capacity, this system is ideal for testing components and materials such as plastics, elastomers, aluminum, composites, steel, super alloys and more. The equipment delivers a broad array of testing capabilities for both low and high force static and dynamic testing. By selecting from a variety of force capacities, servovalve flow ratings, pump capacities, software and accessories, the system can be easily configured to meet Secat’s customers’ specific material or component testing needs. The MTS Landmark System leverages MTS TestSuite Software to provide test definition, test execution and report generation for virtually all types of material tests, including tension, bending and compression testing, fatigue life studies and fracture growth studies.
Secat’s MTS system is ideal for the exacting demands of material fatigue testing. Highly stiff integrated actuator beams, hydraulic grips, high-resolution force transducers, and precision alignment fixtures combine to deliver tightly controlled and consistent through-zero specimen loading. Driven by MTS TestSuite software, the system can perform highly accurate and repeatable low-cycle, high-cycle and advanced low-cycle fatigue testing. The Fatigue Analyzer software allows Secat to glean new insight from post-test data. Some of the fatigue tests that can be performed are – constant amplitude, variable amplitude, block loading, low cycle fatigue, high cycle fatigue.
In addition to the fatigue testing, the system can be readily configured to perform linear elastic and elastic-plastic fracture toughness testing. The system load frame can be used for both pre-cracking and fracture testing and equipped with a selection of standard compliant grips and precision clip-on displacement gauges. The highly configurable test system features the test space and performance flexibility required to perform both static and dynamic component testing. The system can be equipped with fixtures for single and multiple specimens, as well as a full selection of extensometers that are versatile enough to measure displacement from a variety of locations on a specimen.

Using the new test system Secat will be able to analyze and test:
  • High cycle fatigue
  • Low cycle fatigue
  • Advanced low cycle fatigue
  • Fatigue crack growth
  • Fracture toughness
  • Crack propagation
  • Component strength and durability
  • Environmental testing
  • Thermal mechanical fatigue
  • Tension
  • Compression
  • Bending
  • Stress relaxation
You can learn more about us on Secat’s website
here.
#WeLoveAluminum

What’s New?
THE INFINITELY RECYCLABLE BALL ALUMINUM CUP
At Ball, we’re constantly innovating to bring cutting-edge, sustainable beverage packaging to our customers and the people they serve. The infinitely recyclable, lightweight yet sturdy Ball Aluminum Cup for cold beverages is the latest innovation we’re bringing to market.

In late 2019, we kicked off a successful U.S. pilot, distributing millions of cups to select indoor and outdoor venues across the country. To answer growing demand, we’re building our first dedicated aluminum cups manufacturing facility and expect to ramp up production in the fourth quarter of 2020.
We’re also planning to introduce additional sizes to round out the cups portfolio and intend to expand cups adoption to drinking establishments, parks and recreational facilities, colleges, restaurants, the hospitality industry and more.
#BallLovesAluminum

Aluminum Art

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

Don’t Forget to Connect with Secat on Social Media!

CONNECT with Secat’s
Company Profile on LinkedIn.
LIKE us on
FACEBOOK.
FOLLOW us on TWITTER:
@SecatAluminum,
#WeLoveAluminum

Secat


2020-10-22T17:07:47-04:00February 17th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on SECAT Newsletter, Vol. 8, Issue 1

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