Exotic Alloy Finds Niche/Nickel aluminide, an intermetallic alloy, cuts the cost of heat-treating

摘要

An intermetallic material, nickel aluminide (Ni_3Al), is enabling manufacturers to slash the energy, product recycle, and capital equipment costs associated with austenitizing, carburizing and other heat-treating furnace applications. Containing 80 percent nickel, this advanced alloy is beginning to challenge more traditional materials in some applications. For example, a steel plate austenitizing furnace at Bethlehem Steel's Burns Harbour plant, in Chesterton, Indiana, U.S.A., has more than 130 tonnes of the alloy in the form of transfer rolls, while a carburizing furnace at the Delphi Saginaw Steering Systems' automotive parts plant in Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.A., has more than 110 tonnes in various fixtures.