Abstract
Vanadium technology centre opens in Beijing
A joint venture between Vanitec and the China Iron and Steel Research Institute, the Vanitec-CISRI Vanadium Technology Centre was officially opened on 25 September 2013. Those attending the opening ceremony in Beijing included representatives of the China Iron and Steel Association, the Chinese Society for Metals, Chinese vanadium producers Pangang and Chengde Iron and Steel and CISRI. In opening the centre, David Milbourn, CEO of Vanitec, said: ‘The purpose of having a Vanadium Technology Centre in CISRI is to strengthen the prominence and visibility of vanadium technology, while also having an influential and exclusive venue to conduct research projects and promote the applications of vanadium containing products. The advantages of vanadium can be fully exploited in China, which has the world's highest production and consumption levels of vanadium. Overall, we envision that the Centre will be extremely beneficial to the development of Chinese steel operations.’ It is expected that by 2015 China's vanadium containing steel production will reach 100 Mt and vanadium consumption will be about 50 kt.
Vanitec provides members on five continents with a framework to further the aims of vanadium and vanadium-containing products, focusing on research, education and sustainability efforts in the vanadium industry. Further information at www.vanitec.org.
Gevorkyan expands production
Slovakian PM and MIM parts producer Gevorkyan sro has announced plans to expand its production capacity with the assistance of support from the Slovakian government. The investment will consist of €7·57m over the period 2013–16, as part of which Gevorkyan will receive investment aid of €1·5m in the form of tax relief on income. The expansion of the company's existing manufacturing facility in the area of Vlkanová is anticipated to generate almost 50 new positions.
Established in 1996, Gevorkyan specialises in PM and MIM parts for the automobile, oil, cosmetics, hand tools, locks and security systems, medical devices and air conditioning sectors. It currently employs more than 100 workers. Further information at www.gevorkyan.sk.
Standards news
A proposed new ASTM International standard will serve as a guide to determine specific mechanical properties of materials made with an additive manufacturing (AM) process. ASTM WK43112, ‘Guide for evaluating mechanical properties of materials made via additive manufacturing processes’, is being developed by Subcommittee F42·01 on Test Methods, part of ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies.
Once it has been approved, ASTM WK43112 will reference existing standards that will be useful to those who need to measure the mechanical properties of AM parts. It is intended to be a general, high level standard, and other, more specific standards for testing mechanical properties of AM parts will follow. Subcommittee F42·01 is currently developing two other proposed standards: ASTM WK30107, ‘Practice for reporting results of testing of specimens prepared by additive manufacturing’; and ASTM WK40419, ‘Test methods for performance evaluation of additive manufacturing systems through measurement of a manufactured test piece’. Further information at www.astm.org.
The Engineering Employers Federation recently joined forces with the UK government departments BIS and DEFRA to launch the Resource Dashboard (a document intended to highlight concerns relating to the availability of certain critical high value materials in future years). BSI has developed a tool BS 8905 Framework for the assessment of the sustainable use of materials enabling companies to measure the risk of disruption to the supply of all potential materials that could go into the product at the design stage, allowing the engineers to choose the one with the lowest risk of disruption. Further information at www.bsigroup.com.
Copper resource
The European Copper Institute (ECI) has launched a comprehensive web platform to address stakeholders including copper users, researchers, professionals and policy makers. The platform contains the latest information on the uses of copper and its alloys, along with the benefits provided in the main areas of application. It also showcases the efforts of the European copper industry to strengthen the sustainability of its operations and products. ECI represents the copper industry in Europe and is also part of an international network of industry associations, funded by the copper industry, whose mission is to defend and grow markets for copper, based on its technical performance.
Further information at www.copperalliance.eu.
HIP for offshore applications
The latest in the series of one day workshops on PM-HIP organised by the Particulate Engineering Committee of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining will focus on ‘HIP processing of materials for (offshore) energy applications’. The meeting is supported by the European Powder Metallurgy Association and by TWI, which is hosting the meeting at its Aberdeen facility on 16 April 2014.
The challenges of ensuring product capability and reliability in offshore environments under a range of extreme environments range from high temperatures and pressures in turbines through to sea-bed oil and gas applications and many others.
The meeting aims to provide a showcase for the proven ability of the HIP sector to provide solutions for products operating in such conditions. This workshop will bring together a range of experts from industry and academia to look at:
HIP and the capabilities of HIP equipment
HIP materials versus those of other process technologies
future developments in the sector
the experience of end users of HIP technology in the energy and offshore industries.
Further information at www.iom3.org/events/hip2014.